By Laurie Bennett, NAICC President
As president of the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants (NAICC), I am proud that our annual meeting continues to serve as a premier forum for more than 700 members. In January, attendees gathered in Orlando, Fla., to advance the organization’s mission and strengthen our professional community.
Founded in 1978, NAICC is a 501(c)(6) national society of agricultural professionals offering research and advisory services for a fee. Members operate in over 40 states and various countries, specializing in most global crop production. The alliance includes crop consultants, contract research consultants and quality assurance consultants.
Independent crop consultants provide a range of services to growers in integrated crop and farm management programs, working with farmers on a daily basis, advising them in areas such as watershed management, integrated pest management, animal waste management, global information systems technology and research trials. The primary mission of these professionals is implementing scientific and technological advances to enhance environmental sustainability and profitability on clients’ farms.
Services provided by contract researchers are as diverse as the talented professionals who go by that term but generally include field trials to test the efficacy of agricultural products, residue studies and environmental fate tests performed to support EPA applications for pesticide registration permits. Facilities owned and operated by these highly skilled scientists are in all parts of the globe, and their expertise with varied crops in diverse locations affords access by the marketers of crop inputs to a great depth of knowledge and experience.
Quality assurance professionals inspect studies and facilities and audit data to ensure testing is conducted in compliance with government regulations such as GLPs and USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) requirements, protocols and standard operating procedures. They can be employed by field site facilities, laboratories, management or sponsor companies or be contracted. Quality assurance professionals may also conduct training seminars in GLP, USDA APHIS and other regulations.
Many top businesses, associations and leaders in agriculture are NAICC members across different categories. They collaborate closely with independent crop consultants and contract researchers to build an effective and productive agricultural industry.
NAICC and similar organizations offer valuable personal and professional benefits to U.S. agriculture. NAICC’s mission remains focused on unifying and supporting crop consultants, researchers and quality assurance consultants as a forum for information exchange.
Consider joining a professional agricultural group dedicated to advancing U.S. agriculture.
The National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants (NAICC) is the national society of agriculture professionals who provide research and advisory services to clients for a fee. For more, go to NAICC.org.
