Some of the best agronomy minds, not only in Warren and Henderson Counties, but in the entire state came together this past Friday to discuss the latest developments in agriculture. Numerous topics came about at the 2017 Fall Ag Roundtable from dicamba use, agricultural trade, and even the new educational budget in Illinois.
Troy Cozhair, Manager at the Monsanto Learning Center just outside Monmouth, thinks that in order for agriculture to continue to evolve, chemical and seed companies need to continue to merge together, much like Bayer and Monsanto did in September of 2016.
“A lot of the idea around this is to be able to get all of those things under one umbrella, so that we’re there in the discovery at the ground floor, and some of these things can be brought from discovery to market a lot more quickly and efficiently. That’s a big driver behind it,” Cozhair said.
Net farm income is expected to decline eight percent in 2017, which will make it four years in a row that a decrease has occurred. Big River Resources CEO Ray Defenbaugh knows that farmers must figure out how to reduce costs, or other countries will eventually pass them up technology-wise, making the United States an expendable trade partner.
“They’re not buying stuff from us because they like us. They’re buying it because there’s a need. As soon as that need is eliminated – we’re importing technology to them regularly, so it’s not needed – then they’ll buy it from some other place, or produce it for themselves,” Defenbaugh stated.
written by Jackson Kane
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