Hey Logan! Thanks for saying hi and for watching the videos. I need to get up there to see you one of these days! I've sampled all your fields before just haven't gotten to meet everyone yet. Great to hear from you!
Really enjoyed this video. Very interesting and informative. I need to take some samples of my yard. Our country Ag Department will test it for me. Maybe that will tell me why the grass looks good in some areas and not so good in others.
I didn't know what to expect! That is phenomenal! What a tremendous responsibility and unique approach to land/crop management. I had no idea this was possible... Thanks for taking us to work! A great video and great fun! Stay well and stay safe!
I retired from working in a wastewater plant for over 18 years. Sampling and testing is the key to running any of these plants. Sampling, testing, and knowing how to understand results is so important. I also put in many years in manufacturing industry. Testing was always the key to insure we were getting a quality product. Good job taking care of those customers.
You nailed it Tim! We monitor trends over time and once the system is "balanced" so to speak, it is much easier to keep it running smoothly with regular testing routines. It's satisfying to encounter people that have a deep understanding of that approach. Thanks for the great comment.
Interesting what this has become. My Father was a County Extension Agent with a specialty in Agronomy in several different counties in Indiana from the 50s thru the mid 60's, and then for another 15 years in Iowa. I imagine he's probably walked many of the same fields. I remember one time that I got into his stuff in the back of the station wagon and made mud pies with all the dirt in a couple dozen little bags. The next Saturday he wore me out hiking around a couple big fields, digging little holes. Haven't thought of this in 60 years.......Thanks.
Ha! That's crazy Denny! He may have been one of the guys to help layout the soil type maps that we still use to this day. All those soil surveys were done back then and I can't imagine the amount of work it must have been. Glad this video could spark a little memory for you. Appreciate you watching and have a great week.
Neil very interesting video! As a city person I had no idea what it takes to be a farmer that feeds us ! Thanks to all the farmers and the support behind the scenes! Thanks for sharing! Kevin
Hi Neil, I am watching from the U.K., I used to visit Indianapolis for around 10 years with work and became good friends with the family of one of my managers whose family farm 600 acres in Greensburg Indiana. Watching your videos reminds me of some great times spent on their farm, cutting wood, harvesting, muck spreading, hunting etc. Great job with the videos, love them and all your exploits with family and friends 😁
Great video Neil! I understand Farming is a challenging & rewarding job. Our Family Business has supplied & serviced so many Family Farms since 1947 in North West Ohio, replacing damaged glass in the great machines used to produce food for all of US. Thanks again for another educational post. #TEAM KOCH #TEAM GATES BROTHERS
Excellent and amazing! I am always fascinated and in awe of all the "hidden hands" that are involved in bringing food to our tables. Thanks, Neil (and Greg and Kim!)
I have worked for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - formerly Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for 36 years, and it is refreshing to see how much overlap we have in the management of soil resources! GREAT video!
Thanks Nic! We are glad to have you and appreciate all your hard work! Did you see how close I was to you with the drone! Whoa! Glad I didn't give you a shave! Thanks bud!
Interesting work. I did field work for farmers in Western KS and always enjoyed trucks, tractors and combines. Loved the smell of soil when it was turned for planting wheat. Great video and keep them coming.
Yes, you're right about that. We deal with the cold and the heat, but thankfully not too much. We don't work in the rain though so that is nice. Appreciate the comments. I'm glad you liked the boxing shot. I had to talk her into doing that but she was a good sport.
Neil… finally, someone shows a video of the career that I almost had! Growing up on a dairy farm, I only knew about farming. Up until I turned 16, I always thought I’d be a farmer. However, several events conspired to change my thinking. 1. The mainstreaming of margarine to replace butter brought on a huge change in how butterfat was valued in milk. Prices plunged for all milk producers. Because a cow had to calve to produce milk… farmers still bred their cows… but they bred them to beef bulls. If a heifer calf was born, there was no use for it. It wasn’t good for milking or for beef… so, they were killed. The bull calves were steered and sold to feed lots. This brought in income to keep the farm from going under. A second effect of this pricing change was in dairy breeds. High butterfat (cream) content milk came from cows who produced lower volumes of milk. Jersey, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, etc had long been the staple of the family farm because they were smaller cows. That meant they were less expensive to buy, to feed and required less space. There rapidly became a glut of them on the market when farmers changed to high volume Holsteins for their operations. At about that time, you could buy two Jersey cows for the price of one Holstein! The declining value of the herds made it difficult to just ‘trade up’ to change it… you had to take out a loan… for which you now had lower profit history and a lower valued herd. As a result, there were farm auctions and farm repossession disposals constantly. The family dairy farm died out around here during that period. My father was not immune. In Vocational Agriculture classes, I was introduced to ‘Agronomy’. It was the haven for all those displaced farm boys who still wanted to work in Farming but knew they couldn’t just take over the family farm. It was the dawning of awareness that I would need to go to college to be in charge of my future. 2. Neil, in the video ‘My Blade Sharpening Mentor’ I talk about the man who taught me how to work outside the farm. The story that I haven’t told is how he also changed my career path from being an Agronomist to an Industrialist. But, suffice it to say, without the destruction of the family dairy farm and his tutelage toward industry, I would have pursued a career in Agronomy. Thanks for the peek at the dream career that I missed!
