Online Training Module Available for NCYC Supervisors (9-5-06)

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is providing an online training module to provide more uniformity in checking fields for National Corn Yield Contest supervisors.

The module, available to supervisors at www.novecta.com, highlights the guidelines that supervisors should follow when checking a field. NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team Chairman Bill Chase said the site provides supervisors with a standard set of guidelines when they check NCYC contestants’ fields.

“The online training module will ensure supervisors have learned all of the necessary information when they check the fields,” said Chase. “We have had very few problems in the past with uniformity in checking fields, but now NCGA will have documentation that all supervisors have visited the module and learned everything there is to know. The module gets everyone on the same page.”

The supervisors who must take the online course are the ones that NCGA assigns for initial yield checks higher than 300 bushels and for the 27 winners in the 2005 NCYC. The module takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. At the end of the course, supervisors will take a 20-question test to ensure the content was learned. NCGA will receive reports when the supervisors have visited and completed the course.

After this year’s contest, NCGA will gather information from the supervisors who took the course and refine the content if needed.

Chase said being a supervisor provides a good service to agriculture and corn production.

“A supervisor helps our corn grower contestants and the corn industry,” Chase said. “The NCYC is like an ongoing research project for corn growers, helping growers find how yields have increased, what planting practices are beneficial and what herbicides or pesticides work best. Without the supervisors, the NCYC would not be possible. NCGA appreciates their voluntary work.”

Chase said those interested in becoming a supervisor should contact Max Starbuck at starbuck@ncga.com.

Supervisors should click on the “Novecta Learning Center” link on the left-hand side of the Novecta Web page and enter a user name and password to access the module. If a supervisor has not provided NCGA with an e-mail address, they are encouraged to do so soon, and NCGA will get a user name and password established for them.

The NCYC is in its 41st year. It is the largest agricultural production contest in the nation giving corn growers the opportunity to display their production skills.

For more information, visit www.ncga.com.