Agronomic Sciences Gets to Planning

So even though it's January, it's never too early to review and plan for the upcoming year.  Last week we had our winter Agronomic Science meeting at the St. Johns office.  Agronomic Science is the technical arm of AgroLiquid, consisting of Research and Agronomy.  At the meeting we enjoyed the support from our chemist and Senior Sales manager as we took a final review of 2017 and started thinking about 2018.  There are a variety of new experimental test products for evaluation, plus the product support tests that will be conducted at the NCRS and elsewhere.  And plenty of crop demonstrations at the AgroExpo in August.

At this in-depth juncture, we see (from left end) Galynn, Stephanie, Reid, Chris, Jeff, Zouheir, John, Dan, Jay, Tim and Nick.  With this amount of brainpower, how could there be any problem that would not be solved?  Well we weren't quite running on full power as Agronomist JW didn't make it due to a blizzard somewhere.  (I made him show me a note from his meteorologist.)  I hope you have a chance to visit the NCRS or other field test going on in 2018.

Aloha Beautiful Kauai

So one of the nicest things in Kauai are the beautiful sunrises.  (And one of the few things that is free.)  It is actually the most colorful before the sun comes up when the clouds turn orange.

 And just like clockwork, up comes the sun.  Usually around 7:20.  Most mornings there are clouds on the horizon.  But on this morning the sun had the whole sky.

Out near the pool of the resort is a cascading water fall.

If you are brave enough, and of course I was, you can climb up and dive off.

Here is a waterfall where diving is not recommended.  It is Wailua Falls and is just over a 100 feet drop.  But you still read about someone that dives off and gets hurt. Genetic cleansing.

 On the North end of the island is the Kilauea Lighthouse.  It was opened in 1913 and was manned until 1974.  There were no roads here during construction in 1912, so they had to haul the building supplies in by boat and lift them up to the top of the cliff.  People must have been stronger then. Can you imagine that?

 There is a National Wildlife Refuge along the cliffs and on the grounds of the lighthouse.  You will frequently see the state bird of Hawaii: the Nene goose.

 There is this pretty island just offshore from the lighthouse.  There is usually a bird flying around so you can have it in your picture.  There were whales breaching that day, but they wouldn't let you know when they would do that.  Plus they were pretty far away.

If you were in Hawaii in 1790, here is your ruler and his cabinet: King Kamehameha.  He was the first ruler of a unified Hawaii.  He's the big guy in the middle. There is a nice historic display in Hanalei.

 Want some jewelry for your collection? Then you can buy these Ni'ihau shell necklaces in a store in Hanalei.  These are made from shells found on the forbidden island of Ni'ihau.  It is privately owned and has a small population of Native Hawaiians who still speak Hawaiian as their first language.  From what I've read, it is primitive as there is no running water or electricity.  They used to run cattle, but no more.  They get money from the DOD for some installation there.  And they make shells necklaces. The larger outer one can be yours for $50,000.  Too much?  The smaller one is only $27,000.  But they are known world wide.

 One night a group of us went to see Ben at Kauai Eco-Clay shooting range.  That's right, a night shoot.  It also was very fun.  One of the highest rated activities on the island.  We have known Ben for years, and he always treats guest from AgroLiquid like ohana (family).

 You have to go see Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  Spectacular!

A little further up the road is the overlook of the Kalalau Valley.  Hundreds of years ago, hundreds of Hawaiians lived down there.  Hard to imagine what that was like.

 Once upon a time, when the Agro group was smaller, we used to have lunch at this place called Waimea Cottages and then go down to the beach.  I used to make people form up under this Banyon tree for a group picture.

 One somewhat common feature is seeing the Hawaiian Monk seals come ashore for a nap during the day.  They are protected, so you can't go up and pet them.  It is interesting as they have a patrol of volunteers all over the island that seem to know their favorite spots, because as soon as they come ashore there is a rope barrier set up.  They often will sleep for six hours or so and then go back in.  They don't seem bothered by all of the people around.  This was at my favorite snorkeling spot: Poipu Beach.

 Well I could show more, but it's time to say Aloha and head home and get back to work selling fertilizer.  I hope that the people who were there this time recognize most of these pictures.  And resolve to come back.