Wow! I never knew. I knew of the dairy farm past but hadn't thought much about beyond that. Makes sense though, as many of us with farming aspirations find other ways to immerse ourselves in agriculture when the option to inherit our way in doesn't pan out. Your story is all too familiar and unfortunate. We see the small farms get absorbed by the big guys all the time and for dairy farms... Well, that story is particularly melancholy. Our family sold the farm and all the equipment in the early 80's. My Dad always wanted to farm too but it was too much of a mountain to climb during that era. It must run in the blood or something cause I was all things farm as a kid too. I'm happy to have landed where I am now today. My first job in middle school was working for my boss's uncle on their farm. That's how I met him (Greg). I was in 8th grade and he was 9th. I just wanted to drive a tractor so badly and after Dad stopped and asked if there was something I could do, they just happened to find something for me to do. Thanks for sharing your story with us and I'm glad that you found the path meant for you. The way you've spoken about your career leads me to think you enjoyed your path as well. But, I'm glad you got this glimpse into what "could have been" regardless. We've always got an extra ATV available if you ever get the urge to try on a sampling probe! Ha! I'm gonna check out that video of yours... Thank you as always.
@@digdrivediy I spent 10 years living in town... before I could afford to get out of it. Even though I don't farm, I certainly don't CITY! Like you, I think it must run in the blood because all of my brothers and sisters live in rural areas still!
Hey Andrew! Thanks a lot. I hope this works to share with your course requirements. Let me know how it goes. Did I get it done in time for you to use? Thanks for the help this summer.
Hey thanks Mike. Yeah, that rascal is fun to hang out with at work. It's always a good day sampling with Rob. Funny you say it, cause the narration is always the part I'm self conscious about but I appreciate you saying it. Hope you had a great wedding weekend and thanks so much for tuning in my friend.
G’day Neil, have just found your channel, via interest in tractors, we bought our first tractor recently for our hobby farm. I’m an Agronomist (work for myself) here in Australia, work with about 20 clients, advise on all aspects of crop production, mostly Wheat, Canola and Faba Beans. All soil testing is contracted out to a third party, I do the interpretations on the results, certainly a great industry to be in. Look forward to looking through your videos.
I really appreciate you checking it out. Bruce. Always interesting to hear from fellow agronomists from across the globe. I'd love to see your operation there. Thanks for saying hi and checking out the videos.
Great video and explanation of your career Neil! I live in SW Va and although we are in farm county, it's not as large scale as the Midwest is. Alot more scientific approach than I'm used to seeing. Thanks!
Great to hear from you in SW Va Jimmy! It would be interesting to see the agriculture down there as I'm not too familiar with that part of the country. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching!
Another great video and I had wondered what you did “9-5”. I come from a long line of share croppers on both sides. My grandfather was the first to own land in his family and our small farm in the hills of North Alabama is still home. I love the smell of plowed dirt to this day and projects on the farm have replaced all my hobbies except hunting and now UA-cam videos of the farm projects. Blessings to you and yours.
That's awesome that you're still on the family farm. It gets harder and harder these days to keep it in the family it seems. There's always something to do though if you have the pleasure of being on some acres. Thanks as always for watching!
Absolutely fascinating video now we know what you do for a living. I’m an Uber driver and it always fascinating what people do for a living from a guy that pans for gold to someone who cleans the blades on wind turbines 😍🇬🇧
Great job showing all of the steps involved, Neil. Now we want to see the heat, dust, sweat, breakdowns, sampling manured fields, and the lost or damaged iPads. Keep it real! Stalk sampling, too.
I need a full blown documentary I think to cover all the bases for sure. You have to introduce the glamour before the ugliness though! Thanks for the support JM!
You day job is very detailed and labor intense and is very beneficial to the farmers and land owners if they will invest in the information that you and your company has analyzed and recommend the needed products for the most favorable results .
What a sweet job man. Your like the doctor in a way. My soil experience stops with a shovel full of dirt into a cup of water and let it sit and separate and then I stare at a chart. We only have a 25x25 garden that has 5 rows in it, and this is our second year. We just picked 42 lbs of potatoes a couple weeks back tho, it was a single row was all, and it’s this just our gardens second year. You’re a fortunate man Neil. I’m jealous of your profession.
Yes, I do feel pretty fortunate. Thanks Rob. Sounds like you had a pretty good haul from your garden though! That's a lot of potatoes for a single row! Thanks for sharing and watching my firend.
HI Neil, just recent found your channel and been watching quite a few videos, Your day job connected with me, I live in rural Victoria in Australia, I grew up on a small Dairy farm and after few stints with Kenworth trucks and Ford New Holland, got in Agronomy as well, spent close to 20 years doing soil testing and soil management for a number of different fertilizer companies and retails firms. The last 5 years was with a Large agri company managing a team of Agronomist, transport trucks, fertilizer spreader tucks and a bulk storage facility. 9 years ago I left then industry and bought a General contracting business and now run that , I will look forward to watching more of your videos, We did a trip to the USA in 2019 and drove route 66, we love going past lots of pretty farms and houses on the road, especially going through Oklahoma
My father farmed in the 1950s I was fairly young but remember him spending a lot of time in researching the best practices then available and was always a good steward of his land. Personally us having to leave the was one of my saddest days. Farming and farmers have always fascinated me. UA-cam has been a great conduit to follow and see all the great advances that lead to the great yields and quality crops that feed the world. Great video and thank you for what you do
I really appreciate you sharing that Gordon. I'm glad that people are able to keep up and learn about modern agriculture with the help of platforms like YT. Thanks so much for watching!
