This week was the week I got to make a trip down to Missouri – finally! I have been wanting to visit Alex Chambers, an Accelerated Sales Intern, for a long time. However, Missouri has had a few rough weeks throughout planting season where it seemed like it never stopped raining. So, planning a productive trip to Missouri was difficult. Once it stopped raining, and farmers were able to get crops in the ground, Alex got ahold of me and told me to make my way down to Missouri.

Driving to Missouri was an interesting trip. I learned an important tip while driving through the rolling hills of southern Iowa: never attempt to carry on a conversation on the phone. You will fail. While none of my phone calls would go through, I took in the beautiful scenery around me. Lots of people call southern Iowa “cattle country”, and I could see why. Every hill was full of lush grass and beautiful cattle. Being raised on the livestock side of agriculture, I was in heaven.

 I made the trip in a quick four-hour drive and had the pleasure to meet with Alex for dinner. I learned a lot from talking with Alex. She was born and raised in Texas, so the agricultural industry in Missouri is a lot different from where she is from. Alex mentioned that has been the biggest adjustment for her. She explained to me how Texas is in a completely different growing season than the Midwest. She explained to me how much she has enjoyed riding along with her Sales Account Manager, Brian Sneed, and learning what it is like to farm in Missouri.

The next day, Alex and I traveled to one of LG Seeds plots and checked to see how it was looking. Luckily, they were able to get the plot planted in between one of the heavy rains. Last week while I spent time with Sales Account Manager, Spencer Shalla, and Technical Team Agronomist, Day Hoy, I learned how to stage corn. By counting each collar of the corn, I would say Alex and I were looking at stage V4 or close to V5 corn. Alex was amazed by how much it has grown since she last checked the plot. It is amazing how fast corn grows once it gets some rain and sunshine. We also checked out the emergence throughout the plot to see if there were any specific areas that needed some attention. As we drove the back roads of rural Missouri, I could see some fields that were heavily affected by the excessive rain. Alex told me how busy the LG Seeds team has been the past week since lots of farmers are still working on planting or replanting. Alex is excited for the rush of planting season to be done so she can starting creating real relationships with the farmers in her area.

By the time I got back home, I think the corn grew four inches. I am excited to see the corn and soybeans go through the different growing stages as I continue traveling throughout the summer. Be sure to catch next weeks blog as I plan to venture out to Western Iowa.