And I also hope that people who weren't there are able to get motivated to sell some fertilizer and qualify for the trip that AgroLiquid provides. One foot on the island, and it will be worth all of the hard work.  And the Research Team is anxious to provide help to make it happen.  And everyone else?  Well put a visit to Kauai on your To-Do list!

Laki maika'i.  (Good Luck!)

Up the Sleeping Giant

So a popular event during the AgroLiquid Kauai visit is climbing the Sleeping Giant mountain.  That's it in the background looking North from the resort during a colorful sunrise.

On this morning there were 25 brave souls looking for adventure.  I think that's the biggest group that I've ever climbed with.  

 So we start out the 2+ mile hike up that will end at an elevation of 1240 feet.  Running is optional.  For kids. Not an option for me.  

 Sometimes the trail is relatively flat and easy.

 But most of the time you are going up an incline.  It is a mountain after all.

Stephanie and son Gabe pause at a scenic lookout.  That is our destination.  The pointy part on the right of the head is the chin and the left point is the forehead.  I think.  But we will be there soon.

 Careful Troy.  One of the several challenging parts of the "trail".

 Almost to the top.  We're not going to let a little cliff action at 1200 feet keep us from the top.

 And on the summit.  Looking back to the mountain side towards Mt. Waialeale (behind the cloud).  Probably getting some of it's 450+ inches of annual rainfall.

Some people carefully pose on the Giant's chin like Carlos and son Liam.  Just don't look down.

I'm not going all that way up without some chin time.

 Looking back from the chin towards the forehead are a string of AgroLiquid climbers.  It is slow and careful going from one end to the other.  You can see the steep dropoff on either side.

 Here is the view from on top looking back to the chin.  See the notched rock formation?  And the Pacific Ocean in the background.  It was a great day for the climb.

If you know where to look, there is a small cave under the chin that is kind of cool.

After fun at the top, it's time to make the trip back down. Everything you went up must be gone down. Retail Partner Darrel from Colorado makes sure it's safe by following these two climbers, also from Colorado.  Although Colorado is known for it's mountains, where Darrel lives in NE Colorado it's flat as a table.

So that was a nice time.  I'm pretty sure all 25 Agro climbers made it down.  Forgot to do a roll call. We started climbing a little after 8 and were back by 11.  It is better to start early while it's cool.  Next time you're there, remember Sleeping Giant = fun.

Kauai and Corn

The Hawaiian islands are a wonderful place to visit because of the nice weather and year-round pleasantness.  Those are also wonderful conditions for growing corn.  Seed corn companies have grown test and parent seed on Kauai for decades.  There have been changes over the years and just a few are on Kauai now.  Plus there is always pressure from anti-GMO protesters.  But I didn't really read anything in the letters to the editor while I was there, unlike previous years.  But this post isn't about that.  It is about a visit to Kauai's newest seed company grower: Beck's Hybrids.  They are the largest family-owned seed company in the US and are based in Indiana.  In late 2016 they acquired a facility owned by BASF seed research in Kekaha on the West side.  Part of the deal was that Beck's retain the former BASF staff, which they did.  Nice move.  

Retail Partner Chad from South Dakota knows someone from Beck's there who knows somebody at Beck's Kauai who arranged a visit for Chad, myself and Regional Sales Manager Brian.  We were hosted by station manager Steve who was nice to take the time to show us around.  Here we are near the water canal from a local small reservoir that provides irrigation to all of the corn in the area.  This part of the island is dry and irrigation is a must.  

These channels are really old and still work fine.  After all, Kauai has one of the wettest spots on Earth in Mt. Waialeale which averages 452" of rain a year.  And it all flows downhill.

Here is one of the seed plot planters, where people sit up in those seats and drop seeds from packets into the planter unit that rotates dropping one seed at a time into the plot.

The seed is either inbred production or an experimental hybrid cross.  In either case, as the ear develops, a bag is placed over the ear before it silks.  Then when it is time, specific pollen is applied by a worker to the ear silk and then the bag is put back on until mature enough to pick.  Steve explains the operation to Chad here in a test plot. See all the bags over the ears?

