Hurlock, Maryland
Russ Stevens I Choose Stine
A chance meeting that lead to a lasting relationship for R.C. Farms and Stine®
HurlockMaryland
Sometimes a chance meeting can lead to a lasting relationship. That was the case for Maryland grower Russ Stevens when he met Stine® Seed Company founder Harry Stine on a trip to Iowa.
“It was pretty interesting some of the things he told me, the genetics and all that they were doing. You just got that feeling. It was nice to know that he was agriculture oriented. He liked farmers. It wasn’t a big business. It was Mr. Stine trying to make farming better,” said Russ.
Russ has been working with Stine ever since. He and his farm partner, Dale Roe, own and operate R.C. Farms — a corn and soybean operation in Hurlock, Maryland.
“Well, it’s a little bit challenging. My daughters both are not interested in the farm, so I made a commitment to myself that I’d help some young farmer get started. I always told him (Dale) that if he was interested in farming, it would happen. He’s been here about 17 to 18 years now, and it’s starting to happen,” noted Russ.
Since that time, they’ve also had the opportunity to collaborate with our reps in the area — Stine Eastern Director of Sales Scott Wagner and Independent Sales Representative Greg Harris. Greg also happens to be a long-time friend of Dale’s.
Russ and Dale have invested in Stine products for their farm because of their performance and the need for alternative modes of action to combat tough weeds in their region — a decision that lead them to plant Stine LibertyLink® GT27® soybeans.
“We had to find something else to help us control our weeds, and we knew that the (LibertyLink) GT27s were going to let us use other products and Liberty®, and since we’ve done that, it looks like to me that it’s going to help us immensely,”
On R.C. Farms and many other operations in the region, growers have been experiencing more and more problems with Roundup-resistant marestail, among other challenging weeds. Luckily, they’ve found relief with LibertyLink GT27. And they’re also finding benefits to the system’s overall performance.
“We have 41GA02s; it’s the (LibertyLink) GT27 that we planted this year. They went very well. … The soybeans just look good,” noted Dale.
This year, Russ and Dale also added Stine Enlist E3® soybeans into the mix — a decision they’re quite happy with.
“This year our Enlist soybeans look very well. We’ve kept the weeds out of them. And they seem like they came up, had good early season vigor, and they really look good,” Dale said. “I feel like the advantages of the Enlist E3 system are that we’re getting the latest technology in the seed plus the ability to hopefully control weeds with a less volatile product.”
Russ Stevens
From relationships to service to product performance and more, we’re happy to collaborate with R.C. Farms to bring success to their operation. Thanks for choosing Stine, Russ and Dale!
