Carving out a career in agronomy – Farmers Guardian – Ed Brown
Agronomy is a sound career choice for those wanting to be regularly out on-farm, hone their problem-solving skills and work with people ...
Farmers Guardian asks Ed Brown of Hutchinsons how he got started…
Q: Have you always wanted a career in agronomy?
A:
I actually studied for a degree in property management at Harper Adams University, as I thought I wanted to become a chartered surveyor. But by the end of the second year, I was sure I wanted to go down a more practical farming route.
I did not want to waste two years of studying by starting again with something new, so I continued with my course, which I was enjoying and adapted the opportunity by using my year’s industry work placement to gain experience working on an arable farm in Lincolnshire.
This, alongside many years of working on farms, around school and university commitments, gave me the practical experience I needed to land a farming focused graduate role.
Q: What was your first job after graduating?
A:
After finishing my placement and my final year I still wasn’t set on a specific career pathway, I just knew I wanted to be able to get out on-farm, so looked at various roles including farm management as well as agronomist opportunities.
Late in 2013, I took on a position at Greenvale, a potato marketing and packing company. I worked there for 18 months, providing agronomic advice to several contract potato growers.
During this time, I studied for my first BASIS qualification, the certificate in crop protection, to build on my existing knowledge and enable me to legally advise farmers on the use of agrochemicals.
However, as most of my experience was with potatoes, I needed some support on the cereals side of the qualification, so worked closely with two local agronomists. I shadowed them and they helped me get my head around cereal agronomy to complete the qualification, which was quite challenging.
Ed Brown, agronomist
Q: How did you get into your current role?
A:
After getting on so well with one of the agronomists who helped me with my BASIS qualification, he recommended me to his boss at Hutchinsons and with that, the chance to work with and advise upon combinable crops.
Soon after that I was offered and took up an agronomist’s role with the company in June 2015, which goes to show that opportunities can really come from gaining extra industry experience.
Q: How has your role progressed in the past five years?
A:
I started out on a standard agronomy career pathway, centred on potatoes and the combinable crops and the use of agrochemicals. However, I took a keen interest in soil and, over the years, built my knowledge to the point that soil consultancy is now a key focus for me.
More recently, I expanded on this to have more emphasis on regenerative agriculture. This looks at building soil health in conjunction with reduced fertiliser and chemical inputs, in an effort to protect the environment while producing a profitable yield with lower inputs. My job title has recently changed to bioagriecologist to reflect this change in practices.
The industry is changing at a rapid pace and I think that all agronomists will soon have to follow a similar route and adapt their skill set in order for farming to remain sustainable.
It is also worth noting that I switched to being completely fee paid over two years ago now, meaning that my advice is not sales driven.
Q: Do you have any advice for someone looking at agronomy as a career option?
A:
Go for it. It is a fantastic career with great opportunities for progression. It can be high stress, but the benefits of getting out on-farm, meeting new people and seeing your work make a difference, certainly outweigh that.
I would encourage new entrants to keep an open mind, read around topics and challenge the norm. The industry is always changing, so do not let yourself be spoon-fed and use your initiative to help drive innovation and change.
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