Advanced Crop Management

WWW.ADVCROP.COM (515)-341-6275 JOB DESCRIPTION

ADVANCED CROP MANAGEMENT

Spring Grid Sampling

ACM personnel are in the field immediately as the frost thaws. Objective is to help maximize crop yield, minimize fertilizer costs, increase farm profitability, and practice sustainable agriculture. Soil tests taken from grid samples are used to determine exact soil nutrient needs for corn, soybean, vegetable (Green Giant), hay ground, etc.

Field Equipment:

ATV (Kawasaki 650)

ATV accessories

Toughbook Laptop (mounted in all weather box on ATV)

Ag Leader 1500 or Garmin GPS (operated on laptop with HGIS program)

Probe (for 6” to 8” top soil cores)

Hand Tools

½ ton Truck (Ford F150)

Single axle trailer

Skills:

Navigation- use of state road maps, county plat maps, and aerial photos to locate fields.

Communication- via phone/email/in person- with ACM personnel, agronomists/salesmen/location managers, farmers, and Miller’s Kawasaki of Algona.

Computer- operation of HGIS/GPS program…Set up to create field map for driving boundaries and terrain (crop lines, timbers, terraces, waterways, etc.) of the field. Set up grid with HGIS to be used to map satellite GPS test points in field.

-transfer files from toughbook laptop to wireless laptop. Email files in organized folders to agronomists on time.

-email expense reports on schedule.

Work Orders- clearly written, faxed on time for billing w/ e-files, and organized hardcopy files.

Time Mngmt./Scheduling- preparation/strategy to maximize ‘in the field’ time during daylight hrs.

Organization- hardcopy files, computer files. Setting up ‘mobile’ office in hotel room.

Field Assessment- decision making on whether soil conditions are fit for taking quality cores for soil tests (based on soil type, moisture, current crop, tillage).

ATV- troubleshooting 4-wheeler problems/adjustments. Phone communication with Miller’s Kawasaki or ACM personnel to ‘walk through’ and fix 4-wheeler in remote locations long distance from Algona; or to find and work with a local Kawasaki dealer/repair shop to fix mechanical problem.

Soil Sampling- excellence in spacing quality cores for soil tests.

Ways to Exceed Expectation:

Selling- adding ‘new acres’ to the sales for local agronomy salesmen. Capitalizing on potential farmer interest for soil tests on additional acres-- (‘in the field’ sales).

Mechanical- diagnosing and fixing unexpected computer, electrical wiring, probe, ATV (cooling system, electrical, fuel, engine, frame, etc.) problems in the field.

Land Eval.- ability to decide order of sampling fields based off of soils location, physical attributes observed on aerial photos/maps, and current/recent weather on given locations.

Speed- after a handle on equipment and excellence in GPS grid soil testing, sample additional acres through maximizing efficiency in and out of the field.

Decision Making- ability to make call on whether to sample a particular field or move out to another location based on soil core quality.