For farmers, sometimes it’s the little things that could mean the difference between a more healthy crop, a higher yield and more profit.
That is something that Inverness farmer Preston Arrington, of Preston Arrington Farms, knows all too well, and that is why he joined one of Total Acre’s farming camps.
Total Acre is a program that was founded by some of the nation’s top growers aimed at sharing information among farmers in order to maximize each year’s crop potential.
Co-founder and owner David Hula, who currently owns the world record for most corn bushels per acre at 623, was one of multiple Total Acre representatives on hand at Arrington’s farm shop in May, talking to over two dozen farmers from Mississippi, Kentucky and Louisiana.
Arrington, a member of Total Acre’s Kentucky camp, said that he recognized the value in the program’s mission to share knowledge among farmers.
“My biggest advantage is surrounding myself with people who are forward thinking, who are willing to try new stuff and figure out possibly a better and more profitable way to do things,” Arrington said.
On a typical site visit, Hula and others from Total Acre walk fields, dig into the ground and examine the current shape of the year’s crops to offer any advice to the program’s members, based on their years and vast knowledge of getting the highest yield and profit in the most efficient ways possible.
“Essentially, the idea is farmers helping farmers and learning from one another,” McKenzie Cain, Total Acre Grower Support & Events manager told The Enterprise-Tocsin during the Inverness visit last month.
Cain said that, traditionally, some farmers have been cagy about their operations and the things that have made them successful.
“They’re not always super honest about what they’re doing on their farm,” Cain said.
Back in 2018, Cain said that Total Acre co-founder and owner Randy Dowdy approached Hula about forming an organization rooted in the idea of farmers helping farmers.
Members join on a three-year commitment, with three major meetings occurring throughout the year.
During Total Acre’s annual meeting in January, and on site visits to local farms, growers have an opportunity to hear the latest when it comes to technology, fertilizer, pesticide application and much more.
Currently, there are over 500 members nationwide, including Alex Harrell, who is the current record holder for soybeans at 218 bushels per acre.
Harrell was one of multiple speakers and one of two current crop yield record holders who talked to farmers in Inverness last month.
Not everyone who joins Total Acre is going to break records, but they may get those nuggets of insight from fellow farmers that may end up making a huge difference in yield and profit.
For Arrington, the Total Acre mission is about helping everyone to put their best foot forward during the growing season.
“We see ourselves as a team and willing to help each other. It can be very important. It’s important to me,” Arrington said.
