Each year growers make many decisions on how to best manage their growing crop. Some of us have our management decisions almost on autopilot, while others make decisions independently each year. One decision that the majority of growers make annually is around plant health. Over the last decade, fungicide application treatments and timings have changed and evolved to meet the needs of today’s growers. In Episode 31 of Precision Points, Amanda Kohnen of Syngenta walks us through the evolution of fungicides and how growers can best use them today to protect their yield.
Fungicide Timing
Timing of fungicides depends on the crop you are treating. Historically for corn, the primary fungicide timing was VT and applied by an airplane. As equipment has evolved over time, growers can now apply with a high clearance sprayer, giving them flexibility on timing (i.e., not waiting on an airplane) and also allows for clearer trials and results. In addition to equipment advances, the timing of fungicides have also evolved to include a second application.
“About 10 years ago, we evolved to a second application in corn, the V4 to V8 stage, so knee-high to waist-high,” Amanda explained. “That application is about giving the plant a boost at that critical growing period, so when it decides how big around the ear is going to be, which is V5, you give it a boost at that time and then also you give it a plant health boost to last through the potentially hot, dry July, so pushing back that drought stress that could come in.”
This earlier timing is convenient for many growers as it has less equipment requirements. It also couples up well with micronutrient or plant growth regulator timing that you may already have planned for your field, saving an extra pass.
When it comes to soybeans, the fungicide timing is a little more flexible. The goal with soybeans is to get the fungicide on before its most reproductive period, so that the plant is operating at its best while filling pods.
“So we're spraying in that R3-R4 timing,” Amanda said. “Again, though, that has evolved throughout my career. Now, there are people who are spraying more at the R1-R2 timing, and then sometimes coming back at R3-R4, so two applications in soybeans or spraying at that normal R3-R4 time and coming back at R5, again, trying to extend the health of the plant.”
The only “watch out” on timing with soybeans is trying to avoid periods where the plant is under a lot of stress (whether that's too much moisture, drought, or possible herbicide damage). The primary reason for caution is that the plant may not be able to take up as much of the fungicide at that point, but otherwise application timing is flexible on soybeans.
How to Make the Fungicide Decision
Amanda shared that some diseases can live in the plant for up to 28 days before we see them, so scouting for disease to make an application may still cause us to leave yield on the table. She shared that, if you hold a corn leaf up and notice translucent window panes, there is already disease setting in. Likewise for soybeans, many plants will already have septoria on the lower leaves and applying a fungicide can help protect the upper leaves that are acting as solar panels for the plant’s photosynthesis.
“If, by chance, there's something that happens that you don't see a response [from a fungicide application] this year, you're very likely to see a response next year,” said Amanda. “And, over the course of five years you're absolutely money ahead, so keep that in mind.”
What it comes down to is evaluating your management plan and yield goals and doing what you can to preserve your plants’ potential from yield-robbing diseases. To listen to the full conversation with Amanda, check out the Precision Points podcast in the player above or in your favorite podcast player.
Have you tried fungicides? What did you use and what were the results? We love to hear your feedback in the comments below!
Transcription:
Host: Morgan Seger
Guest: Amanda Kohnen
Morgan Seger: (00:23)
Welcome back to Precision Points, an ag tech podcast from precisionagreviews.com. I'm your host, Morgan Seger, and in each episode, we strive to bring you unbiased ag tech information and ideas. Today on the show I'm joined by my friend, Amanda Kohnen, who has 13 years of experience working with Syngenta. She is my go-to expert when it comes to fungicide advice, and today she really walks us through the evolution of fungicides throughout her career.
Morgan Seger: (00:50)
Now, before we started recording, she shared with me that about 35% of the acres annually are treated with fungicides. So to me, that tells me, I guess, that there's a lot of us that aren't choosing to do this every single year and there's also a lot of us that have a big opportunity to maybe try or experiment with them this year. So, she walks us through that decision-making process, how to make the best decision on when and where to use fungicides, along with how the products have changed over time. So, I think you're really going to enjoy this conversation that I have with Amanda.
Amanda Kohnen: (01:22)
Yeah, so my name is Amanda Kohnen. I am a Syngenta rep in west-central Ohio. That's what I've done for my entire career. I've done that for 13 years. I also grew up on a grain farm here where I work and now I'm married to a grain farmer. So, I live 13 miles away from where I grew up, went to Ohio State, majored in agricultural education and that's where I met you, Morgan. And then, of course, we worked together in your previous roles and yeah.
