On the Cutting Edge

Back in the day (way back!) when The Mister's father and uncle started farming, they soon became known as the guys who were willing to be on the cutting edge. They educated themselves and thought of innovative methods to try and tried other folk's innovative ideas. They installed 2-way radios between the employee's trucks and the office for more efficient communication. Here's a snapshot of The Mister's uncle on the left and his father on the right, at their office, next to the radio:



They also kept very precise records for each field, tracking the inputs and returns on every field. You might hear one of them say, "Well, you know, field 29's yields are always lower than the others because of that sand bar through the field." They ended up knowing the tendencies of every patch of dirt on the farm.

Another innovation on the farm was to use test plots, just like the Universities do, only smaller. They would use very precise applications of fertilizer on these test areas and then track the results. Very scientific, I would say.

The Morrison Brothers were early adopters of 4-row equipment, when the norm was 2-row, and then later 6-row equipment when 4-row was the standard. They figured that the increased expense in machinery was worth it for one man to accomplish more work.

In the 1970's, they entered the dairy business, and Arizona Dairy (on Elliot and Sossaman) is still in operation today. The dairy was state of the art; every single cow was artificially inseminated, though that was a new way of doing things. They had an IBM mini-computer (which was not "mini" by any means - picture two rolltop desks put together) that kept track of every animal ever on the place, including each cow's milk production. For a while, they used the methane produced by the cow's manure to generate electricity for the dairy.

The entrepreneurial and innovative spirit got passed down to the next generation as well. When The Mister and his brother started farming together, we bought a computer (looking back, of course, we laugh at the fact that our cell phones have more power and capacity than that first computer) and invested in a bale tracking program. We knew which bale of cotton came from which field and the quality of that bale, and that helped us plan for the next crop. We bought a module builder when most farmers were still using trailers to take their cotton to the gin. Yes, the trailers got ginned faster, but our labor and vehicle expenses were less, and soon all the farmers were using module builders.

Now another generation has received the innovative genes. The First Cousin's sons, who currently run our farming operations here as well as their own farm in Gila Bend, are looking into GPS-guided tractors. Apparently, these tractors can be programmed to adjust precisely for any part of the field that is troublesome. Need more fertilizer on one part? Got a sandy area in one corner? The tractor can "remember" that every time it crosses that field.

Okay, I feel better now. It's been 3 weeks since we started the great Computer Overhaul and Foray into Less Paper; the last few days have been filled with some frustration as things "almost" work, yes, we're very close, but not quite, this works but not that, and now we must de-bug this... The Mister and I have been spending our evenings tweaking things so everything works as advertised, and then much of the spare moments of the day doing the same. So it's helpful to remind myself that this innovation and entrepreneurial spirit stuff really is worth it, even though it takes some work. Thankfully, one of The Mister's greatest qualities is his persistence!