Podcast Short #6: Key Qualities You Need in an Agronomist with David Miller
Regenerative Agriculture Podcast
AEA Marketing
4.7 • 548 Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2024
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, John speaks with his friend and colleague, David Miller, Director of Applied Agronomyat Advancing Eco Agriculture. Together, they discuss the essential knowledge and skills required to excel as an agronomist, especially within the regenerative agriculture space.
David shares insights from his 15-year journey in agronomy, emphasizing the importance of big-picture thinking and a deep understanding of both plant physiology and soil biology. He talks about the balance between maintaining a high-level overview of agricultural systems while calling upon detailed, crop-specific knowledge in his work.
This conversation highlights the need for agronomists to understand the timing of various applications relative to the specific growth stages of plants. David provides examples from pecan and cotton farming, illustrating how precision nutrient management and timing can significantly impact crop yield and health.
Additional Resources
To learn more about AEA, please visit: https://advancingecoag.com/
To learn more about AEA's approach to agronomy, please watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dShMf8VmrM
About John Kempf
John Kempf is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA). A top expert in biological and regenerative farming, John founded AEA in 2006 to help fellow farmers by providing the education, tools, and strategies that will have a global effect on the food supply and those who grow it.
Through intense study and the knowledge gleaned from many industry leaders, John is building a comprehensive systems-based approach to plant nutrition – a system solidly based on the sciences of plant physiology, mineral nutrition, and soil microbiology.
Support For This Show & Helping You Grow
Since 2006, AEA has been on a mission to help growers become more resilient, efficient, and profitable with regenerative agriculture.
AEA works directly with growers to apply its unique line of liquid mineral crop nutrition products and biological inoculants. Informed by cutting-edge plant and soil data-gathering techniques, AEA's science-based programs empower farm operations to meet the crop quality markers that matter the most.
AEA has created real and lasting change on millions of acres with its products and data-driven services by working hand-in-hand with growers to produce healthier soil, stronger crops, and higher profits.
Beyond working on the ground with growers, AEA leads in regenerative agriculture media and education, producing and distributing the popular and highly-regarded Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, inspiring webinars, and other educational content that serve as go-to resources for growers worldwide.
Learn more about AEA's regenerative programs and products: https://www.advancingecoag.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, friends, this is John. Welcome back to the Region of Agriculture podcast. I have another |
| 0:05.0 | short episode for you today, and I'm pretty excited about this one because it's with a longtime |
| 0:08.9 | friend of mine, David Miller. David and I have been working together for 15 years, and we have |
| 0:13.7 | had so much fun in those in that time, haven't we, David? So, David, you're now one of the top leaders of the team, the AEA team and the agronomy side. |
| 0:24.7 | You've been in this space for 15 years. |
| 0:26.3 | You've gotten to work with lots of consultants. |
| 0:29.0 | What is the knowledge-based necessary to be a really good agronomist in this regenerative agriculture space or just even a really good agronomist |
| 0:39.6 | generally. What are the opportunities that you see and what do you see that is so commonly missing? |
| 0:45.9 | Well, thank you for having me, John. It's been a very exciting journey and continues to be exciting |
| 0:51.4 | because of all the new things we get to learn and all the things that |
| 0:56.2 | we have learned and the many times that we thought we knew something and then figured |
| 1:01.4 | out that we have a lot more to learn. So what do what does a consultant need to do or know? |
| 1:08.9 | I would I would respond to that by a consultant needs to be able to think big picture, |
| 1:14.6 | needs to be able to understand systems overall and look at plant physiology, look at soil biology, |
| 1:22.3 | and have a deep understanding of all of that. |
| 1:26.4 | So, okay, you just mentioned a couple things that seem to be very different from each other. |
| 1:30.5 | You mentioned big picture thinking, systems thinking, and I'd like to explore what those are. |
| 1:34.5 | But then you said, understand plant physiology and soil biology and these various pieces very deeply. |
| 1:40.6 | How can you understand things very deeply and yet have a big picture perspective at the same time? |
| 1:45.5 | To be a consultant is not something you do, you know, you decide to do one morning and that afternoon you're top agronomist. |
| 1:53.2 | It really does take time and a lot of study, which is also exciting about our team because we have very, very enthusiastic, very brilliant minds that have applied themselves to some very, very in-depth study and training. |
| 2:10.5 | And you have led that team, meaning myself and the team as it grew and now I'm honored to to play a significant |
... |
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