I just saw this video, thanks for the interesting information. I watch Cole the Cornstar and he employs these concepts. I grew in Central PA outside of State College and have friends in the farming profession. I enjoy you content and delivery of the content. I find youtube an enjoyable alternative to commercial TV. Gob bless and stay safe in your travels.
Oh that's cool David! That would probably be pretty good sample rig. I have a 200s ATC and it's still fun to ride. Thanks for checking out the video and the great comment! Take care!
Thanks for the diligence in your work. When I was in college, I worked as a cotton scout to gather insect counts so the farmer and ag consultant could make better decisions on when to spray and how much. Really enjoyed the work. After cotton season, I worked as a peanut inspector for the local peanut warehouse. Enjoyed all of it. Thank you for all you do.
New to your channel (I love it btw). The way those boxes were stacked on that pallet is a problem for my particular mental illness. I could not think about anything after seeing that. Great content, can’t wait to see more
Neat video, Neil. I too am an agronomist located in the Mid-Atlantic and its always interesting to see the differences in methodologies across the country.
Hey Thanks! We almost took on a Beck's dealership a few years ago but really like the fact we're not affiliated with any products so we didn't do it. Beck's is a great company though. You should see Becknology Days for an eye opener! Thanks for the comment and say hi to Mica! We need those seed guys too!
Great video! Stumbled upon your channel last week and have enjoyed it tremendously. Just realized that you folks have done work on my farm in Adams County. I am a retired Co-op Agronomy Manager, very familiar with the soil sampling process- good work!
Great video Neil, watching in the UK. I come from a farming family, our agronomist had an accident years ago, so I adapted his quad to enable him to take samples without getting on and off the quad. (Using typical agricultural engineering of course 😋)
Wow, that's cool Chris. All the best mods are agricultural engineering! That's great that he is still able to pull samples with the modded ATV. Very good of you to fix that up for him. Thanks for saying hi from the UK. I love it! Take care!
Thanks for the informative video Neil. I've used an agronomist resource for my 1 acre property just to have a baseline for gardening and lawn. Texas A&M Soil Testing Lab was my state recommended site. To answer your question, I want to farm. That will be a retirement goal, for now I am in local government.
I am a Southern Ca “city guy” and I found this video super interesting, educational, and enjoyable. I love learning about stuff I have never experienced before. Farming soil science?!? Wow! THX!
I worked as a junior dairy herdsman in Ontario during the 80’s as a summer job while I was in high school. Helped to milk the cows twice a day, lay up hay and helped around the farms. Paid practically nothing but I felt a great deal of pride in the small part I had to play in getting milk from the cows to peoples’ tables. I learned a lot and the Crews were good people to work for.
Wow looks like you have a lot of corn out there I hope at some point you take advantage of all those dried out corn cobs and figure out a way to burn biomass effectively in your wood boiler. I also usually waste wood instead of cutting down live trees. My my biomass did I burn consist mostly of wood chips brush leaves construction materials in any kind of pallet waste that my friend who owns a motorcycle shop generates a lot of
That's awesome Verle! I have been on some farms in Idaho and it is surprisingly beautiful there in some areas. Thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching!
First off, I love all of your videos!! Though i have no education in it, agronomy fascinates me and i wish i knew more. I have a small hobby farm and want to find a small family consulting company for this kind of info. Also, i hauled agricultural chemicals for Winfield United all over kansas for several years.
Haha! Your comments are always good for a chuckle. I see you've got the spelling down too! I'm still waiting on that sponsorship check for all this exposure 😋
This was very enlighten to watch. Very detail work that you do and you must have a passion to do it... never heard of that occupation but im glad i learned about it! Great video!
In New Zealand the fertilizer company do the soil samples for you and send them to the lab. Then we get results back and talk about what to apply. Great video as usual.
I've done a lot of different things for gainful employment. I've compiled a list of things I don't want to do when I grow up. What you do, could very well be for me. Thanks for sharing Neil!
Enjoyed being able to see what you do as a career job! Really interesting too see all that’s involved in soil sampling. This is a great program to help farmers be efficient in there fertilizing practices!
Thanks for giving us a closer look at your job! I studied Ag Systems Management in college, which heavily involved soil mapping/zoning, soil & water management, and crop rotation, but I wanted to focus more on the mechanization side of things, having grown up with tractors and machinery. My grandfather sold the farm long before I was born so unfortunately I never got the chance to see our vegetable operation in its heyday, but now I'm training to be an ag equipment salesman so I can give back to other farmers and put my knowledge of equipment to good use. I have to agree with you that agricultural jobs really are underappreciated, considering how crucial ag is to our well-being, and judging by the small size of the ag program at my college, it should definitely get more recognition.
That's awesome Michael! I'm glad to hear that you are also pursuing an Ag career. There are lots of opportunities out there and we always need people that feel that interest from within. Thanks for filling us in a little on what you hope to pursue as well. I'm glad to hear from all the different folks and what there backgrounds and interest. Thanks again for watching and commenting.
My grandfather and my great uncle's grew up on a small family farm. They stopped farming when they Went to WWII so now My cousin only grown a few things on it. As well I grew up in a farming community in Central PA and helped out friends dairy farm during the summer. Went to Penn State for horticulture and business.
