Co-owner/operator of Urich Farms, Laredo, Mo.

Working with farmers, not becoming one, was the career path Kristi Urich intended to follow when she moved to Northwest Missouri from her native Washington state to take a job at the University of Missouri Extension Service in Grundy County. Those plans changed after she met Mark Urich, a local farmer and her future husband. The couple married in 2001 and had two children, Robert and Rebecca. In 2010, Kristi decided she wanted to farm full time in the multi-generational operation that includes Mark’s parents, John and Linda. They raise corn, soybeans and cattle near Laredo, Mo.

“I had a wonderful opportunity to come home and help on the farm, and it’s allowed me to push myself and learn new things,” Kristi said. “The kids were little at the time, and they hardly remember me not being home. I’ve been able to contribute to the operation in lots of ways and can run most everything from the planter to the combine. And I love it. I’ve never felt out of place—like I’m in a man’s world or that I’m not accepted for what I’m capable of.” Urich Farms was featured at the recent 4R Field Day, organized by MFA and held July 24 at North Central Missouri College’s Barton Farm Campus in Trenton, Mo. (Look for coverage in a future edition). Kristi spoke with Today’s Farmer a week earlier during our team’s visit to the farm to gather video footage for the field day.

Why did you want to be involved in the 4R Field Day?
I think farmers have to be willing to share what works well for them. I think we learn best from each other. If you go to any kind of farm conference, the most important stuff that happens is the hallway conversations, getting to connect and network with each other. So I’m hoping to help some- body else learn from our mistakes and our successes.

What are some of those challenges and successes?
Every family farm sees challenges, anything from weather problems to crop marketing. Being a multi-generation operation can also be a challenge. Every generation has different thought processes and places importance on different things. As for successes, I would say that we’ve been able to keep growing and improving our operation despite the challenges. It’s not about gaining a whole lot more acres but improving the acres that we are lucky enough to farm. And being able to bring our son, Robert, home to farm is definitely a point of success. He’s always looking to do something just a little bit better or try some- thing new and different.                 

What new technologies have benefited your farm?
We have yield monitors on our combines and use the data to make better decisions. We’ve worked with MFA’s Nutri-Track program since about 2010 on grid-sampling and creating maps for variable-rate fertilizer and, now, variable-rate planting. Most recently, this year we added drone spraying for fungicides on our corn and soybeans. We’re looking at other ways that we can use the drone, like cover crop seeding. When it comes to technology, we’re not the first adopters. But, when we do adopt something new, we make sure we put it to good use.

How do the precision practices improve your operation?
It’s not necessarily cost savings. That may have been our intention when we first started doing it, but really, I would say it’s just a better return on investment. You’re focused on taking that ground that’s capable of raising a better crop and really giving it everything that it needs to truly maximize its potential, instead of treating the whole farm as one unit. We’re getting improved yields, and we know our soils are benefiting, too.

What advice would you give other farmers about trying new techniques and technologies?
Take a baby step at a time. We probably jumped in too fast and furious when we first started. It’s important to have a plan, test out something every year and keep building from there. You don’t have to do it on every acre. Any little bit you do is going to be an improvement.