Behind every successful grower is science and strategy – both of which come together in a comprehensive pest management program, as BASF Technical Crop Production Specialist AJ Woodyard helped explain during the recent BASF Science Behind event. The program also featured farmers Randy Dowdy of Georgia and Kip Cullers of Missouri.

AJ emphasized that each farmers challenges are different, leading to each needing a different solution. The most important part is identifying the areas that need help and seeking an individualized solution.

“It’s always fun to do these events and work with guys like Kip Cullers and Randy Dowdy who are here at this event because they’ve got so many unique ideas and they think outside the box. I think that’s one of the things we always have to think about. Changing, thats another thing that I keep hearing coming up. We got to be willing to change. That’s something I challenge growers to think about. We can talk about what Kip and Randy do or what BASF is looking at but really what it comes down to is what are you looking at on your farm. What strategies are you implementing to get a feel for what’s working and what’s not working”

“What we like to do is take a look at a lot of different aspects of the production system. Coming off 2012 we all know the challenge and we all know what water means for crop production. There are a lot of other factors that we can manage to help mitigate against the stresses like a 2012. We look at fertility programs, genetics, nitrogen programs, cultural practices and then we focus a lot on the crop protection and overall plant health.”