Thanks Neil. Here in North Central KS we are surrounded by agriculture. Ever hear of Geoprobe?? They make big and small core sample machines in Salina, KS. Anyway, very cool. I probably need to do samples on my Christmas Trees.
Thanks Jeff. I haven't heard of Geoprobe. Can't believe I haven't actually. Yeah, you're in the heart of ag out there in KS. Probably wouldn't hurt to get your tree farm tested for sure. Thanks for watching!
I ran my grandfathers vineyard for 5 years until he died. We grew raisin grapes. I knew nothing about farming (& grandpa had dementia.) I had a good farm advisor and did my best to follow his advice. My last year he recommended I pick very early. (No other vineyards I drove past were picking yet.) The raisin drying conditions were good. The evening after I had rolled up the raisins to protect them from rain there was a week-long series of storms. Rain is harmful to drying grapes. Almost all the raisin farmers suffered major crop losses. I had the biggest crop the vineyard ever produced. I was lucky, the heavy losses caused a raisin shortage so my heavy crop brought a good price. I liked farming but had few friends in the area and lived like a monk. I could have bought the vineyard when grandpa died but I was ready to do something else.
Great video. I've seen this type work in fields around my area here in southern Illinois. It seems most of the time it is usually after the crops have been harvested.
Appreciate it. Yeah, we do a third of our sampling after the crops are off. Just less of an opportunity in the fall for us cause the window is smaller and days are shorter. Just depends on what kind of cycle you're working with. Thanks for watching!
Very fascinating, Neil. I understand your purposes and practices all too well. I am a winegrape grower and the soil(s) are a big issue in our production objectives. "Keep Diggin" and improving! Now...if you can find a solution to Spring frosts!
Oh boy! So true Dwayne. While we don't work with any winegrape growers, we know plenty of consultants in our network that do. That is a specialty crop for sure. I'll have to work on that spring frost issue... always a nail biter for at least a few days in the spring! Thanks Dwayne.
![Nice New Pole Barn Is Finished & It Took Every Piece Of Equipment I Have!! [Brother's Barn Part 4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y_tz8A86bxo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Nice New Pole Barn Is Finished & It Took Every Piece Of Equipment I Have!! [Brother's Barn Part 4]](/img/tr.png)
That was FANTASTIC! By far my favorite video yet! Thanks for all you do! Job well done. By the way, what should I put on my yard? 😉
What kind of shaft are you looking for?😂
I'd start with daikon radish.
Chicken litter is well balanced with calcium, N, P, K, S, minor elements, organic matter, and biological activity! Just water it in.
G&K does all our agronomy work! K&S Farms in Hudson. I always hope one day you would show up so I could tell you that I watch all your UA-cam videos!
Hey Logan! Thanks for saying hi and for watching the videos. I need to get up there to see you one of these days! I've sampled all your fields before just haven't gotten to meet everyone yet. Great to hear from you!
Really enjoyed this video. Very interesting and informative. I need to take some samples of my yard. Our country Ag Department will test it for me. Maybe that will tell me why the grass looks good in some areas and not so good in others.
Thank you very nice keep up the great work love your videos
I've lived around farmers all my life. I never knew so much went into growing crops. Thanks for sharing!
I didn't know what to expect! That is phenomenal! What a tremendous responsibility and unique approach to land/crop management. I had no idea this was possible... Thanks for taking us to work! A great video and great fun! Stay well and stay safe!
Thanks a lot Randy. I appreciate that very much.
I retired from working in a wastewater plant for over 18 years. Sampling and testing is the key to running any of these plants. Sampling, testing, and knowing how to understand results is so important. I also put in many years in manufacturing industry. Testing was always the key to insure we were getting a quality product. Good job taking care of those customers.
You nailed it Tim! We monitor trends over time and once the system is "balanced" so to speak, it is much easier to keep it running smoothly with regular testing routines. It's satisfying to encounter people that have a deep understanding of that approach. Thanks for the great comment.
Interesting what this has become. My Father was a County Extension Agent with a specialty in Agronomy in several different counties in Indiana from the 50s thru the mid 60's, and then for another 15 years in Iowa. I imagine he's probably walked many of the same fields. I remember one time that I got into his stuff in the back of the station wagon and made mud pies with all the dirt in a couple dozen little bags. The next Saturday he wore me out hiking around a couple big fields, digging little holes. Haven't thought of this in 60 years.......Thanks.
Ha! That's crazy Denny! He may have been one of the guys to help layout the soil type maps that we still use to this day. All those soil surveys were done back then and I can't imagine the amount of work it must have been. Glad this video could spark a little memory for you. Appreciate you watching and have a great week.
Neil very interesting video! As a city person I had no idea what it takes to be a farmer that feeds us ! Thanks to all the farmers and the support behind the scenes! Thanks for sharing! Kevin
Hi Neil, I am watching from the U.K., I used to visit Indianapolis for around 10 years with work and became good friends with the family of one of my managers whose family farm 600 acres in Greensburg Indiana. Watching your videos reminds me of some great times spent on their farm, cutting wood, harvesting, muck spreading, hunting etc. Great job with the videos, love them and all your exploits with family and friends 😁
Great video Neil! I understand Farming is a challenging & rewarding job. Our Family Business has supplied & serviced so many Family Farms since 1947 in North West Ohio, replacing damaged glass in the great machines used to produce food for all of US.
Thanks again for another educational post.
#TEAM KOCH #TEAM GATES BROTHERS
What a cool job! Helping America and her farmers.
