Of all the decisions a farmer must make in 2025, hiring a crop consultant may be the easiest of all. Even champion golfers like Tiger Woods have a coach, and champion farmers know they need a consultant to help them scout for pests, write fertility prescriptions and make decisions that lead to higher yields and profit.

For me, the value of a crop consultant is driven home each year during the North Carolina Agricultural Consultants Association’s annual conference. Last month’s event in Raleigh marked NCACA’s 40th anniversary.

NCACA was founded in the early 1980s, when cotton was taking off in North Carolina thanks to the boll weevil eradication program and the use of Integrated Pest Management on the farm. It takes intensive management to grow a profitable crop, and cotton requires a steep learning curve.

To help them master the temperamental crop, many farmers knew they needed an independent consultant, particularly to scout for pests. Early on, those consultants met informally but soon saw the need for an association to trade ideas and improve their skills. By 1985, the group had a constitution. NCACA was officially chartered.

Those who were active in NCACA’s creation are still consulting today: Billy McLawhorn, Al Averitt, Bill Peele, Will Connell and Stan Winslow. At the 2024 conference, they gathered to share their vision and need for an association that brings independent crop consultants together.

Related:Uncertainty remains certain for farmers

One clear takeaway is the camaraderie among the consultants. They are committed to helping their farmer-customers increase yields and profit.

Sure, scouting for pests is still a top job for a consultant, but their work goes far beyond that. They are dedicated to increasing their knowledge at these annual conferences, so they can share the challenges their farmer-customers faced in the recent growing season and work together to find new solutions.

Certainly, farmers will analyze the costs and benefits of hiring a consultant. Making the call to do so is an important business decision. The benefit of hiring a consultant is that your consultant is independent. Consultants’ highest calling is to serve the farmer they work for, much like the best investment advisers are fiduciaries who are required by law to focus on their client’s interests rather than their own.

It’s a wonderful thing.