Morgan Seger: (01:52)
Yep, that's a big deal and an avid gardener from what I can tell on social media, right?
Amanda Kohnen: (01:57)
Yes, my garden does provide me a little bit of solace if I can stay ahead of it. Sometimes it gets a little bit stressful, but actually, I enjoy it and I've learned how to take care of it and I have learned even if you only have five minutes to go out there and hoe weeds, that can make a lot of progress and help you to stay ahead of it.
Morgan Seger: (02:16)
Yeah, that's awesome. I love it, because sometimes it does get a little overwhelming. It's like I can't even go out there today, because I don't want to see it, but five minutes is progress.
Amanda Kohnen: (02:24)
That's right, exactly.
Morgan Seger: (02:26)
That's awesome. So, I mean, we had a chance to work together. I remember back in probably 2009 working the old Southwest Landmark Answer Plot days with you down in South Charleston, so I know you have a ton of experience and today on the show, I really wanted to just bring some insight and knowledge around fungicides.
Morgan Seger: (02:45)
We talk a lot about ag tech and I think that there's a lot of opportunities with things that we're applying to our crop to really help us optimize our entire operation. So, could you just kind of kick us off by sharing the story of fungicides? I'm sure a lot has changed since you started.
Amanda Kohnen: (03:01)
Right? So yes, absolutely. So in the past 13 years, fungicide has definitely evolved. I remember when I first started, we were spraying Quadris alone on soybeans and Quilt brand of fungicide on corn. And when I thought about that the other day, I thought, "Man, how old am I?" Because it's evolved so much since then. And when I started in my territory also, my predecessors had made four-by-eight plywood displays, or maybe they're on like a plastic sign, displaying what Quadris would do on soybeans. And some of those are still in the offices that I call on.
Amanda Kohnen: (03:37)
But again, we started out with Quadris, which is a strobilurin chemistry. It's a preventative fungicide. They had learned in experimenting that spraying fungicide on row crops would offer a similar benefit to what the fungicide they'd been spraying on specialty crops had done. So, they started doing that, they started researching the most optimum timing to spray the corn and soybeans and started maximizing on those applications. And then it has just evolved ever since then to additional active ingredients, higher rates, resistance management strategies, and then different application timings in the crops.
Morgan Seger: (04:16)
Gotcha. Yeah, I remember the Quadris and Quilt days and you said that it was preventative. Is there anything that's shifted from that? Are we now looking at preventative and you can fix a problem or are we still mostly doing preventative applications today?
Amanda Kohnen: (04:31)
It is definitely a preventative application. And so, I've had people ask me before, "Well, shouldn't I just scout and spray?" And yes, that is a tactic to use to stay ahead of the disease pressure. However, if we can plan on getting it on prior to the disease setting in, then we can prevent the disease from robbing the yield. So, we have gone from Quadris – the strobilion chemistry – being the preventative fungicide and then we added Tilt, which is a triazole chemistry, and Tilt is a curative mode of action, so it doesn't bring dead tissue back to life, but it stops the disease from getting any worse. So, when we spray plants that have disease lesions on them, it stops it from getting any worse.
Amanda Kohnen: (05:15)
And some of those diseases can be in the plant up to 28 days prior to the application, so we may not be seeing it on the surface of the leaf when we're doing that scouting for the spraying. And so, we may decide not to spray because we're thinking there's not much disease in the plant. However, the naked eye can't see those diseases and using a second mode of action in the triazole allowed us to stop the disease that was there from getting any worse. And then the strobilurin allowed us to get the active ingredient into the leaf and then when the fungus spores land on the surface of the leaf, they try to take root into the leaf and that Quadris was already in there to prevent that fungus spore from continuing to grow and sporulating and creating more spores to fly all over the field and infect more plants.
Morgan Seger: (06:06)
Gotcha. So, this is really interesting, I didn't know that it was showing up in the plant ahead of when we can visually see it, but that makes a lot of sense, because micronutrient deficiencies and other things in the plant that can cause yield loss are there before we see them. So, is there a way, and this might be a stupid question, but can you do a tissue test or anything to test if there is something in your plant?
Amanda Kohnen: (06:30)
Yes, you can test for that, but the problem would be that it might not come back quick enough for you to know, "Oh, it's time to spray." One of the best things to do is you could hold a corn leaf, as an example, up to the sunlight and you can start to see translucent window panes, like very small dots on the corn leaf and that is the start of the diseases coming. And so, that gives you some insight into the disease pressure, but also planned, preventative applications, just planning on coming in at the appropriate application timings, just prevent the disease from starting in the first place.
