Faces of Farming: Kyle Hatfield

Southern Iowa is known for its smaller, irregularly shaped fields that rarely allow long, straight passes. Similarly, Kyle Hatfield’s path to a custom application career with MFA’s Iowa Group wasn’t exactly linear.

He was raised near Leon, Iowa, surrounded by agriculture, from his family’s Jersey dairy cattle to his aunt’s performance horses. Hatfield earned an agriculture degree at Iowa State and then worked in research labs, construction, livestock, trucking and even considered teaching before joining MFA in 2015 and eventually finding his fit behind the controls of an application rig.

Today, after a decade with MFA and eight years as a full-time applicator, Hatfield has built a reputation for excellence that helped him earn recognition as one of MFA’s two Applicators of the Year for 2025. The selection process considers customer service, quality of application, professionalism and community involvement.

“It’s been a goal of mine to be nominated,” he said. “I enjoy doing a good job, and it’s great to be recognized.”

He and his wife, Jackie, bookkeeper at MFA’s Leon location, have been married for 19 years and are raising their two children in the family’s agricultural tradition. Their daughter, Laurel, is 5, and son, Latigo, will soon turn 2.

Today’s Farmer sat down with Hatfield to talk about his career journey, the challenges of application and what drives him to deliver exceptional service:

Why do you think you stood out among the nominations? 
I’ve tried hard to learn the regulations, adopt the new technology and work across all locations in our group—Corydon, Leon and Lineville—to cover as many acres as I can and service our customers the way they need to be taken care of. Weather doesn’t always help, and the hours can be long. It’s a lot of nose-to-the-grindstone, put your head down and get it done—but you have to do it the right way. There’s no cutting corners. And one of the big challenges we have right now is finding applicators. When we have new hires, I try to mentor them, encourage them and help them learn the different systems. 

How do you stay ahead of all the changes in applicating?
I’ve had really good teachers and a lot of good mentors. The equipment techs and chemical reps are really helpful and great resources on what’s working and making adjustments as needed. And I like staying up to date—reading articles, keeping up with the science and going through continuing education. The change is constant, and it’s not going to get any easier. Regulations are evolving quickly, especially when it comes to drift, runoff and mitigation requirements. The reality is, if we abuse chemistry, we’ll lose chemistry. We haven’t had truly new active ingredients in a long time, which makes stewardship crucial.

What technology has made the biggest impact on your work? 
John Deere’s ExactApply is amazing technology. I don’t know where we’d be without it. We could see the difference to conventional spraying on overlap, chemical usage and crop damage after just one year of using it, and I’m excited to see what we can do moving forward. Our precision team has been working really hard to map more RTK boundaries, and that’s going to be a game-changer for us in efficiency. I can run straighter lines with a lot fewer stops and turns and less running over beans. The Deere Ops Center lets me see performance metrics immediately, and that feedback helps me improve. FieldAlytics has also made it easier to work across all three MFA locations in our area. The improvement in communications means we can get across fields faster and get to the next customer in a more timely manner, and that makes a real difference. 

What do you enjoy about being a custom applicator?
It’s a good environment. Being an applicator is challenging but also rewarding. I like the technology involved in spraying, and I like understanding the chemistry. Honestly, I enjoy all sides of MFA’s business, and I have aspirations to do more with the company. Eventually, I want to move into a management position. MFA has been good to me and my family, and Jackie loves working at Leon. For anyone considering this career, there’s so much opportunity. The technology keeps getting better, and machinery keeps advancing. It’s not that the job is easier now—it’s just different. And there’s always something new to learn. That’s one of the things I love the most. 

Top photo cutline: Kyle Hatfield of MFA’s Iowa Group was one of two MFA employees named as 2025 Applicators of the Year, selected from 21 nominations from across MFA’s territory. The other applicator honored was Dylan Dick of MFA Agri Services in Centralia, and he will be featured later in Today’s Farmer.