Advice on how to become an agronomist.

[woodylane]

I think you are wrong. It’s the course which many of the senior agronomists and ones doing the interviewing have done.
If you have three candidates all with 2:1 bsc Hons but one has a masters degree, the one with the masters degree will get an interview over the other 2. That’s just the way it works. It’s called Meritocracy.
The OP stated that they couldn’t get a job. This is a way to stand out. Shadowing an agronomist in your spare time isn’t a way to stand out, that’s just expected!
And of course it’s the start of the journey, it’s about getting the job in the first place. Everything else is largely irrelevant until you have employment.

Well I have neither a BSC or an MSC and it’s not held me back, it may have taken me a little longer to get where I wanted to be and ahead of candidates with more qualifications. I wasn’t trying to imply it was the wrong way to go just that it’s not the only way. Just my humble opinion

 

[Hampton]

Well I have neither a BSC or an MSC and it’s not held me back, it may have taken me a little longer to get where I wanted to be and ahead of candidates with more qualifications. I wasn’t trying to imply it was the wrong way to go just that it’s not the only way. Just my humble opinion

I agree it’s not the only way, but I’ll imagine your journey has been a lot harder than some of the guys fresh out of college.
I’m not trying to belittle your path, just point someone onto an easier one.
Sorry if I came across abrupt

 

[woodylane]

I agree it’s not the only way, but I’ll imagine your journey has been a lot harder than some of the guys fresh out of college.
I’m not trying to belittle your path, just point someone onto an easier one.
Sorry if I came across abrupt

Yes I’d say it has been a harder but I feel I’m better equipped to talk to growers as I’ve worked my way up from the tractor seat. Although I would say the guys fresh out of college have lots of useful skills that I’ve missed out on. Great to bounce ideas off each other, no problem about sounding abrupt it’s sometimes difficult to convey things in text form. All the best.

 

[ollie989898]

It might be the easiest way but it’s not necessarily the best way and I wouldn’t say it sets you apart. Speaking from personal experience there seems to be a lot of merit given to real world experience rather than classroom. Having BASIS doesn’t make you an agronomist I would say it’s merely the start of the journey.

I quite agree.

I likened BASIS to doing the theory driving test. You could pass it having never set foot in a car. It was a big enough shock to me going through that change and I could remember a lot of what I had been taught about crop science 6 years earlier. You learn programmes for crops to be able to pass your BASIS exams: 'errr, yes, I would start tackling a blackgrass problem by using better rotations in addition to stacked autumn herbicides in cereal crops, for example, I might use liberator and defy and then follow it with Atlantis. For cleavers I might add Starane'. Back in the real world, you couldn't use such a combination without bankrupting the farmer and in reality the products you have available were called something else anyway.

Knowing that red means stop, amber means get ready and green means go does not mean you can expect to hoon around Spa at 120mph.

 

[eagleye]

lots of good advice above, we are an arable farm in co down and you are welcome to visit - no jobs available here at present but do use agronomy advice and was BASIS trained about 15 years ago

 

[Hedger]

I'd also add there are plenty of merchants looking to take on farm reps and they'll happily pay for your agronomy training if you show willing

 

[RADkelly]

I've applied to all the trainee agronomist programmes and I've applied to programmes such as MDS. I've also been applying to any field trial officer jobs I have seen advertised.
The next step I am taking is to check if there are any opportunities available on arable farms/businesses to get experience.
I was told that its preferable to have experience in the area you'd like to work permanently as an agronomist because of grower relationships so I am currently looking for any opportunities around Nottinghamshire and the surrounding areas.

 

[Brisel]

AICC | Independent Agronomy | Association of Independent Crop Consultants

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[RADkelly]

lots of good advice above, we are an arable farm in co down and you are welcome to visit - no jobs available here at present but do use agronomy advice and was BASIS trained about 15 years ago

That might be an idea, to see what exactly to expect from working on an arable farm etc. I'm currently in Co.Antrim myself so not too far from Co.Down.

 

[matttargett4]

This is interesting at an interesting time.

when I took basis as a 32yr old farmer in 2018 I was enlightened to graduate training agronomy apprenticeship whatever you call it world.

i had always assumed that it would be easy to get a job in the sector but seemingly it’s a bit like being a bloke in the harper bar trying to find a woman, the odds are against you and they know it so unless you’ve got something going for you, alleged big d*ck, extra cool, big farm etc then you’re getting nothing.

the tales they were telling me about 3rd interviews and team building weekends and the way these big companies were treating them made me suggest several times, just ring them up, ask for the biggest fish you can get and ask them straight wtf?

as others have suggested there is a tonne of value in knowing stuff they can’t teach you, of the people on my course my technical knowledge of activesvetc wasn’t the best but because I had been doing it I could talk till they were bored about real cultural stuff that I had seen and different scenarios that I had experienced, remember that in the end you will be walking into a farm talking to someone who sees you as a nuisance and an expense and you have to convince them you’re competent and worth listening to, so you’ve got to be able to know it and tell it to them like you do.

my suggestion, ring @Brisel or someone similar, someone hot on it, go work for them, follow them around and question every move they make, do basis on your own back and in 3 or 4 yrs when the world is a bit less crazy you can waltz in and tell them which job you’re going to take and not start with cleaning the toilet.

to take the harper bar scenario I found it much easier to get what I wanted in the real world with a bit of experience when the ratios were a bit more even and my average sized equipment was adequate!

 

[Brisel]

I've applied to all the trainee agronomist programmes and I've applied to programmes such as MDS. I've also been applying to any field trial officer jobs I have seen advertised.
The next step I am taking is to check if there are any opportunities available on arable farms/businesses to get experience.
I was told that its preferable to have experience in the area you'd like to work permanently as an agronomist because of grower relationships so I am currently looking for any opportunities around Nottinghamshire and the surrounding areas.

Drop @Woodlander a line.

 

[starkey92]

I was in a similar position to yours a few years ago and went down the trials route to get in. In the end I've stayed there as I realized when Hutchinson's turned me down for being "not commercially minded enough" (don't say an agronomist is an advisor, say its a sales role with some advice) that it probably wasn't the job for me. If you get as far as an interview don't be hazy about where you want to live, they're about to invest a lot of money in training you and don't want to see you going to a different region when you're qualified. Feel free to send me a PM if you want to have a chat to someone who's been through the interviews recently and made the move from NI to England. Also that LG seeds job is just down the road from me....you'd be surprised how many of us are from NI round these parts!