A season for getting ready

We all look for indicators that spring is on the way—longer days, warmer temperatures, buds on trees. Those are all inspiring things, but I have a different take. From my perspective, the most certain sign that a new season is on the way is a grease gun. A grease gun in action on the machinery employed to plant crops is a tell-tale sign. It means you are getting ready.

Grease guns are running at MFA, too. Fertilizer is staged, and seed is moving. It’s not planting season yet—but it’s close. We are getting ready. Yes, for this season, but when you look at our trajectory, MFA has been getting ready since last spring and even further back.

Our efforts to better serve you are ongoing and always evolving. On the agronomic side, we continue to deploy FieldAlytics, the digital platform that is transforming how we plan, dispatch and deliver service across the cooperative.

In a way, ag retailers have traveled the same path as row-crop farmers and precision agriculture, which Allison Jenkins writes about on page 14. Computing and geospatial technology are catching up with the vision and promises the industry has been talking about for more than 30 years. 

We’ve been moving with those visions all the while. We replaced paper maps and written orders with dispatch platforms that did some—but not all—of what we needed. Now, FieldAlytics brings system-wide, real-time digital logistics. With it, applicators, drivers and managers can see live-updated maps of work orders and application assets. Our teams spend more time in the field and less time in the truck. We know the exact field we’re heading to and the best route to get there. We monitor equipment and know where it needs to go next.

“We are getting ready. Yes, for this season, but when you look at our trajectory, MFA has been getting ready since last spring and even further back.”

In my view, though, the real power of technology like FieldAlytics is how it connects us as a team. With this kind of digital insight, MFA can share equipment and personnel across regions. Field conditions can vary greatly in our territory. If one location is slammed and another has capacity, we can shift resources. That also means we can maximize your cooperative’s capital investment in application and tending equipment, covering more acres per rig and covering those acres more efficiently. It all adds up to getting over more acres with more accuracy and delivering on our core value of innovation and technology. It helps managers work together to move faster in the rush of spring.

Of course, spring readiness isn’t just about crops. On the livestock side, February and March are a launch point for getting spring calves to the next stage and turning animals out to graze. As the winter feeding season winds down, MFA’s feed team is on the task. We have products in place for your needs—from innovative new products like Dialed In, a feed formulation geared toward reducing stress in cattle and show animals at critical times, to our top-of-the-line mineral, Ricochet, that helps get livestock ready for the upcoming days on pasture.

Spring is on the way. It’s time to get ready. We appreciate you trusting MFA to be part of that process. 

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