School of Agriculture hosts Soybean Day

The Hutson School of Agriculture and the Kentucky Soybean Board hosted the 9th Annual Soybean Promotion Day on Tuesday in the Murray Room at the CFSB Center. The event was led by guest speakers Moe Russell and Missy Bauer.

Russell is the cofounder and president of Russell Consulting Group, a leading provider of marketing and financial advice to crop and livestock producers.

The company’s experienced associates consult the top 20 percent of producers in 36 states and Canada. He is also a frequent business speaker on motivation, planning and entrepreneurship.

Bauer is an independent crop consultant with B&M Consulting out of Coldwater, Mich. She acts as the Farm Journal associate field agronomist and coordinates the Farm Journal test plots in the eastern Corn Belt.

­­­She also coordinated agronomy research farms in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, they were used to educate customers on agronomic practices, test new products and systems and to evaluate current products.

Bauer lectured to a room of farmers from all over the region about the best ways to understand the yield components of soybeans.

She touched on ways in which high-yielding soybeans can be achieved and highlighted the different possible causes for low yields and how to compensate for them.

Nathan Reed, soybean farmer from Sedalia, Ky., said he was excited to come to Soybean Promotion Day because he has read about Bauer and thought it would be interesting to hear from her.

“I have read some of (Bauer’s) articles in Farm Journal magazine and was excited to learn that she would be speaking at Murray State” Reed said. “Agronomy is a big part of my job so I am interested in learning from her.”

Although agronomy, the science of soil management and crop production, was the main subject of her lecture, Bauer also emphasized the importance of farmers getting back to the basics, such as knowing how to identify plant stages and understanding how stress affects those growth stages.

Mike Bouce, agriculture alumnus and former Kentucky Soybean Board member from Hopkinsville, Ky., said he attended Soybean Promotion Day to gain knowledge he could take back to his farm.

“I came today because I have attended a couple Soybean Promotion Days in the past and I learn something new every time,” Bouce said. “I am hoping to get some new ideas about chemicals and planning methods.”

After a short intermission for supper, the attendants returned to the Murray Room for the second session, a lecture from Russell about managing risk in a volatile environment and the opportunities for profitability in the farm industry.

Many audience members attended the event with the simple interest in gaining new ideas for their farms.

Both of the lectures given generated many questions among audience members. All were answered at the end of the session.

Story by Alex Berg, Staff writer.

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