Morgan Seger: (07:08)
Okay, that makes a lot of sense. So, can we shift to that timing topic you were just talking about? I know that there were lots of different timings and most of our audience, I think, is primarily corn, soybean, so could you cover those two for us?
Amanda Kohnen: (07:23)
Yeah, so this is what's been really fun about the evolution of fungicides in my career. So, when I first started, yes, we were using airplanes to spray corn at the tassel application timing. So VT-R1 from when 50% of the tassel is out all the way through brown silk, at that time. Now, we have evolved to additional applications at that R1 timing or additional methods of application in highboy sprayers. So there's been lots of investment in people investing in the technology of sprayers that can go over the top of corn and that offers them two benefits. One, they can put it on when they want to put it on, so they're not waiting on an airplane or a helicopter. We try our best to manage when the airplanes or helicopters are going to be here, but if they are coming from the South and they add a couple of days of work in every territory on the way up, they're a couple of weeks behind by the time they get to the Midwest.
Amanda Kohnen: (08:22)
And so, if you have your own sprayer or your custom applicator has his own sprayer that can go over the R1 corn, you can manage when it gets on. And another thing that offers us, it offers us a real detailed way of seeing where the fungicide application was made and so then we can study if it made a difference either through NDVI imagery or weigh wagons or combine yield monitors. So that's the first and foremost application in corn. And then, about 10 years ago, we evolved to a second application in corn, the V4 to V8 stage, so knee-high to waist-high. And so that application is about giving the plant a boost at that critical growing period so when it decides how big around the ear is going to be, which is V5, you give it a boost at that time and then also you give it a plant health boost to last through the potentially hot, dry July, so pushing back that drought stress that could come in.
Amanda Kohnen: (09:19)
The treated plants are better able to keep operating compared to the untreated. So, the untreated plants just shut down and try to protect themselves from the drought and plants treated with fungicide are more efficient at photosynthesis. And if they're more efficient at photosynthesis, they're not losing as much moisture out of their leaves and they just keep operating. They have the confidence to keep operating. Another thing that happens from that V4 to V8 application in corn, which is going on right now, here, this spring, is the treated plants are often a growth stage ahead of the untreated, so they get off and running faster from that boost. And so, one thing that happens there is it helps with the weed control, because the canopy happens faster, so the sunlight's not able to get through and degrade the stock. And then also, the leaf tissue is bigger. Often we find that the treated plants have wider leaves from that V4 to V8 application, which create a bigger solar panel, which are better able to soak up sunlight and do the photosynthesis that it takes to make the plant operate.
Morgan Seger: (10:26)
Yeah, and I always liked that timing also, because lots of times that's when we would start tissue testing and maybe seeing other deficiencies, so if we were going over the field, it felt like we were able to kind of save the application cost of another pass.
Amanda Kohnen: (10:41)
Right, absolutely, so that application timing allows us to spoon feed the plant with a foliar nutrient at that time and just help it to have a synergistic effect of giving it a shot of any nutrient that it needs as well as a fungicide shot.
Morgan Seger: (10:58)
Yeah. One quick question for you, for the guys that have the highboy rigs and they're going over it themselves, do you see most of them still spraying over the top or do you see people spraying down into the canopy?
Amanda Kohnen: (11:10)
Most of them over the top. They're wanting to get the disease off or prevent the disease from coming into those top leaves. So, those top leaves do the photosynthesis that it takes to fill out the remainder of the kernel. So a month prior to black layer, the kernel is only 50% full. So if we get diseased lesions on those upper leaves that are catching that sunlight, the plant isn't able to maximize on its ability to fill out that remaining 50% of the yield.
Amanda Kohnen: (11:38)
So, if we don't fill out that remaining 50% of yield, say we only get 30% of it or 40% of it, that 10% yield loss can be 20-25 bushels very easily and that's where we see those big yield swings from that tassel application timing. So yes, they're getting it over the top. Now, sometimes people are spraying over the top and down in the canopy and trying to get product all throughout the canopy, but most of the research has shown that spraying it over the top is the best way to do it.
Morgan Seger: (12:10)
Okay, that makes sense. So, can we shift gears to soybeans? What's the target timing for soybeans?
