Farm Equipment
www.farm-equipment.com/articles/21587-2023-precision-specialist-spotlight

2023 Precision Specialist Spotlight

August 13, 2023

Lessiter Media's first-ever Precision Specialist Week (August 13-19, 2023) celebrates and recognizes the hard work and dedication of those making today's precision farming systems possible. 

While employed by dealers, growers regard their precision farming specialists as an extension of their farm staff. They are called upon day and night to keep farms up and running, especially during the critical planting, spraying and harvesting seasons.

Growers, dealers and manufacturers shared stories of the following specialists who go above and beyond the call of duty to keep farming operations running. To celebrate the dedicated precision specialists making an impact in your area, submit a nomination at www.farm-equipment.com/psweek. 

—The Precision Farming Dealer team

Precision Specialist Tributes, in alphabetical order by last name:


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Jack Bartholomew, Bottom Line Solutions (Morton, Ill.)

Jack Bartholomew’s role at Bottom Line Solutions is manager of Sales and Service. His job includes taking care of the customer through efficient service, selling products that help our customer/operation’s bottom line (no pun intended) and providing training to newer technicians that want to learn his trade/knowledge.  

Jack is a hero to many farmers each spring and fall when planters and combines hit the fields. If he's heard it once, he's heard it a hundred times, “it worked when I put it away for the season."

Whether it's working with a customer on the phone, or on-hand service support, his ability to troubleshoot the most advanced problem(s) is amazing. He is not one to just bandage a situation. He gets to the heart of the issue and resolves it the right way. Jack can think beyond the problem to figure out the issue at hand. There have been many times he has been called after hours or on the weekends, and without hesitation he is there to get our customers back up and going. He has a converted ambulance that is fully stocked with parts (like a store on wheels), along with a hydraulic maker that he takes on service calls and installs. It provides the tools that he needs to get the job done. To provide the best result for a customer, Jack has even slept overnight in the service ambulance. He provided service for the late-night issue and was there first thing in the morning when that customer was ready to hit the field. 

The joy of watching Jack at work is getting to see the relationships he has cultivated with customers. This provides a deeper and more personal insight when brainstorming steps to troubleshoot an unusual situation. He's a passionate individual who brings a lot of energy to our team, and one who enjoys tackling a problem to conquer it. There have been times we have brought in a planter for an upgrade and have come across a hiccup, but he always figures out the issue to provide that “happy customer” end result. Let’s be honest, there is not one planter that is the same, and our customer base is very cutting edge. Therefore, this means he is always stretching outside the normal box of farming. 

A bonus with Jack is that he has worn the “farmer hat” before, which deepens his understanding of being in this role. When looking at upgrade options for our customers and their operations, he's always providing the most efficient result with the best price tag. 

Bottom Line Solutions is truly blessed with Jack’s skill set and true dedication to his job. He has the experience, the knowledge, the personal relationships, and the troubleshooting abilities that not all service technicians can provide. His common sense, engineer mindset, and wide base of knowledge in our ag product lines makes him the perfect package. We are so very fortunate to have Jack as a part of the BLS team!  

—Melissa Mohr (Morton, Ill.)



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Adam Bjerketvdt, Precision Ag 360 (Hancock, Minn.)

Adam does a terrific job of service and finds any new equipment that will help out his farmer clientele. As the Precision Ag 360 website says, "Adam never likes to be called a salesman because a salesman has to sell himself. Precision products have real value and a true return-on-investment for the grower. Adam believes that his job is to give the grower the best information that would help the farming operation to be the most efficient it can be while maximizing the greatest profit per acre." 

—Paul Groneberg (Hoffman, Minn.)


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Scott Chizmar, Sievers Equipment Company (Auburn, Ill.)

Sievers Equipment has 6 ag locations and 2 on CIH stores that also sell precision ag products. Scott is so well known that most customers from all our stores call him first for any issues. In busy season, his day starts at 6 a.m. and most nights he doesn't get home until after 9:30 pm

—Dwight Kayser (Auburn, Ill.)


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Wacy Giess, Heritage Tractor (Topeka, Kan.)

Wacy Giess is a veteran precision specialist who has devoted a lot of time to his craft making sure our customers keep running in the field at all times of the day. Wacy covers multiple locations, so he gets spread out during peak seasons. 

A customer was picking up planting after a delay and trying to use map sharing so they could use two planters in the same field, but they were unable to get the sharing connected. It had previously been working but has stopped over the rain out. Through use of RDA we checked the settings on both and determined that his tractor wasn’t communicating.  One battery disconnect reboot later, everything connected as it should. It was a small thing, but it was 9 p.m. on a Saturday and Wacy did it all on his phone in a gas station parking lot. If they didn't get it straightened out, they would've had to make an additional round on the ends so section control would've worked again. 

