How Much Ground Do Agronomists Cover?

[Bigjon44]

Agree Rob
Being the sprayer operator myself and also knowing your land for certain weeds etc you can see and know in advance alot more than the Agronomist can

 

[D14]

Would depend very much on the nature of your area and the type of clients and cropping you had.

20,000 acres in big arable country would logistically be a breeze. Drive the tramlines in your truck and you'd be done. There is no way you can realistically 'walk' fields that are 100 acres or more each- I've tried it. Besides which you've generally made your mind up 30 yards into the field anyway. I used to walk some fields a lot more comprehensively, particularly if they were unknown or new to me. What are you going to do, Atlantis one tramline and not the other? Let's be sensible. Who is going to thank you for saving £4/acre on using no herbicide but have a dirty crop or headland instead?

The old service vs non-serviced thing is always trotted out, the fact is I could behave as an absolute crook if I chose to in either situation- the good old invisible man joke. Gimme a calendar and I reckon I could do a fair few recs from those alone without ever setting foot in a field.

The hard part comes when you have cereals, maize, beet, grass and spuds and godknows what to worry about from March to July. On a big combinable farm you can bundle up all the crops and look at them together.

You all know what your typical chemical spend would be per acre or hectare, multiply it up until you see what your man must reasonably be earning and then weigh it against your level of service?

Believe me, if all agronomists were on 100K I would have stayed doing it. The reality is that the whole selling to farmers thing is about numbers and service and I've lost count of the number of people who started out young working for a company and just get stuck in the 20K plus a car slot. Fudge that. There is more to life. The industry is consolidating and you are covering more and more geographical area per salesperson these days as there are fewer and fewer but larger farms. I've had my hand in it and I personally would not recommend it to the young college leavers of today. If you are going to be successful and in the 100K per year bracket then your vocation is going to basically take over your life. You have to decide if you enjoy agriculture enough really.

There are scores of jobs being advertised for salespeople selling all kinds of stuff to farmers, I get email alerts nearly around the clock but it's the same old story, 'we'll pay you more when you're selling more'. The net result is that sales reps are probably a dying breed and in this respect Clive is probably on the money in some ways.

If you drove your truck on my tramlines I would sack you on the spot. You've got legs so use them and if you can't cover the ground on your feet then youre trying to walk to many acres.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Ok not law to the letter; but may as well be. Plus a requirement for your assurance

Farm Assurance is NOT a legal requirement either.

 

[Cowcorn]

Back in the day when we were large scale we used the services of a genius nicknamed " chemical eddie "
Eddie didnt come cheap he was charging a tenner acre back in the ninties buthe was worth every penny .
Eddie had his own farm as well and was always trying out different things and trials with lower rates etc . A 5 acre pack of Ally would toast the weeds on 25 acres using eddies special reciepe . His wild oats trick with commando was also a winner that halved the cost of use
A wonderful character who was great company in a pub though the general public needed to be careful approaching the bar towards closing time in case the got a belt of a sprayer boom when eddie would be turning on a headland !! Sadly God must have been having weed problems because Eddie was called home suddenly a decade ago . He will always remain in my memory because not only did he share his vast knowledge he also brought that special quality, the warmth of human contact with him on farm . Thats priceless and tech can never replace that imho
See you up the road some day Eddie and well have that pint !!!

 

[Gong Farmer]

Ok then on goes the chosen fungicide program. Unless of course you are doing a different rec for each field?

Of course there's a different rec for each field if they are different varieties, sowing dates etc. Any agronomist recommending the same fungicide programme for Extase and Barrel, for example, needs his BASIS qualification rescinded.

 

[kiwi pom]

Nah, to be honest, I enjoyed selling stuff at the time. I'm not sure independent agronomy would have that.

It doesn't have to be an independent either, processors have their own agronomists as do larger farming businesses, plenty of trials work too.

Fancy a move?
PRODUCTION AGRONOMY AT ITS BEST - 2 ROLES Job in Hawkes Bay - SEEK

 

[alomy75]

Farm Assurance is NOT a legal requirement either.

I DIDN’T say it was. When HSE use words like ‘essential’ in their guidance regarding having an Agronomist…it might not be actual law but if and when something goes wrong I think you would find you would be on a very sticky wicket without having a qualified agronomist. Also; you try growing sugar beet for British Sugar without being assured and see how you get on.

 

[juke]

Of course there's a different rec for each field if they are different varieties, sowing dates etc. Any agronomist recommending the same fungicide programme for Extase and Barrel, for example, needs his BASIS qualification rescinded.

exactly this... but whos the fool the mug that pays for it or the agronomist laughing all the way to the bank with his bank balance increased

 

[Flat 10]

I DIDN’T say it was. When HSE use words like ‘essential’ in their guidance regarding having an Agronomist…it might not be actual law but if and when something goes wrong I think you would find you would be on a very sticky wicket without having a qualified agronomist. Also; you try growing sugar beet for British Sugar without being assured and see how you get on.

But you can still do your own agronomy and be assured without basis afaik. It’s just if you have an advisor they must be basis.

 

[Brisel]

Aye up,

Just wondering after 2-3 similar conversations with customers over the last couple of weeks.

One of them has an agronomist that looks after around 6000 acres and told him there is no way anybody could look after more and do it properly, but another says his agronomist looks after nearly treble that area.

These are cereal and OSR growers with maybe a smattering of spuds and AD crops thrown in.

Is agronomy a well paid career?

Cheers, Pete.

Most of the agronomists I know are 8,000 - 15,000 acres each. To walk the higher end of that scale you need bigger farms with keen sprayer drivers and/or BASIS trained decision makers. For crop walking alone, average around £5-6/acre. Do the maths and it's hardly a well paid career by the time you've done all the CPD and knowledge to do it properly, got professional indemnity insurance, NIAB, AICC, BASIS, FACTS memberships, a car doing 20k miles/year and a contribution towards a firm under whose banner you're working.

There is no fixed number anywhere here.

 

[Cab-over Pete]

It seems there’s a lot of variation in the job, which is understandable given the variation of crops involved.

I was only wondering, it wasn’t a leading question or to make any judgement.

 

[Sid]

Most of the agronomists I know are 8,000 - 15,000 acres each. To walk the higher end of that scale you need bigger farms with keen sprayer drivers and/or BASIS trained decision makers. For crop walking alone, average around £5-6/acre. Do the maths and it's hardly a well paid career by the time you've done all the CPD and knowledge to do it properly, got professional indemnity insurance, NIAB, AICC, BASIS, FACTS memberships, a car doing 20k miles/year and a contribution towards a firm under whose banner you're working.

There is no fixed number anywhere here.

Are they like the vet of the plant world?

Seems to be vet prices!

 

[Zippy768]

Are they like the vet of the plant world?

Seems to be vet prices!

Very similar.
I asked our agronomist what was wrong with our Wheat, he had a good look around, a couple of inspections and concurred........ must had eaten a bit of wire!!