Amanda Kohnen: (12:17)
Sure, we can shift gears to soybeans. So, it's really interesting in my territory and all throughout the Midwest, I think that you would find people that would say year-in and year-out they spray soybeans, because they see a boost, they've done it for now 15 to 20 years. But it's also interesting, I find pockets in my territory that for sure they spray their corn and they don't always spray their beans. But to answer your question, the most optimum timing to spray soybeans is when you count to the fourth node down, there's a pod there that's 3/16 of an inch to three quarters of an inch. So, right before it sets all of its pods, it's R3-R4, right before its most reproductive timing, right before it goes through the stress of setting all of its pods. So, just like obstetricians encourage women to drink water and take vitamins when they are carrying babies, it's the same thing for a plant. We're giving it a boost right before it's most reproductive timing. And we're trying to prevent, be careful, prevent disease from coming in.
Amanda Kohnen: (13:14)
Now, you were asking earlier about how we can tell if there's disease already in the plant. On soybeans, oftentimes there's already septoria on the lower leaves trying to work its way up the plant and our goal there, again, is to prevent the disease from coming in on the upper leaves, which are catching the sunlight and doing the photosynthesis to fill the pods. So, we're spraying at that R3-R4 timing. Again, though, that has evolved throughout my career. Now, there are people who are spraying more at the R1-R2 timing, and then sometimes coming back at R3-R4, so two applications in soybeans or spraying at that normal R3-R4 time and coming back at R5, again, trying to extend the health of the plant, trying to soak up August rains when they do come, just keeping that plant healthy and continuing to operate all throughout the growing season.
Morgan Seger: (14:07)
Okay. Are there any watch outs or times in the reproductive period for the soybean plant that you should avoid spraying for any reason or is it pretty safe to spray even if there's blooms and things like that?
Amanda Kohnen: (14:20)
Yeah, it's really safe to spray soybeans really all throughout the time. Now, there may be a time, maybe if the soybean is under tremendous stress, maybe from drought or from water laying on it, or maybe in herbicide application, but really all of those times, even if you spray fungicide then, the plant would take it in. It might not take all of it in, that's why I named those different stresses. The plant would take it in and maximize on that application and get off and running and get better, keep moving forward, so no, good question.
Morgan Seger: (14:52)
Okay. So now, as a grower here, we're sitting, we're looking at our crops, they look okay, some of us need rain, some of us have had too much rain, so it's really all across the board right now, but the markets are crazy. And so we're trying to figure out, how do we leverage all of these pieces of information we have? Any advice on how to make the decision, for those who aren't doing it every year, how do you decide if you do a fungicide or not?
Amanda Kohnen: (15:19)
Yeah, so that was where my first thought went to, was when it comes to spraying fungicide, it's important to think about getting in on the application and doing it every year for a period of years. Because if, by chance, there's something that happens that you don't see a response this year, you're very likely to see a response next year. And over the course of five years, you're absolutely money ahead, so keep that in mind. But if by chance there's a tremendous amount of variability in your field and you don't anticipate having average yield, say it's going to be well below average, you could consider not spraying. However, I have seen response even in conditions that are less than average. I'm trying to think, what was your question?
Morgan Seger: (16:05)
How do they make the decision to spray? I mean, and I know we've had fields that we were like, "Well, this field's a waste. We might as well not put any more into it." And then surprises us at the end of the year, because there's always more of the season yet to be written when we're making these decisions. So, if someone's on the fence, is there anything that they should be thinking about or looking for in their fields today?
Amanda Kohnen: (16:28)
Yeah, like you're saying, just think back to previous years where the soybeans do not look good. I mean, they don't look good and we're thinking, "This is bad."
Morgan Seger: (16:37)
Why do we even do this? Every year we go through those moments where we're like, "Why are we even farming?"
Amanda Kohnen: (16:42)
Right, exactly. And then stay the course. And then, we've been at those answer plots, like you mentioned there in the early fall and the 3-9 soybeans are still green and healthy. And someone asks us, "These beans that still have small pods on the top, are those pods going to do anything?" Well, the bean is still green and healthy and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. Absolutely. And so, if we can get our mind around staying the course and continuing to push toward the end of the season and allowing the plant to continue to grow, despite what the beans might look like at a certain time, definitely it's worth it to stay the course.
