farm meeting

[tipsy]

Ag Guy you mentioned earlier,sometime during summer I believe,about a winter meeting for grain producers where we would discuss production practices.I presumed this would be info and not sales seminar.Iam still interested. Any progress?

[AG_guy]

Been sort of busy trying to get some test plots going for a european breeding program. I found a place in saskatoon that if i remember right charges 40 bucks per person and they get a light breakfast a dinner and you get the meeting room as well. I figured thats pretty cheap. I had about 10 guys say they would attend but io was hoping to have more. The quikest way to kill something like this would be a bad turn out. I had a few guys from retails still trying to push sponsors, maybe they will get more of a kick back who knows. I found another company that thinks along the same lines as i do and have a line of amazing products.

I have a question for you. How many guys would you feel need to attend for this to happen. 10,20,30,40,50. I would hope i could get 50 guys the first year.

This makes it easy because we all have user names on here. If you would attend a small conference on new products and ways to improve soil health, have healthier and higher yileding crops and reduce imputs then reply with a YES and the number of people attending. So if you had two brother reply with "yes 3" this way we can tell if there is interest.

[AG_guy]

What i will do in the new year is get ahold of the two companies i know and throw the idea there way and see what they say. I would like a third company but i work on that.

If three companies had one hour each in the moring would be alot of time to fill how ever they wanted. Then in the afternoon we could split into groups to get a question answer time in smaller groups always works great. It alway bugged me to go hear guys speak and go home with a bunch of unanswered question cause there was no time to ask them.

I'll post how things are going on agriville. If things work out good, i would also like to be able to get some input from a few farmers as well.

But Happy Holidays and talk to you in the New Year

[tipsy]

When you first mention this I was thinking 50 would be lots and less would maybe better. Yes were all striving for a healthier higher yeilding crop but to achieve this with reduced inputs would the interesting aspect. On our farm we are spending more every year on herbicides with the results becoming more and more inconsistent and disappointing. This trend is not only on my farm,as I drove around a good part of the province this summer I remember thinking the 09 crop was the dirtyest ?sp I've ever seen. This isn't localized either, consistant thur province.. So,on my farm and many others we have to better understand more about spraying,so we can achieve better and more consistent results. We have to understand more about tips,water coverage, water's effect on chemicals, morning due,sunlight,ect ect...Resistance has to better understood,for most of us in the north east of the province,because we grow many different crops and use a wide array of chemical products and groups we have a hard time beliveing resistance weeds are on our farm. Better utilization or efficiency of the chemical dollars we spend on our farm,would be the best plus to our farm and bottom line for the next few years.

[AG_guy]

I hear alot of resistance due to cutting chemicals, but you just can't cut a chemical. there are many factors that can get guys into alot of trouble and it has. Crop health and soil health is a major factor in cutting inputs. Just because your crop is green doesn't mean its healthy N makes crops green. I was at a meeting in alberta a few years back and a consultant showed pictures of there wheat in nebraska and a pic of a field he was in in alberta. he said and pointed out that the alberta crop was sick and stressed. everyone at the table got there nose up in the air and ignored his comments. Then we got retailers who are prescribing piles of fert just to make there quota and to make more money, and they will never admit they have know idea what damages it is causing.

Then we get a few companies out there researching, spending there own money and time into bringing you new products to help farmers and its labled snake oil so nobody will buy it and they will keep going back to the retails

you can't cut your inputs by snapping your fingers. First you have to want to and be ready to listen to what you are doing right and what you have done wrong. Then we have to look at your soil and do proper testing and anlysis and talk about what you have noticed and your farming practices. What's amzing is that most of any products to get your soils and crops back into a healthy state will not cost you anymore then what your spending now and should get cheaper as time goes on. Let me state you still use chemical and fertilizer but just better and smarter. When your soils are healthy you can actually see and feel a difference in your soils and crops.

Tipsy what number of guys do you think is a good number whats a good location. if you got enough guys in your area maybe these companies would come to you. they do have reps that travel the country .

I am hoping to start my own bussiness in the fall and i will hopefully be able to represent these companies and there products. Also i am hoping to have a piece of equipment that i don't think anyone has around here and do soil testing to start off.

Email me at darren.soil@gmail.com if you want with any question or suggestions.

[AG_guy]

I was at the crop show in saskatoon and i had a chance to talk to a few companies about a meeting. Everyone i talked to said it would be there pleasure to speak and one offered to sponsor it. I'm not going to put there names in here since somepeople may think im advertising for them. Email me if your interested and i will reply with the names of all the companies and links to there websites so you can see for yourself.

darren.soil@gmail.com

[seabass]

Ag Guy where and when would this meeting take place? How much to attend?

[AG_guy]

I'm thinking saskatoon just because it's fairly close to everyone. The date would have to be march or end of february. The cost so far is $43.00 and that because the hotel here charges $43 per person and you get a light breakfast, a dinner and a room. If the speakers wanted a few dollars to come then that would be added on but most do it for free. I'll invest my time for free. I have one company who said they would sponser a part of this already and they are huge into the soil health and plant health and are making huge differences on farms.

I thought 3 companies each get one hour in the morning to talk. then after lunch we could break into 3 smaller groups for some round table talks.each for one hour or so. It would be a full day of information and learning. A farmer will learn more in one day about there soil and crops then they likely have in the last 10 and get actual answers to problem on there farm.

One thing i'm not sure on is how you would pay for this, would you send the check to the hotel or to one of the companies . I don't feel right about asking for the money to be sent to me.

Any ideas or comments on this would help.

[skip]

$43 is pretty reasonable...depends on the speakers...so many meetings these days. Good luck.

[AG_guy]

Actually it would likely be about 65. And it's a great value because your actually getting the real information on soil and crops and the problems your having. ALl the other meeting you go to are geared towards you spending money and still solving no problems just creating them. This conference would be geared to save you thousands of dollars and give you better crops.

To date i have not got any response back about this so i guess knowbody is interested. Its to bad, there are thousands of acres being fixed and brought back to life and the farmers are so happy. I guess this is a one farmer at a time thing.

[tipsy]

I thought this had some real potential!

[AG_guy]

I did to. I have three rock solid companies who are doing lots of work all over regional, all over canada and all over the world to.
Its very hard to break a method that has been implanted into the brain for years and years. And it's hard to develope a new way of thinking when retails are threatened by this and try there best to make them snake oil.

What makes my head shake is all the farmers that get these products on there farm's and are making huge improvements and putting more money in the bank every year.

Tipsy i tried, i talked to the companies, found a location. I even had one company says they would sponsor a meeting. The old saying is you can't teach an old dog a new trick and thats not true, maybe that dog just didn't want to learn a new trick.


So here is my plan . Over the summer and into the fall i will be talking to all three and maybe a fourth company who deeals in soil health and healthy crops ect. Hopefully i can work out a deal to represent all 3 or 4 companies at once. Then in the fall groups of farmers can book dates for meetings with myself. This way i can have farm meetings on a smaller scale at the kitchen table or in the shop.