Raven’s IGNITE event brought together 25 companies from 14 states and provinces for 2 days filled with 6 different interactive sessions regarding industry best practices, new technology solutions and valuable insights from Raven leadership and other industry experts.
Wyatt Coffman, BASF Technical Service Rep – South Dakota, and Paul Welbig, Raven Director of Strategic Partnerships, took the stage after the management roundtable and just before the OMNiPOWER demonstration. The interactive session brought awareness to Operation Weed Eradication through various statistics and an engaged Q&A session. Wyatt opened the session with the What, giving detail around the years of dedication and research BASF has committed toward weed control. He stated, “97% of farmers are concerned about pigweed and that almost 70% of those farmers believe pigweed can be eradicated.” Wyatt was also able to showcase the past, present and future of weed resistance over time – and how the present and future involve the introduction of Operation Weed Eradication.
Paul drove home the Why of the coalition. He shared the importance of leading the change in the industry mindset, preserving available tools in weed control and the unburden overreliance on chemistry alone. He spoke to 55 retailers about the importance of targeting the last weed standing and about the investment our customers can make in the future if they focus on eliminating those escaped weeds.
Operation Weed Eradication’s mission is to change farmer practices from weed management to on-farm eradication mindset by channeling industry-wide resources and expertise into a coalition that farmers rely on.
From feedback gathered in a post-event survey, Raven’s IGNITE event was well appreciated by customers who valued the information and best practices they gained.