Amanda Kohnen: (17:20)
And then on corn, yes, I've seen various amounts of variability throughout my career. And folks often ask, "What about that V4 to V8 application when there's different stages of corn?" But still trying to strike that in the middle, and again, if there's different stages in the corn crop, it's likely because there was flooding. And again, that moisture brings on disease pressure, so you're protecting the plant or allowing it to stop the disease from getting any worse and then allowing it to continue to grow throughout July and August and go from there. And then it often evens out as we get closer to that tassel application timing.
Morgan Seger: (18:01)
Well, and I think if we had a crystal ball, it would be easier if we were going to try to make the decision every year, but I like what you said over five years time, you're going to be money ahead, because it's not going to hurt yield, but it does have the chance to improve it or protect it. The times that I've seen it, the years where fungicides had a big year, I guess to say, where there was lots of disease pressure and things, I mean, the yield that it saved was substantial or really impressive. So, do you have any, I guess, growers or anyone that you've seen do something specific that you think would be a good use case for people who are listening, who are maybe new to fungicides?
Amanda Kohnen: (18:42)
In soybeans, that R3-R4 application timing has been proven to be five to seven bushels all throughout the Midwest gained at that timing. And the other day, I was at one of my retail locations and they were talking about what you alluded to with the price of grain. And if we're looking at high-dollar soybeans and the bushels to be gained there, it doesn't take very many bushels at all to pay for that application, in the gain that we can have there. But to your question about if anyone's trying something else that we should be looking at, I definitely have people who are spraying a second application in soybeans. And so, they're seeing that five to seven or even eight bushel from that R3-R4 application timing, and then coming back at R5 and they're driving through tall soybeans to put this application on, but they're seeing five bushel from that timing.
Amanda Kohnen: (19:38)
Now, sometimes they don't get it on at R3-R4, just based on the weather. They're getting it on maybe at R1-R2 and that's their second application and then they're coming back at the late R4 and then they're having two applications in their soybeans. But the fungicides of today last for about three weeks longer than their predecessors. So, if they spray twice, they're getting 10 weeks of control, 10 weeks of disease control and 10 weeks of crop optimization out of that application. But even if they only spray once on either crop, five weeks of control sees a lot more ROI than what the predecessor products provided, because disease could set in at any time during those five weeks, or we could have some sort of stress at any time during those five weeks and we're protected during that time now.
Morgan Seger: (20:30)
Is there anything new with your product lines specifically that you wanted to share?
Amanda Kohnen: (20:35)
Like I was saying, we had Quadris and Tilt. Those were the two products we were selling at the beginning of my career, and those came together to make Quilt. And then we increased the rate of the products in Quilt, Quadris and Tilt, to make Quilt Xcel. And then we evolved to Trivapro and some of your listeners may have heard Trivapro, the campaigns that were around it. It was longer-lasting, harder-working Trivapro. And so, again, like I was saying, it offered an additional two to three weeks of control, depending on the disease pressure. Trivapro was a game changer in the market and more people saw results, more people decided that spraying fungicide year in and year out was the way to go.
Amanda Kohnen: (21:16)
And then we evolved from Trivapro to Maravis Neo. So, Trivapro had solatenol in it, the SDHI chemistry, and so that's what gives us that additional length of control and another preventative mode of action to help with resistance management, which we do have strobilurin resistance coming from the South, so it's very important that we protect those strobilurin fungicides by putting in another mode of action. So we had Trivapro and then we've most recently evolved to Maravis Neo, which we took out the solatenol which is in the Trivapro and put in adepidyn which is another SDHI chemistry, it brings us additional control on the blights, Northern Corn Leaf Blight, gray leaf spot, frogeye and septoria.
Amanda Kohnen: (22:00)
So, especially in the Midwest, it's a hot day today and it's humid and it was foggy this morning and that is the environment that allows those diseases to grow. Some of them overwinter, but we have definitely created that greenhouse or the disease triangle for the disease to grow here in the early growing season and that's not even including as summer wears on or, in August, it seems like always the first week of school, some school is canceled because of fog. We are preventing that disease from growing with the adepidyn in mode of action.
Morgan Seger: (22:36)
Okay. Well, that's really interesting and I did actually think of that, "Oh, this is kind of a fungicide day." Not a fungicide day, but a disease growth day, because it was really foggy here too, this morning.
Amanda Kohnen: (22:46)
Yeah. Yeah, isn't it interesting? We peek outside and that's what we think.
Morgan Seger: (22:56)
That's awesome. So, if someone is listening and they would like to learn more about fungicides and the work that you're doing, where would you suggest they go?
