At Stine® Seed Company, we know success in the field requires more than just quality seed — it demands guidance and strategies to maximize your return on investment. That’s where our agronomy department comes in. With a deep understanding of real farm growing conditions and a commitment to grower success, our team provides the tools you need to optimize performance.
“The Stine agronomy team is the foundation of our commitment to helping growers maximize their yield potential. Our agronomy program ensures that every Stine product delivers exceptional performance and value in the field.”
Myron Stine, Stine Seed Company president
Over the past few years, we’ve emphasized growing our agronomy team to provide more regional and local agronomic support. These individuals represent different regions of the country— many of whom are certified crop advisers — and are available to provide agronomic expertise. From soil nutrient inputs to herbicide applications and seed treatment recommendations, Stine’s agronomy team helps growers map out the best plan for their operations to maximize crop performance and produce top-end yields.
“Stine’s agronomy team has grown to a group of 11 talented and knowledgeable experts,” says Stine. “We’re proud of all this team has accomplished through the years under the leadership of Director of Agronomy Tom Larson.”
Director of agronomy
In this role, Larson is responsible for the agronomic training and direction for Stine. His primary focus is to work closely with our field and technical agronomists and corn and soybean product managers to develop product and agronomic information for our sales force. He has more than 30 years of farming, agronomy and agribusiness experience, which he leverages to make timely agronomic and management decisions for our team and grower customers.
“As a team, our goal is to deliver year-round support and value to our growers,” says Larson. “Through high-yielding genetics, expert service, knowledgeable insights and the ability to answer tough agronomic questions, we’re here to serve.”
Tom Larson, Director of Agronomy
In addition to the director of agronomy, Stine’s agronomy team is composed of both field and technical agronomists.
Field agronomists
Field agronomists offer more localized, boots-on-the-ground support to our grower customers in the field. They help troubleshoot any agronomic challenges that arise and provide direct support to our sales teams. The individuals are also tasked with setting up our Product Development Plots (PDPs) throughout their assigned territories and assist with scouting the plots and taking notes on product performance throughout each crop season, from planting to harvest.
Our field agronomists include Ben Shepherd (North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota), Daniel Greblunas (Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa), Faith Hedrick (Illinois and Wisconsin), Ian Matzenbacher (Illinois, Ohio and Indiana), and Jacob Foote (Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania).
Technical agronomists
Stine technical agronomists typically handle a larger territory than field agronomists and spend much of their time evaluating data from our PDPs and Elite Yield Trials programs. They are essential in helping our sales team place the right products in the right field environments, and they even provide recommendations for products that advance to market and are made available for the upcoming planting season. Technical agronomists also provide in-field training to our sales reps and use the PDPs to showcase product performance in each of Stine’s regions.
Our technical agronomists include Tyler DuBay (national), Tony Lenz (north-central and western Corn Belt), Kayla Noble (central and northern Corn Belt), Mark Johnson (south-central U.S.), and Bill Kessinger (eastern Corn Belt to East Coast).
“Our technical and field agronomists are each critical to providing agronomic support, not only to our sales team but also to our grower customers,” says Larson. “They use data-driven insights from our plot programs, work closely with university extension and other industry experts to discern timely agronomic matters, and continue to expand their agronomic knowledge each year to ensure we’re at the top of our game.”
To learn more about our agronomy team, visit our website. To request support from an agronomist, reach out to your local Stine sales representative to get started.