Thanks, Neil. My grandfather was a farmer in North Carolina.
Cool video, never knew how this was done. I worked for a company that would grind and bake and test soil samples. Thanks for your hard work
Excellent and amazing! I am always fascinated and in awe of all the "hidden hands" that are involved in bringing food to our tables. Thanks, Neil (and Greg and Kim!)
As a fellow agronomist and viewer keep up the great work! I can tell you all have a well run business!
Hey, great to hear from you! Thanks for watching. We try our best to be efficient and practical. Thanks for the kind words.
I have worked for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) - formerly Soil Conservation Service (SCS) for 36 years, and it is refreshing to see how much overlap we have in the management of soil resources! GREAT video!
PhD in Soil Science here... just moved to Southern Michigan. Love the content!
nice to see your dayjob Neil .
from the Netherlands thanks for the video
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Some of the best videos on UA-cam Neil.
Oh goodness, you are too kind Mike! Thanks for checkin' in there bud!
Excellent style of presentation……’breath of fresh air!’
Thanks a lot Len!
Awesome video! So proud to work for such an amazing company!
Thanks Nic! We are glad to have you and appreciate all your hard work! Did you see how close I was to you with the drone! Whoa! Glad I didn't give you a shave! Thanks bud!
What a rewarding job to help farmers get the proper nutrients to their crops.
It is a fulfilling job. Thanks Sean!
Interesting work. I did field work for farmers in Western KS and always enjoyed trucks, tractors and combines. Loved the smell of soil when it was turned for planting wheat. Great video and keep them coming.
Great job-when the weather is on your side. Interesting, thank you. Lol the box/packet shots too.
Yes, you're right about that. We deal with the cold and the heat, but thankfully not too much. We don't work in the rain though so that is nice. Appreciate the comments. I'm glad you liked the boxing shot. I had to talk her into doing that but she was a good sport.
Watching from rural South Africa. Nice to know more about your day job.
Very interesting, this also explains why you have such a nice looking lawn :)
Neil… finally, someone shows a video of the career that I almost had!
Growing up on a dairy farm, I only knew about farming. Up until I turned 16, I always thought I’d be a farmer. However, several events conspired to change my thinking.
1. The mainstreaming of margarine to replace butter brought on a huge change in how butterfat was valued in milk. Prices plunged for all milk producers.
Because a cow had to calve to produce milk… farmers still bred their cows… but they bred them to beef bulls. If a heifer calf was born, there was no use for it. It wasn’t good for milking or for beef… so, they were killed. The bull calves were steered and sold to feed lots. This brought in income to keep the farm from going under.
A second effect of this pricing change was in dairy breeds. High butterfat (cream) content milk came from cows who produced lower volumes of milk. Jersey, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, etc had long been the staple of the family farm because they were smaller cows. That meant they were less expensive to buy, to feed and required less space. There rapidly became a glut of them on the market when farmers changed to high volume Holsteins for their operations. At about that time, you could buy two Jersey cows for the price of one Holstein!
The declining value of the herds made it difficult to just ‘trade up’ to change it… you had to take out a loan… for which you now had lower profit history and a lower valued herd. As a result, there were farm auctions and farm repossession disposals constantly. The family dairy farm died out around here during that period. My father was not immune.
In Vocational Agriculture classes, I was introduced to ‘Agronomy’. It was the haven for all those displaced farm boys who still wanted to work in Farming but knew they couldn’t just take over the family farm. It was the dawning of awareness that I would need to go to college to be in charge of my future.
2. Neil, in the video ‘My Blade Sharpening Mentor’ I talk about the man who taught me how to work outside the farm. The story that I haven’t told is how he also changed my career path from being an Agronomist to an Industrialist. But, suffice it to say, without the destruction of the family dairy farm and his tutelage toward industry, I would have pursued a career in Agronomy.
Thanks for the peek at the dream career that I missed!
Wow! I never knew. I knew of the dairy farm past but hadn't thought much about beyond that. Makes sense though, as many of us with farming aspirations find other ways to immerse ourselves in agriculture when the option to inherit our way in doesn't pan out.
Your story is all too familiar and unfortunate. We see the small farms get absorbed by the big guys all the time and for dairy farms... Well, that story is particularly melancholy.
Our family sold the farm and all the equipment in the early 80's. My Dad always wanted to farm too but it was too much of a mountain to climb during that era. It must run in the blood or something cause I was all things farm as a kid too.
I'm happy to have landed where I am now today. My first job in middle school was working for my boss's uncle on their farm. That's how I met him (Greg). I was in 8th grade and he was 9th. I just wanted to drive a tractor so badly and after Dad stopped and asked if there was something I could do, they just happened to find something for me to do.
Thanks for sharing your story with us and I'm glad that you found the path meant for you. The way you've spoken about your career leads me to think you enjoyed your path as well.
But, I'm glad you got this glimpse into what "could have been" regardless. We've always got an extra ATV available if you ever get the urge to try on a sampling probe! Ha!
I'm gonna check out that video of yours...
Thank you as always.
@@digdrivediy I spent 10 years living in town... before I could afford to get out of it. Even though I don't farm, I certainly don't CITY! Like you, I think it must run in the blood because all of my brothers and sisters live in rural areas still!
Thank you, Neil.Great video as always.
Hey Andrew! Thanks a lot. I hope this works to share with your course requirements. Let me know how it goes. Did I get it done in time for you to use? Thanks for the help this summer.