Amanda Kohnen: (23:04)
If someone is trying to learn more about fungicide and trying to decide if it is the way to go, I would encourage them to talk to their local agronomy retailer. So, the local agronomy retailers have done years and years of research on fungicide. I can tell you what Syngenta has done, and you could talk to your local Syngenta representative via your local agronomy retailer, but they're going to tell you what the experiences have been in your geography and they're going to be able to direct you to the products.
Amanda Kohnen: (23:38)
Now, this year it's important to get the product lined up and get the application lined up, like I talked about earlier, the airplanes and helicopters, if you're going to have it done that way, you need to speak for that so that they can have that reserved for you, that application reserved for you. And it's important that the product gets reserved for you as well. Just like any other thing in the world right now with the pandemic, there has been shortages of product. And currently, there's a lot of product in the channel, but you need to speak for it, so you have it.
Morgan Seger: (24:11)
Yeah, we're still seeing supply chain issues pretty much anywhere. I mean, we're already looking at ordering combine parts that we need for this fall, because we know it's going to take a while to get it, so that's good advice. Okay, so then, Amanda, one more question I have for you as we wrap up today. One question we like to ask is if there is one technology that you are most excited about and it can be in or outside of agriculture?
Amanda Kohnen: (24:34)
As Morgan and I led to this opportunity to discuss fungicide, I had sent her a Snapchat of it was time for a fungicide application of Miravis Ace in wheat. And she said, "I'm so glad that you sent me this." All jokes aside, because Snapchat can be considered unprofessional. However, I am using it to communicate with my retailers, especially the next generation. So, I take videos in the field. I see weeds, this water hemp epidemic is ever-growing, so I'm always sending pictures of water hemp and encouraging folks to stay in touch via that way. So definitely, using social media. And I know we've had social media for a long time, so I know that a lot of your listeners are already using it, but it's a reminder that it's okay to use social media to get in touch with your customers, your teammates, and communicate really with anyone.
Amanda Kohnen: (25:31)
So that, and then also, like I talked about with my garden at the beginning of the session, I know this is going to sound like a pretty trivial piece of technology and something we've had for a long time, but I do like to set a timer for five minutes and just work on whatever task I need to do for five minutes. So, be it working in the garden, or I had a retailer the other day that said that it's really hard for him to keep up with his reports, that he has to report back to the grower what he saw or even his manager, what he saw. I said, five minutes a day can get you a long way, so setting a timer for five minutes was just an idea that I would encourage people to use.
Morgan Seger: (26:12)
I love that. It just makes it easier and not so daunting to take. And then, you sit back and it's like, "Okay, I actually got a lot done and it only took five minutes." So, I really liked that idea. It's kind of a life hack for us.
Amanda Kohnen: (26:24)
Right, right.
Morgan Seger: (26:25)
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing all of this wonderful fungicide information and I hope you have a happy growing season.
Amanda Kohnen: (26:34)
Thank you, Morgan.
Morgan Seger: (26:36)
Thanks for tuning into another episode of Precision Points and thanks to Amanda for spending the time to kind of walk us through how fungicides have changed. Pay attention to that disease triangle and the disease pressure you might have this year, because it might be a really good year to try fungicides. You can access the show notes and other information on our expert advice blog at precisionagreviews.com. And while you're there, check out our farmer-sourced reviews, its reviews on all types of precision ag products and services from growers like you, who are using these products every day. Until next time, this has been Precision Points podcast. Let's grow together.
Voiceover: (27:14)
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. To hear more podcasts like this, please rate, review and subscribe to Precision Points. Visit precisionagreviews.com for show notes from this episode and read expert advice on the blog. Share your experience with the precision ag products you use and check out our network of farmer reviews. Let's grow together.
Host: Morgan Seger
Morgan Seger grew up on a small farm in northwest Ohio before studying agriculture at The Ohio State University. She spent 10 years working with ag retail – specifically in ag tech – prior to hosting the Precision Points Podcast. She lives and farms in western Ohio with her husband Ben and their four children. Morgan has her own blog, Heart and Soil, where she talks about her experience farming, gardening, and raising her family.
Guest: Amanda Kohnen
Amanda Kohnen has been working in agronomy sales for Syngenta for 13 years. She grew up on a grain farm in west-central Ohio and, upon graduating from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education, moved back to her home area where she has worked ever since. Amanda’s husband, Seth, is a grain farmer and they have two children, Micah and Maylee.
