Christensen Farms is one of the largest, family-owned pork producers in the United States, marketing approximately 3 million hogs per year. Headquartered in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, the company operates throughout the Midwest with facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and South Dakota.  Christensen Farms owns four feed mills, manages 145,000 sows on 44 farms, and oversees more than 350 nurseries and grow-finish sites.  The company employees nearly 1,000 people and maintains 1,500 contract partnerships.

The company is vertically integrated with a strong presence across the pork value chain from farm to fork. Christensen Farms is the largest shareholder of Triumph Foods LLC, a producer-owned primary pork processing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri. In turn, Triumph Foods members own 50 percent of Daily’s Premium Meats, a specialty pork processor of bacon and other premium pork products.  Triumph Foods also holds a 50 percent partnership in Seaboard Triumph Foods, LLC of Sioux City, Iowa, a primary pork processing plant.

Position Overview & Responsibilities: Show mastery of existing work requirements for Agronomist and increase ownership of and understanding of the business. Provide leadership to Agronomy Dept. and own work requirements for the following areas with full complement of sites.

Major Areas of Accountability:

Facility Operations/Nutrient Management

• Nutrient Management Execution
  • Manure inventory tracking, forecasting, and intervention
  • Meeting and planning with cooperators
  • Coordinate with custom applicators/cooperators
  • Quality control/supervision
  • Environmental compliance
  • Cost management and revenue capture
• Sales and Customer Service
  • Establish and maintain customer relationships
  • Promote plant food value of manure nutrients and other agronomy services
  • Secure and maintain field acres for effective utilization of manure nutrients
  • Develop services to enhance plant food value of manure
  • Maintain custom applicator relationships
• Nutrient Management Pans
  • Establish nutrient budgets for production facilities and available crop land
  • Write and submit plans to meet regulatory standards
  • Maintain and update NMP
• Regulatory/record keeping
  • Thoroughly understand applicable federal, state and local regulations for service area
  • Maintain manure application records
  • Maintain manure management plans
  • Provide annual regulatory reports as required
• Agronomy Field services
  • Field Mapping
  • Coordinate soil sampling
  • Crop scouting/nutrient assessment/crop diagnostics
  • GIS data processing
  • Fertility tracking and optimization
• Research and Development support
  • Literature and technology review
  • Data collection
  • Product and technology testing and evaluation

Training and Supervision

• Supervision of direct reports
  • Provide monthly one on one interactions
  • Coordinate personal development plans
• Train and assist in hire new personnel for new and/or expanding territories
• Maintain fluent transition through hiring process
  • Manure management plans
  • Manure applications
  • Regulatory compliance
• Coordinate work schedules among direct reports for various projects

Environmental Management and Compliance

• Promote and lead environmental monitoring programs
• Support Air Quality Management Activities
• Perform Water Quality Management
  • Water, tile and well sampling
  • Water usage monitoring
  • Data management and reporting key indicators

Public Relations

• Assist Director of Environmental Stewardship with communication between Regulatory agencies and Christensen Farms
• Neighbor relations
• Public hearings
• Dust control for feed delivery and manure applications

General

• Assist with year-end reporting and data analysis
• Assist with yearly business planning

Minimum of five years of agronomy, agricultural sales, or environmental work experience
Minimum formal education required: AAS., B.S. in Agronomy, Soil Science, or other related.
Specialized Training requirements: CCA (Certified Crop Advisor) is an asset but not required.
Must possess strong negotiation and analytical skills
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Highly intelligent with excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills.
Results focused individual that thrives on organizational progress.
Ability to produce results in a fast paced environment.
Must have a bias toward action; be highly motivated.

Christensen Farms is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy to select the most qualified person for each position in the organization. No employee of CF will discriminate against any applicant for employment or a fellow employee because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, citizenship status, genetic information, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other prohibited basis under applicable local, state, or federal law.

Apply online by clicking HERE or call 1-800-889-8531 for more information.

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