In the 1994 October Today's Farmer, I discussed the value of maintaining good cropping systems records. In the 11 years since that column, the requirements for efficient on-farm record keeping have increased. Obviously, autumn is the time to collect and maintain many of the 2005 crop yield records. It is also a very good time to summarize the 2005 field season. You can do this by recording and interpreting the agronomic practices that you used to produce the 2005 crop.

Continuous evaluation is needed to properly manage your agricultural resources. Crop records can also help you qualify for state and federal program funding. MFA Incorporated has developed programs to help collect, maintain and interpret your on-farm records. With MFA, you benefit through expanded expertise, computing power, time management and information interpretation.

In last month's column, I discussed the Technical Service Provider program and how organizations like MFA, in concert with our landowner-members, would be key players in helping manage government conservation practices. Good record keeping is obviously an important practice in that partnership. One example of good records being used to qualify for government programs is the Conservation Security Program (CSP) offered through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The CSP program is unlike many other NRCS programs in that it is not based upon solving existing conservation problems. It is designed to reward landowners who are already using good conservation practices. One NRCS publication states, "In short, CSP will reward the best and motivate the rest." The record-keeping requirement for CSP is extensive. To qualify, landowners must be able to provide past crop production information on items such as crop yield, pesticide use, fertilizer use, planting practices and tillage operations.

Besides making you a better land steward, CSP contracts can be financially rewarding. CSP contracts can reach $45,000 per year over a 10-year contract life. Over the next 7 years, the government is committing $13.4 billion for this program. In Missouri alone, 2005 CSP contracts were set at over $12 million.

Is it too late if you did not participate in CSP during 2005? Actually, CSP has been administered in very few regions. Only six of 70 Missouri watersheds were enrolled in CSP during 2004-05. Eventually, many more will become eligible. Since land-use record keeping is critical for CSP qualification, many landowners still have time to prepare for future CSP contracts that may be awarded in their watersheds. You can do so by initiating sound conservation practices and maintaining records of those practices in an efficient and easily recoverable way. Over the past 10 years, MFA Incorporated has tried to prepare our members for programs like CSP. We have done this through our Certified Crop Adviser, precision agriculture and crop consulting programs. In fact, many 2005 CSP recipients would not have qualified or would have qualified at lower funding levels if they had not been using MFA's agronomy programs. In other words, the efforts of our progressive landowners to partner with MFA by using our agronomy services are now being rewarded. I could point to other MFA-based service programs such as the Health Track Beef Alliance as examples of progressive record keeping being rewarded. 

The desire to qualify for federal programs should not be the driving force behind good land-use record keeping. Good record keeping will make you a better land steward and more efficient agricultural producer. The agricultural retail business has always kept good records concerning product sales and product use, especially when our custom application services are used.

Many of our current agronomy programs are geographically based, which also endears them to external conservation and societal philosophies. An example of this is our Geographical Information Systems (GIS) on-farm record-keeping services offered at several MFA retail locations. The program is designed to allow efficient information flow between the landowner and MFA, using a very standardized format. We use the Site-Specific Technology Development Group web-based suite of programs to deliver our GIS package. It is simply the most progressive and complete on-farm record-keeping program in existence.

Please contact your MFA Agri Services Center to find out more about the landowner/agribusiness partnering programs we are currently offering and developing.

The bottom line is that extensive record keeping has become an integral component of all farming and ranching operations. We must improve the way information is collected and maintained. MFA Incorporated is committed to help manage, interpret, catalog and inventory the agronomic information database required by our customers. With our wide footprint, we are also in the best position to pool information to develop best management practices and recommendations we promote to our members.