There were workers in there  picking the ears from each plot and putting them in a bag.  (See the drip line for irrigation?) From here they will be sent back to Indiana for evaluation  and then maybe grown there for something.  It is all pretty secret, and  a complicated process.    But the payoff could be big.  Just the sort of breakthrough a family-owned agricultural company would love to have.  It is interesting that similar plots from other seed companies are within view of each other.  They must adhere to some sort of honor code.

Well of course we talked about fertility.  Growing corn here is hard, especially supplying and keeping nutrients in a plant-usable form on this old volcanic soil.  So we talked about sharing soil tests and see if there are any beneficial options available from this family-owned agricultural company. 

Coffee Break Continues......

So continuing with our company visit to Kauai Coffee, it seems that Big Steve found a friend.  Just say "Aloha" and he's yours.  

 We took a look at their coffee plant nursery greenhouse.  Here they are growing a new variety of coffee that will be transplanted out into the fields when it gets big enough.  It is slow growing as these plants have been growing for several months, and are still small.  (Sounds like a job for Ferti-Rain).  They said it takes four to five years to go from planting in the greenhouse to production.  But it will be worth the wait I'm sure.

 A younger member of the tour group takes a hands-on approach with the seed beans.

I mentioned how fast the coffee plants grow in the year-round warm conditions, and how they are "stumped" from time to time.  But in between, they prune back the branches to keep the rows open.  We saw this pruning machine that has three circular saws on a rotating arm that drives down the rows keeping them neat and tidy.

 After the tour, some of the group visits on the beautiful grounds around the visitor center.

While others fill up on all of the different types of coffee available for sampling.

And don't forget, if you're ever in St. Johns, MI, stop by AgroLiquid headquarters where you can always buy a bag of Kauai Coffee from our lobby store.

And if you're really lucky you can share a cup with Eric who is always anxious to listen to people's stories.

Coffee's On....Kauai Coffee That Is!

So one day we visited our favorite coffee grower: Kauai Coffee.  They not only grow and market the best coffee anywhere, they are also users of AgroLiquid to produce much of the coffee there.  They receive multiple shipments of isotainers through the year with 4300 gallons of AgroLiquid from the Stockton, CA plant.  Then they feed it through drip tape on the many fields that are on the Liquid program.  Here is the popular gift shop where you can buy coffee as well as multiple souvenirs to remind you of your visit.  Hey, what's that new sign out front?

It's a list of where you can get Kauai Coffee back on the Mainland.  Drop everything and go now.  You won't be sorry.  If your store doesn't have it, stage a sit-in till it shows up.  Remember, it's got AgroLiquid behind it.

 We've had a variety of tours over the years.  This year the three guys that I work with are giving a walking tour around the grounds to explain what goes on in growing coffee.  That's Bronson, who is in charge of irrigation, Jon the orchard operations manager, and Ramon the IPM specialist.

 I've shown the operation called "stumping" in the past where they cut the coffee back to a stump, to keep it from getting too big.  Obviously.  But it is necessary from time to time.  After it re-spouts, you prune off all but the strongest leader stem, as Ramon demonstrates.  It grows fast and will produce some coffee within a year, and be back to full production within another year or two.

Ramon then leads part of the group through the visitor center grounds.  Don't get lost Steve.

 Bronson talks about the growth stages of coffee.  Harvest has been over for a month, so we didn't get to see any of that as we have in the past.  But before long it will begin to flower and start the production process all over again.  Bronson says when flowering, the place is all white with flowers and really smells good.  Bronson is responsible for managing the 2500 miles of drip irrigation feeding the 4 million coffee plants on the nearly 3000 acres here.  How does he have time to mess with our tour?  Well he is a nice guy after all.  Nice hat too.

 There are a few old berries, or cherries, still on some plants.  Eustaquia, from the St. Johns office, must not have gotten enough coffee this morning as she bites into one.  I don't think her husband Chris wants her to share.  But wouldn't you know it that she had a lucky bite.  It seems that her berry had just one bean within it, designated as a Peaberry.  Two beans is more common.  It is larger and has higher quality.  In fact you can get Peaberry brand coffee.  Good job Eustaquia.

 Well that's enough coffee excitement for one blog.  Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of AgroLiquid's adventures at Kauai Coffee.