Map for Success

This Southern States Service Center helps customers manage everything from crop application rates to government reports.

Steve Majchrzak (on truck) and Paul Miles say their new floater-applicator truck helps bring first-class service to customers on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The Delmarva is a scenic, sparsely populated peninsula on the East Coast. It draws millions of visitors each year from nearby cities to its Atlantic beaches and Chesapeake Bay shores.

Yet the Delmarva remains one of the most productive farming regions of the Eastern U.S. Long a Southern States stronghold, the peninsula is dotted with cooperatives, company-owned stores and service centers. One of these is the Preston, MD, Service Center.

The Preston store provides crop inputs and application services to producers in five counties. "We’ve got everything a grower needs, from seed to nutrient and crop-protection products," says manager Gerard Bourgedis, Jr.

"We apply products on about 30,000 acres," adds Paul Miles, a Southern States sales representative. But the technology of that application process has changed.

Using GPS-linked, variable-rate fertilization equipment since 1997, Preston Service Center’s skilled technicians cruise across fields in big floater-applicator trucks and give each acre a precise amount of fertilization as determined by soil tests. What’s more, the latest computer software programs link every aspect of field-crop management for farmer-customers, says Miles.

Lab monitors and software linked to GPS units allow Southern States technicians to fertilize fields using variable-rate technology.

Cab monitors and software linked to GPS units allow Southern States technicians to fertilize fields using variable-rate technology.

Russ and Cindy Stevens of RC Farms grow more than 1,000 acres of corn, soybean and vegetable crops not far from Preston. They are among the first Preston Service customers to use the latest MapShots Inc. EASi Suite software.

New for 2008, the program allows them to make precise applications of crop inputs. It also stores data and generates reports required by tough new environmental rules that aim to keep the nearby Chesapeake Bay free of agricultural runoff.

"It looks like we’ll be able to document our compliance with the state nutrient plan in a way that is easy on us and meets the requirements of the law," says Cindy.

Miles adds that the latest MapShots software can help a farmer with USDA reports, crop-share agreements and the historical farm-input data regulators may require.

For Russ and Cindy Stevens it is personal service tailored to their farm’s needs that has secured them as longtime customers of Preston Service Center. "There’s a learning curve with this latest software," admits Russ. "But Steve and Paul are working with us to make the most of it."