Another great video Neil! Your narrator skills are impeccable…..I thinking recognize one or two of those characters That you work with 😉
Hey thanks Mike. Yeah, that rascal is fun to hang out with at work. It's always a good day sampling with Rob. Funny you say it, cause the narration is always the part I'm self conscious about but I appreciate you saying it. Hope you had a great wedding weekend and thanks so much for tuning in my friend.
👍 Cool job, important. Your pond will be a great escape from dealing with those keyboards and monitors. Thanks for sharing.
This is super neat. Love learning about new professions.
Thanks Dylan! Appreciate you watching!
Glad to see solid Northern Indiana success. Originally from Fort Wayne and a long line of farmers, so nice to see such professionalism.
Thanks Mike!
This was a fascinating look at the Agronomy practice....well done
Appreciate it. It's a good "field" to get into :)
G’day Neil, have just found your channel, via interest in tractors, we bought our first tractor recently for our hobby farm. I’m an Agronomist (work for myself) here in Australia, work with about 20 clients, advise on all aspects of crop production, mostly Wheat, Canola and Faba Beans. All soil testing is contracted out to a third party, I do the interpretations on the results, certainly a great industry to be in. Look forward to looking through your videos.
I really appreciate you checking it out. Bruce. Always interesting to hear from fellow agronomists from across the globe. I'd love to see your operation there. Thanks for saying hi and checking out the videos.
Great video and explanation of your career Neil! I live in SW Va and although we are in farm county, it's not as large scale as the Midwest is. Alot more scientific approach than I'm used to seeing. Thanks!
Great to hear from you in SW Va Jimmy! It would be interesting to see the agriculture down there as I'm not too familiar with that part of the country. Glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching!
Awesome work Neil!
Another great video and I had wondered what you did “9-5”. I come from a long line of share croppers on both sides. My grandfather was the first to own land in his family and our small farm in the hills of North Alabama is still home. I love the smell of plowed dirt to this day and projects on the farm have replaced all my hobbies except hunting and now UA-cam videos of the farm projects. Blessings to you and yours.
That's awesome that you're still on the family farm. It gets harder and harder these days to keep it in the family it seems. There's always something to do though if you have the pleasure of being on some acres. Thanks as always for watching!
Absolutely fascinating video now we know what you do for a living. I’m an Uber driver and it always fascinating what people do for a living from a guy that pans for gold to someone who cleans the blades on wind turbines 😍🇬🇧
Great job showing all of the steps involved, Neil. Now we want to see the heat, dust, sweat, breakdowns, sampling manured fields, and the lost or damaged iPads. Keep it real! Stalk sampling, too.
I need a full blown documentary I think to cover all the bases for sure. You have to introduce the glamour before the ugliness though! Thanks for the support JM!
You day job is very detailed and labor intense and is very beneficial to the farmers and land owners if they will invest in the information that you and your company has analyzed and recommend the needed products for the most favorable results .
Thanks for sharing. I see you rigs all over in the spring. Notice them more after seeing in our field sampling.
Oh that cool! Thanks for checking out the video!
What a sweet job man. Your like the doctor in a way. My soil experience stops with a shovel full of dirt into a cup of water and let it sit and separate and then I stare at a chart. We only have a 25x25 garden that has 5 rows in it, and this is our second year. We just picked 42 lbs of potatoes a couple weeks back tho, it was a single row was all, and it’s this just our gardens second year. You’re a fortunate man Neil. I’m jealous of your profession.
Yes, I do feel pretty fortunate. Thanks Rob. Sounds like you had a pretty good haul from your garden though! That's a lot of potatoes for a single row! Thanks for sharing and watching my firend.
@@digdrivediy no problem man! 💪🏽👊🏻👍
HI Neil,
just recent found your channel and been watching quite a few videos, Your day job connected with me, I live in rural Victoria in Australia, I grew up on a small Dairy farm and after few stints with Kenworth trucks and Ford New Holland, got in Agronomy as well, spent close to 20 years doing soil testing and soil management for a number of different fertilizer companies and retails firms.
The last 5 years was with a Large agri company managing a team of Agronomist, transport trucks, fertilizer spreader tucks and a bulk storage facility. 9 years ago I left then industry and bought a General contracting business and now run that , I will look forward to watching more of your videos, We did a trip to the USA in 2019 and drove route 66, we love going past lots of pretty farms and houses on the road, especially going through Oklahoma
That's great! Thanks for sharing. I'd love to visit Australia one day.
That was really interesting. Thanks for taking us along.
My father farmed in the 1950s I was fairly young but remember him spending a lot of time in researching the best practices then available and was always a good steward of his land. Personally us having to leave the was one of my saddest days. Farming and farmers have always fascinated me. UA-cam has been a great conduit to follow and see all the great advances that lead to the great yields and quality crops that feed the world. Great video and thank you for what you do
I really appreciate you sharing that Gordon. I'm glad that people are able to keep up and learn about modern agriculture with the help of platforms like YT. Thanks so much for watching!
I just saw this video, thanks for the interesting information. I watch Cole the Cornstar and he employs these concepts. I grew in Central PA outside of State College and have friends in the farming profession. I enjoy you content and delivery of the content. I find youtube an enjoyable alternative to commercial TV. Gob bless and stay safe in your travels.
