Hand Lens Donations

In the fall of 2015, MNICCA donated a total of 50 hand lenses to area colleges. The hand lenses that were donated to the Ridgewater and Mankato Technical Colleges are used for the enhancement of education to the agronomy students that are enrolled in identification classes. The hand lenses at each college will be used as teaching tools in the correct manner to help identify correct disease pathogens, weeds, insects, seeds,etc. The MNICCA organization wants to encourage students to look at agronomy professions such as independent crop consulting as a career choice.

Helping farmers do things right when margins are tight

MNCCA Column for The Farmer
Feb, 2015

By Curt Burns

We’re heading into a lean period in crop profitability. After several years of strong returns, margins in 2015 will be tight. Many crop farms could lose money if corn and soybean prices don’t rebound.

How will you adjust your operation for lower commodity prices? One of your best resources is a professional crop consultant.

Certified crop advisers, or CCAs, offer informed and independent advice on the decisions that affect profitability, including fertility, variety selection, seeding rates, crop protection, integrated pest management, and precision farming.

Read more: Helping farmers do things right when margins are tight

Find your local independent consultant

Independent crop consultant members of MNICCA take great pride in their true independence from agricultural input providers. How can you find your local independent provider?

Our web site provides the tools you need:

• Selecting the "Consultants Map" link will take you to a Google map that let's you explore consultants in your area.
• If you prefer a list of consultants, you can click the "MNICCA Members" or "Affiliate Members" links. Clicking on a consultant from these lists will provide detailed contact infromation for the member as well as other pertinent details about services provided.

Independent crop consultants can be key to your success

The past few years in agriculture, there has been profitability made in crop production agriculture and it looks like the next few years we will be heading into some uncertain times with production agriculture profitability. The margins will become smaller as producers will look at all aspects of their farm operation on ways to stream line their production costs. The importance of an independent voice in a farm operation is essential in deciding what factors and inputs are of best value to the producer. The higher cost of land values and rental rates will have a slower rate of decline than what the commodity values have done in the last 12 months. This has caused many “cash flows” to break even or many farm operations to be losing money in the next few years if the down trend in commodity prices continues.

Read more: Independent crop consultants can be key to your success