Conservation Agronomist

HEARTLAND CO-OP•Clive, IA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for helping farmers increase profitability by adopting better soil health and conservation practices through sales efforts, education events, and program management.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree (B.A. or B.S.) from four-year college or university; or five to ten years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations.
Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Additional statistical concepts such as correlations and summarizing are also required.
Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Knowledge of spreadsheet, word processing, accounting, and Precision Ag software.
Ability to link pc based systems to Precision Ag hardware for firmware upgrades.
Must maintain a valid driver’s license and commercial insurability at all times.

Responsibilities

Engage with Heartland’s farmer customers and prospects by phone, email, and in person to educate, train and sell the value of soil health and conservation farming practices including, but not limited to: Cover crops, No-till or reduced tillage, Variable rate fertilizer application or N stabilizers, In-season N application, Relay cropping or diversifying rotations, Buffer, filter, or prairie strips, Saturated buffers or bioreactors.
Assist other Heartland Co-op agronomists with field days, grower meetings, and educational events including rainfall simulations, soil health demonstrations, and cover crop or saturated buffer tours.
Engage with local NRCS staff, soil and water conservation districts, watershed management authorities, ACWA, INREC, Iowa Seed Association, Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), and other conservation organizations to develop and support partnerships and programs that directly assist farmers in adopting conservation practices.
Provide technical assistance and logistical support to Heartland Co-op’s conservation team in the following areas: Manage and maintain integrity of data collection for Heartland Co-op’s Conservation Sales Manager Platform, Coordinate quarterly invoicing with Heartland Co-op’s conservation agronomists for Heartland’s conservation programs and partnerships, Utilize data from the CSM platform to generate annual reports, quarterly updates, and new lead lists for conservation sales calls, Write grant proposals and manage application requirements and deadlines, Assist conservation agronomists and their farmer customers with public conservation cost share program applications.
Collaborate with other Heartland Co-op conservation agronomists to implement Heartland Co-op’s conservation programs and partnerships including, but not limited to: Manage sales and support for the Central Iowa Cover Crop Partnership, Conducting agronomic consultations and exit surveys for customers enrolled in PFI administered cover crop partnership.
Conduct site vetting, surveying, and project management for the Heartland Coop and Iowa Seed Association Conservation Drainage Program.
Aid in the training of Heartland Co-op’s sales staff on state, federal, and private conservation programs and the benefits available for growers.
Collect and populate for Heartland Co-op’s Conservation Sales Manager platform.
Prepare work plans, budgets, quarterly and annual reports, and support grant developments.
Must maintain a valid driver’s license and commercial insurability at all times.
Other duties as assigned by management.