MBA Intern Series: The Personal Touch- In the Field with our Agronomists

By Max Krasilovsky  /  August 11, 2016

Max Krasilovsky is a MBA intern based in St. Louis, MO who works with the Agricultural Development and Raw Materials teams in our Global Procurement Office.  So far, Max has traveled to Idaho and Belgium and will also be traveling to Colorado and Brazil over the course of the summer. Max is currently pursuing a MBA at NYU Stern focusing in supply chain management and global sourcing.

 

Doug Peck (our head Idaho agronomist), Rye (an agricultural development intern) and I swayed back and forth as our pickup bounced down a dirt side road about 30 miles north of Idaho Falls. The day before, a grower had called Doug with uncertainty about how to handle a key decision during the growing season. It was nearing the moment to treat his barley fields with growth regulator. Inaccurate treatment of growth regulator can have a serious impact on yield; treat the crop too early and you cut off its potential for optimal growth, but treat the crop too late and you run the risk of lodging and are now subject to greater disease and developmental pressures.  

We rumbled to a stop behind where the grower stood surveying his land - barley stretched on as far as the eye could see. There was a clear look of uncertainty on the grower’s face as we walked to meet him. The grower asked the seemingly simple question, “What should I be doing now?”⚊but the answer he got back was anything but simple. Doug gave a detailed assessment of the head and leaf development, conducted moisture and disease checks and evaluated stalk diameters. I could see Doug mentally creating a series of recommendations for the grower as we drove from field to field performing similar analyses. When we finished, Doug laid out the exact schedule for the grower to treat his barley fields and provided recommendations on future seeding densities to maximize yields. The grower smiled, thanked us and left us with firm handshakes as we climbed back into our truck and headed back down the interstate to Idaho Falls.  

 

Doug and Rye walking barley fields in Idaho.