So last week after the last Research Field Day at the NCRS on Tuesday, Nick and I were across Lake Michigan in Manitowoc, WI for yet another field day on Thursday. This one was put on by Poplar Farms Sales & Service owned by Bill Brunner. Bill has been selling AgroLiquid for around five years, and works with Retail Partner Steve Darrington who is well know in Liquid lore. Bill decided that if he was serious about promoting sales even more, he needed to prove performance in his own area. So he had the option to lease some farm land near his store and set up some trials. As it turned out, it was perfectly set up for field plots with grass lanes accessing all parts of the farm. Bill worked with Field Agronomist Dan Peterson to develop the field plot layout and treatments, and got them planted. The drone pic below shows the layout with mostly corn, but also soybeans and alfalfa.
There were around fifty growers who showed up for the morning and afternoon sessions. Always hoping for more, but those that were there were curious to see what Liquid is all about. Some were existing Liquid users and some were prospects. So it was a good mix. To get started, after hearing Nick talk about products and company history, they had to listen to me talk about how the products are different and how they are well-researched. Which was a good lead in to the plot tour.
There were a number of side-by-side plots, like this one for corn which had Pro-Germinator on the left and 6-18-6 + Avail on the right. I'm always a little nervous showing up in plots for the first time and peeling back husks revealing ears, and hoping that ours look better. But fear not, Pro-Germinator was clearly the winner with much bigger ears.
Agronomist Dan had a root pit to show corn roots and how different sub-soil factors can affect growth. Very interesting....
Nick talked about various nitrogen fertilizer options for corn. Right sources, rates, timing, and placement, plus tank mixes and other comparisons were on display.
One good way to get folks to attend a field day is to have a good lunch. And it was, so they did.
Poplar Farms is also a seed dealer, and Steve gives a tour on the nice old Oliver tractor. Guess what one of their brands is? Looks nice all in a row there.
The clouds finally broke when Dan talked about foliar feeding of soybeans. Looking good and loaded up with pods. The beans, not Dan. There are also some alfalfa plots across the lane.
So that was a worthwhile day seeing the results of all the hard work and planning by this particular retailer. I'm sure it will payoff in more AgroLiquid being used in the area. So growers could not only hear about it, they could see it too. And that's probably better anyway.
