NAICC Annual Meeting Summary

– Ryan Dierking, PhD, Field Research Scientist, AgriThority

The National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants Annual Meeting is a great opportunity to network with fellow members and vendors for in-depth discussions about services, emerging trends and technologies in crop production. NAICC presents breakthrough agronomic practices, new technologies and equipment demonstrations AgriThority can utilize to enhance trial organization and analysis. I attended this year’s event in Savannah, Ga. with AgriThority Research Manager Dr. David Guthrie.

Seminars covering yield parameters, use of biologicals and drone applications in plot and field research introduced new strategies for trial management and how to collect data for more valuable analysis. Sessions on biologic crop technologies reviewed the increasing role of these new technologies in ag production systems to protect the plant and stimulate growth for higher yield and performance. Other sessions during the week presented management tips to translate data into decisions and emerging and evolving technology, featuring work from the EcoBiome Innovation Center in Spring, Texas.

Multiple ARM seminars were valuable for crop consultants to refresh their program skills, acquire tips and techniques to use the program more effectively and learn about new operations within the system.

The primary reason most crop consultants attend the annual meeting is to network with fellow industry professionals. Throughout the week I met with industry colleagues, potential business partners and technology vendors to learn about improvements in their operations and how we can work together to provide a higher level of service for AgriThority clients.

Next year’s meeting will be January 22-25, 2020 in San Antonio, Texas.