I used my Honda Big Red to take soil samples back in the 80's when I worked for Terra in Losantville Indiana
Oh that's cool David! That would probably be pretty good sample rig. I have a 200s ATC and it's still fun to ride. Thanks for checking out the video and the great comment! Take care!
Thanks Neil. Fascinating work. I learned a lot.
Glad you liked it sir!
Thanks for sharing Neil!
This is awesome! What a cool job to have - high tech, outside, and serving the local community. I am a bit jealous.
It's a perfect fit for someone like me. Inside during the winter and out and about when the weather is nice! Thanks James!
I'm a data guy. Was one with the feds for 30+ years. I love this stuff!
Thanks for the diligence in your work. When I was in college, I worked as a cotton scout to gather insect counts so the farmer and ag consultant could make better decisions on when to spray and how much. Really enjoyed the work. After cotton season, I worked as a peanut inspector for the local peanut warehouse. Enjoyed all of it. Thank you for all you do.
Thanks for the link to watch this video Neil. Explains a lot and it’s pretty cool what can be done these days.
New to your channel (I love it btw). The way those boxes were stacked on that pallet is a problem for my particular mental illness. I could not think about anything after seeing that. Great content, can’t wait to see more
Neat video, Neil. I too am an agronomist located in the Mid-Atlantic and its always interesting to see the differences in methodologies across the country.
That's great Mark. So glad to hear from you!
Loved it! My buddy Mica that makes a random appearance on our channel runs a huge “seed corn” operation for Becks here in Southern Ohio.
Hey Thanks! We almost took on a Beck's dealership a few years ago but really like the fact we're not affiliated with any products so we didn't do it. Beck's is a great company though. You should see Becknology Days for an eye opener! Thanks for the comment and say hi to Mica! We need those seed guys too!
Great video! Stumbled upon your channel last week and have enjoyed it tremendously. Just realized that you folks have done work on my farm in Adams County. I am a retired Co-op Agronomy Manager, very familiar with the soil sampling process- good work!
Excellent! Great to hear from you Steve and thanks for checking out the videos!
I’ve only been following you for a few months. But this was a pretty cool video to watch. Didn’t know what you actually did.
My favourite video yet, thanks Neil
Wow, thanks Billy!
Great video Neil, watching in the UK. I come from a farming family, our agronomist had an accident years ago, so I adapted his quad to enable him to take samples without getting on and off the quad. (Using typical agricultural engineering of course 😋)
Wow, that's cool Chris. All the best mods are agricultural engineering! That's great that he is still able to pull samples with the modded ATV. Very good of you to fix that up for him. Thanks for saying hi from the UK. I love it! Take care!
Thanks for the informative video Neil. I've used an agronomist resource for my 1 acre property just to have a baseline for gardening and lawn. Texas A&M Soil Testing Lab was my state recommended site. To answer your question, I want to farm. That will be a retirement goal, for now I am in local government.
I am a Southern Ca “city guy” and I found this video super interesting, educational, and enjoyable. I love learning about stuff I have never experienced before. Farming soil science?!? Wow! THX!
Awesome! Thank you!
I worked as a junior dairy herdsman in Ontario during the 80’s as a summer job while I was in high school. Helped to milk the cows twice a day, lay up hay and helped around the farms. Paid practically nothing but I felt a great deal of pride in the small part I had to play in getting milk from the cows to peoples’ tables. I learned a lot and the Crews were good people to work for.
Thank you for sharing. I had no idea and this is so very interesting.
Amazing video, I learned a lot about agriculture and land management. Thank you.
Thanks for the tour Neil!
You bet! Thanks for tuning in Bryce!
Well done Neil.. I enjoyed learning about your colleagues and the work you all do. Great video!
Frank in Colorado
Thanks Frank!
Wow looks like you have a lot of corn out there I hope at some point you take advantage of all those dried out corn cobs and figure out a way to burn biomass effectively in your wood boiler. I also usually waste wood instead of cutting down live trees. My my biomass did I burn consist mostly of wood chips brush leaves construction materials in any kind of pallet waste that my friend who owns a motorcycle shop generates a lot of
Thank you for what you do. Your also a great presenter.
Why thanks so much! I get a little nervous on the presenting though...
Thanks for sharing Neil. Another great video.
Glad to have you here and thanks so much SW!
Very cool. My family grows potatoes, wheat, barley and alfalfa in SE Idaho. Many hours/summers were spent on the farm. A great way a life!!!
That's awesome Verle! I have been on some farms in Idaho and it is surprisingly beautiful there in some areas. Thanks for sharing and appreciate you watching!
First off, I love all of your videos!!
Though i have no education in it, agronomy fascinates me and i wish i knew more. I have a small hobby farm and want to find a small family consulting company for this kind of info.
Also, i hauled agricultural chemicals for Winfield United all over kansas for several years.
Finally, a word from the sponsors! I'm saving this video solely to learn how to pronounce "Kneubuhler".
Haha! Your comments are always good for a chuckle. I see you've got the spelling down too! I'm still waiting on that sponsorship check for all this exposure 😋
This was very enlighten to watch. Very detail work that you do and you must have a passion to do it... never heard of that occupation but im glad i learned about it! Great video!
Interesting work, thanks for the info
In New Zealand the fertilizer company do the soil samples for you and send them to the lab. Then we get results back and talk about what to apply. Great video as usual.
We have some of that here as well where the fert dealers do the sampling.
I found you via Captain Kleeman, and I like this video, very well done. That is a awesome soil core-er ya have there. Mine is a mini in comparison.
