September 2005
Rural Living
No Job Too Big or Small
Southern States agronomists can provide help
for large and small production and management questions.
H. Mark Fuchs, Southern States agronomist,
has developed a reputation for being knowledgeable and realistic
in his recommendations. |
Mark Fuchs spends a lot of time helping commercial farmers on the
Delmarva Peninsula with tough production and management problems. But
Fuchs, an agronomist for Southern States, doesn't limit his expertise to
large producers.
"I work with many small landowners-people who have 10 or 15 acres of
pastureland and own a half-dozen or fewer horses or cows," Fuchs says.
"They are good customers of Southern States for feed, seed, fertilizer
and other supplies. Many of their questions deal with pasture seeding,
liming, fertilization, weed control and grazing management."
Working with smaller farmers and landowners often presents a
challenge, Fuchs concedes, because some are newcomers to agriculture and
do not have the agronomic background commercial farmers have. They also
may not have the equipment for precision application of seeds,
fertilizers and weed-control chemicals.
"So it may be more time consuming to work with these customers, but
it's also very rewarding," Fuchs says. "They're passionate about their
land and animals. And they're generally very protective of the
environment."
Fuchs devotes much of his time helping farmers resolve environmental
concerns. This is a major issue in the territory he serves-Delaware, the
Eastern Shore of Maryland and two Eastern Shore counties of Virginia.
And although Fuchs can't be everywhere at once, his influence is
still far-reaching. Trained by Fuchs, both Sam Mitchell and Flip Wright
of the Southern States retail store in Middletown worked together to
help Ben Daniels of Warwick, Md., solve regulatory challenges on his
land.
Mark Fuchs, left, and Steve Pieshala offer
one-on one support for growers of all sizes. |
Daniels bales forage from 39 acres of grassland he farms. Under rules
set by the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), he has to
file a nutrient management plan before he can spread fertilizer or
manure. Mitchell and Wright helped Daniels write his plan.
Aside from working with Southern States store staff, private
suppliers, commercial applicators, government agencies, university
researchers and Extension workers, Fuchs cooperates with environmental
groups to serve a common interest.
"For example, Southern States is involved with the Maryland Extension
Service and Chesapeake Bay Foundation in a three-year project," he
explains. "We're using satellite yield potential imagery from last
year's crop. We are trying to determine the level of nitrogen to apply
in different areas of the field using variable-rate application."
They're already seeing some amazing differences. On one farm, the
recommendations vary from a low of 20 pounds per acre to a high of 130
pounds per acre. This is based on the yield potential of different areas
of the field.
Fuchs has served Southern States and its customers with quality
service for 25 years. He is a member of the Maryland Nutrient Management
Advisory Committee for the state secretary of agriculture and has been
appointed to the State Pesticide Board by four different governors.
Fuchs' service to producers, both large and small, include
participating in educational meetings sponsored by Southern States or
the Extension Service as well as conducting field demonstrations.
Fuchs and a dozen other Southern States agronomists stay current
through intensive in-house GrowMaster training programs geared toward
certified crop adviser certification.
Another of his major projects involves helping growers develop an
automated records system that uses the co-op's GrowMaster program and
software.
"This system lets you plug in all inputs such as fertilizer and
pesticides on a field-by-field basis along with individual field
yields," Fuchs explains. "It really simplifies recordkeeping and
reporting."
And it is a simple process to generate reports required by different
government agencies-Farm Service Agency, Natural Resource Conservation
Service and the Maryland Department of Agriculture-and state
requirements such as Maryland's Nutrient Management Law.
"With this program, we've been able to automate many functions," he
explains. "That's a vast improvement from all-too-common past methods,
such as digging through a shoe box to find information on what was done
to a particular field."
 GROWMASTER:
More Than Just A TitleGrowMaster is the certification
designation earned by our team of Certified Crop Advisers,
Technical Service Providers and Professional Applicators.
Through continuous education, these professionals are
uniquely qualified to prepare a comprehensive personalized plan
to help manage your inputs, from seed to fertilizer to
protectants.
All of Southern States' proprietary seed and crop
protectants, as well as application equipment and the operators,
meet specific quality standards in order to earn the label of
GrowMaster.
This certifies that all products and application methods are
cost-effective and environmentally responsible solutions to your
needs. |
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