Features Business & Policy Consumer Issues
INTRODUCTION : Building better management practices

There is a sentiment out there that with the tremendous pace of change taking
place, less diligence may be required with current farming practices. After
all, if the price of corn is nearly twice what it was compared to February 2006,
why bother quibbling over a few pennies per acre?

In other words, 'Why sweat the small stuff?'

Diligence may be its own reward, in terms of better managing the small stuff,
even when times are good. Convenience and price should not be an excuse to lose
control or lose sight of cost of production concerns. Keep in mind that building
better management practices during the good times will set the pattern for when
things inevitably begin to reverse the current trend.

At Top Crop Manager, we are ever mindful of 'the small stuff', and this
is reflected in some of the story lines we offer to you. In this issue we explore
several topics on which growers are going to have to familiarize themselves,
especially as opportunities begin emerging from this period of renewal. Plant
genetics, adventitious presence or adding value may not be new concepts, yet
their impact on marketing and processing will increase as end users demand specific
traits.

Growers have been hearing about this day for most of the past decade, where
processors, retailers and consumers eventually will pay a premium for specific
traits and quality.

That day has arrived… finally. And this is just the beginning.
Ralph Pearce, Field Editor