Hey thanks a bunch Justin! Glad to have you jump over for a visit!
I've done a lot of different things for gainful employment. I've compiled a list of things I don't want to do when I grow up. What you do, could very well be for me. Thanks for sharing Neil!
Riding those ATVs every day is pretty enjoyable. Get to see all the countryside and the back side of it too! Would recommend. Thanks David!
Really interesting Neil, thanks for sharing and have a great week 🙂🙋🏼♂️👍🏻
Appreciate it! You have a good week as well my friend.
Enjoyed being able to see what you do as a career job! Really interesting too see all that’s involved in soil sampling. This is a great program to help farmers be efficient in there fertilizing practices!
Well really appreciate it Ben. There is a lot to it these days. Thanks for watching.
Great video! Thx for sharing
Thanks for giving us a closer look at your job! I studied Ag Systems Management in college, which heavily involved soil mapping/zoning, soil & water management, and crop rotation, but I wanted to focus more on the mechanization side of things, having grown up with tractors and machinery. My grandfather sold the farm long before I was born so unfortunately I never got the chance to see our vegetable operation in its heyday, but now I'm training to be an ag equipment salesman so I can give back to other farmers and put my knowledge of equipment to good use. I have to agree with you that agricultural jobs really are underappreciated, considering how crucial ag is to our well-being, and judging by the small size of the ag program at my college, it should definitely get more recognition.
That's awesome Michael! I'm glad to hear that you are also pursuing an Ag career. There are lots of opportunities out there and we always need people that feel that interest from within. Thanks for filling us in a little on what you hope to pursue as well. I'm glad to hear from all the different folks and what there backgrounds and interest. Thanks again for watching and commenting.
Thank you for sharing love your videos
Very educational. Thank you for sharing!
Gotta say...pretty cool day job. 😎 Thanks for sharing.
I have to agree! Thanks!
Thanks Neil! Very interesting!!
Yeap, so you are professional in maaany fields!
Love your channel and way of pragmatic approach, all best from Poland, Europe! :)
Thank you very much!
My grandfather and my great uncle's grew up on a small family farm. They stopped farming when they Went to WWII so now My cousin only grown a few things on it. As well I grew up in a farming community in Central PA and helped out friends dairy farm during the summer. Went to Penn State for horticulture and business.
That's great to hear Alan. Thanks for sharing. It's interesting to hear how people are connected to the farm. Appreciate you watching.
Love this. Great video and insight brother!
Thanks Neil. Here in North Central KS we are surrounded by agriculture. Ever hear of Geoprobe?? They make big and small core sample machines in Salina, KS. Anyway, very cool. I probably need to do samples on my Christmas Trees.
Thanks Jeff. I haven't heard of Geoprobe. Can't believe I haven't actually. Yeah, you're in the heart of ag out there in KS. Probably wouldn't hurt to get your tree farm tested for sure. Thanks for watching!
Niceeee Hi form Puerto Rico . Grate vid
Hey Puerto Rico! Great to hear from you Oscar. Thanks for watching!
@@digdrivediy yeahh my body you know how it is . Tks you to entertain us with your vid Sr ... better imposible 😎🤝💪
I ran my grandfathers vineyard for 5 years until he died. We grew raisin grapes. I knew nothing about farming (& grandpa had dementia.) I had a good farm advisor and did my best to follow his advice. My last year he recommended I pick very early. (No other vineyards I drove past were picking yet.) The raisin drying conditions were good. The evening after I had rolled up the raisins to protect them from rain there was a week-long series of storms. Rain is harmful to drying grapes. Almost all the raisin farmers suffered major crop losses. I had the biggest crop the vineyard ever produced. I was lucky, the heavy losses caused a raisin shortage so my heavy crop brought a good price. I liked farming but had few friends in the area and lived like a monk. I could have bought the vineyard when grandpa died but I was ready to do something else.
Wow that is very interesting!
Pretty Cool work you do. Always Curious about what we all do when we’re not behind the camera.
Great video. I've seen this type work in fields around my area here in southern Illinois. It seems most of the time it is usually after the crops have been harvested.
Appreciate it. Yeah, we do a third of our sampling after the crops are off. Just less of an opportunity in the fall for us cause the window is smaller and days are shorter. Just depends on what kind of cycle you're working with. Thanks for watching!
Interesting work for sure...Thanks for sharing, and keep up the good work :)
Appreciate it John. Thanks as always for watching and commenting!
Good explanation of the sampling process, nice video.
Thanks so much Tony!
Super cool! I'd love to do this kind of work.
Hey thanks Joe! We're always looking for good samplers so I could hook you up! :) Thanks for watching!
Very fascinating, Neil. I understand your purposes and practices all too well. I am a winegrape grower and the soil(s) are a big issue in our production objectives. "Keep Diggin" and improving! Now...if you can find a solution to Spring frosts!
Oh boy! So true Dwayne. While we don't work with any winegrape growers, we know plenty of consultants in our network that do. That is a specialty crop for sure. I'll have to work on that spring frost issue... always a nail biter for at least a few days in the spring! Thanks Dwayne.
Excellent job Neil.
Hey Jeff!!! Thanks a bunch!
Awesome , Neil very informative, no wonder do got such a nice lawn LOL
Ha! I try. We always say it's hard to trust an agronomist with a poor looking lawn :) Thanks for watching Ron!
Very interesting, Keep up the good work.
Thanks Steve!