Top Farmer Crop Workshop cultivates better decision-making

The 39th annual workshop takes place July 16-19 in Pfendler Hall on Purdue's West Lafayette, Ind., campus.

More than 50 speakers from Purdue's College of Agriculture, sister land-grant universities and the agriculture industry will cover a broad spectrum of topics, said Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer, Purdue agricultural economist and the workshop coordinator. About a third of the speakers are farmers sharing their technology and management experiences, he said.

"Top Farmer Crop Workshop focuses on issues in crop management," Lowenberg-DeBoer said. "Those issues range from new technology in crops to managing the business and succession between generations. The uniqueness of the program is that every farmer can build a computer model of their operation during the workshop to test new ideas. Our slogan is, 'Test before you invest.'"

As its name implies, the workshop is geared toward leading crop producers who use cutting-edge technology and production practices. Although some workshop attendees farm only a few hundred acres, the majority farm 2,000 acres or more.

"There are three threads that run through the workshop," Lowenberg-DeBoer said. "One of them is intensive soybean management. Last year we focused on intensive management of continuous corn and lots of people asked, 'If you spent that much time managing soybeans, wouldn't you get higher yields there as well?' So we're asking that question of some key soybean experts in the field this year.

"Secondly, we'll take a look at auto guidance — particularly, the use of guidance for strip tillage. Strip tillage is an old idea that manually was fairly hard to do, because coming back and hitting those strips exactly was difficult because they're only a few inches wide. With RTK guidance, it has become much easier. And, thirdly, we have a series of presentations on farm business management. Some are focused on succession between generations and others are focused on things like ethics."

Workshop sessions of note include:

• "Be Smart When Scouting for Soybean Aphids" — Christian Krupke, Purdue Extension entomologist.

• "The Changing Ownership of Ethanol Production" — Joe Needham, vice president, grain division, The Andersons Inc.

• "Is Your Subsurface Drainage System Working as Hard as You Are?" — Charlie Schafer, president, Agri Drain Corp.

• "Employee Development for Better Business" — Sarah Fogleman, agricultural economist, Kansas State University.

• "Tillage Options Offer Opportunity to Improve Soil Quality, Reduce Input Costs and Increase Yields" — Mike Petersen, precision tillage agronomist, Orthman Manufacturing.

• "Which Ball Should We Keep Our Eye On?" — Otto Doering, Purdue agricultural economist.

For a complete list of Top Farmer sessions and speakers, log onto the workshop Web site.

Workshop registration is $250 per person and $75 for each additional person from the same farm. Registration fees include two meals, coffee breaks, a workshop proceedings notebook for each farm and the use of Purdue computers. Lodging and other meals are extra.

Enrollment is limited. Registration forms are available on the workshop Web site. On-site registrations will be accepted as space permits.

For additional registration information, contact Tom Robertson of Purdue's Conference Division at (765) 494-7220, by fax at (765) 494-0567 or by e-mail at tlrobertson@purdue.edu.

For more information about workshop sessions and speakers, contact Lowenberg-DeBoer at (765) 494-4230, by fax at (765) 494-9176 or by e-mail at lowenbej@purdue.edu.

Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415, sleer@purdue.edu

Source: Jess Lowenberg-DeBoer, (765) 494-4230, lowenbej@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722; Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu

Agriculture News Page

Related Web site:
Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics

To the News Service home page