The article is about the annual Pro farmer Midwest crop tour. Marty Tegtmeier is a crop tour veteran, having done it for five years straight. He states that he learns something new every year. The crop tour stretches from Iowa to Sioux Falls every summer. The crop scouts meet in Columbus, Ohio, and receive training on sampling corn and soybean fields. The tour is by air with stops every fifteen to twenty miles.
Tegtmeier confesses that he benefits more from face-to-face interactions with farmers because they get to brainstorm on ideas. They also rub shoulders with crop experts who are beneficial to them as farmers. The article then describes the conditions of this year’s tour being worse as compared to last year. The scouts discovered that delayed crops were not just a western Corn Belt problem. They encountered field after field of delayed corn. Chip Flory, a Pro Farmer editor, described how in 2012, the tour experienced mature corn compared to 2013.
The article describes the events that take place during the Annual Pro farm crop tour. This is a new aspect of farming, involving fun and learning. The crop tour allows farmers to participate in learning a lot during their visits (Schafer). The editors of the article, however, failed to share what the farmers learned at the tour despite the delayed corn. They should have explained what they learned from the experts they met.
Most farmers subscribe to these articles to get information on how to improve their practice. The article offers information the farmers already know. It would have been better if the editors tried to come up with explanations to help new farmers.
Works Cited
Schafer, Ed Clark, and Sara. “Yield Prospects by Land and Air.” Farm Journal. 2013. Web.