A customer recently converted to Gen4, and had serious issues with a new 1795 Planter. His salesman couldn’t explain it, and a call to the shop was referred to Wacy to try to avoid even more downtime. The planter was frequently and randomly disengaging while trying to plant, and he was understandably getting frustrated. Wacy verified all the settings, and everything SEEMED to be set up correctly. Wacy made use of RDA to monitor the planter status and noted the wheel motion sensor was cycling between active/inactive. Upon further investigation, he found it was not properly aligned. A few minutes adjusting, and the issue was resolved, allowing the customer to plant, and leaving him very satisfied. To this day the customer is still impressed by how much we could fix over the phone instead of waiting for someone to show up.

—Jeff Mueller (Adrian, Mo.)


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Ian Gilt, Wellington Implement (Ashland and Wellington, Ohio)

Reliable. That is the first adjective that comes to mind when you think of Ian Gilt who joined our team in 2021. During the hectic spring planting season, you’ll find Ian on a farm when the sun comes up at one end of our territory and closing out the day several hours from home on another. Ian’s phone doesn’t appear to have an “off” button as he makes himself available to answer questions and offer guidance to farmers who are making a living using equipment and technology from our dealership. Ian’s training in agronomy from The Ohio State University, past experience in the co-op world and day to day life on his own farm make him the perfect candidate provide such support.

Spring of 2023 was exceptionally challenging. Not only did the supply chain continue to cripple the availability of select products, but some products received from suppliers were plagued with quality issues that had to be overcome. The dealership also had the most ever new Case IH planters hit the field in 2023. Ian rose to the occasion and, with the backing by our sales & service teams, delivered the ultimate equipment experience to our customers.  

Wellington Implement has always focused on ag technology and holds somewhat of a rare combination of dealer agreements as both a Case IH Pinnacle Dealer and a direct Precision Planting Premier Dealer. This combination allows Ian to not only sell and support OEM Case IH solutions but also deliver the most elite Precision Planting products and support to farmers using any color of equipment.

—Tom Stannard (Wellington, Ohio)

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Kelsie Heath, Sunrise Cooperative (Norwalk, Ohio)

Kelsie is always able to work me into her schedule to fix boundaries, make fertilizer and seeding Rx, and in some cases edit fertilizer and seeding Rx on last minute notice to help keep my customers going in the field. This helps me and my customers realize our goals of producing a high yielding and profitable crop. I really appreciate all she does to help me with my customers.  

—Russell Culler (Norwalk, Ohio)


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Bill Hushon, Atlantic Tractor (Whiteford, Md.)

Bill has been in the dealership for 49 years and has served many roles. He has been in the precision ag business since the beginning of John Deere getting into it. His knowledge and boots on the ground approach make him invaluable to not only the company but to our customers. He takes calls during non-business hours constantly and handles them with pride. There are too many examples of what he does over and beyond the normal, but when customers and dealer staff know he is the go to person, that speaks volumes. Bill participates in all of our training sessions. He continues to train on newer technologies and isn't slowing down a bit. He assists with marketing efforts as well. Bill touches every part of our precision efforts. We are proud to have him as a co-worker and nominate him without hesitation.

—Aaron Boggs (Westminster, Md.)

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Lake Knutti, Sloan Implement (Lanark, Ill.)

Lake is always at hand with efficient troubleshooting. He is able to call upon his years of experience and the extensive network of technicians he works with at Sloan implement to solve problems with minimal downtime. Lake is worth his weight in gold.  

—Marc Severson (Rockford, Ill.)


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Ryan Koenig, Heritage Tractor (Pittsburg, Kan.)

Ryan Koenig is a veteran precision specialist who has devoted a lot of time away from his family to make sure our customers keep running in the field. Ryan covers multiple locations so he gets spread out during peak seasons. The following story from the time during the pandemic is just one reason Ryan deserves the spotlight.  

A customer called on a weekend and stated that he was having issues with his display. Ryan completed an RDA session with the customer and noticed that the display was locking up, information was missing, and performance was significantly degraded. On top of all the issues the customer was having, it was the middle of corn planting, and he was in the middle of the field trying to beat the rain. Ryan hopped into his truck and headed for the dealership. He flew through and picked up a new processor and headed to the field. Once he got to the field, the customer was frantic. He was just sure that all the data that he had on his display was gone and Ryan could not retrieve it. Ryan set up his computer and hot spot and tore into the tractor. Ryan was able to back up the processor and send the information to the Operations Center. Once that was completed, he warranted the activations on the old processor, installed the new processor, transferred the data and activations to the new processor and put the tractor cab back together. Total time 1.5hrs. Ryan then started the tractor back up and it was just like the customer had never had an issue. The customer completed planting that field just as the rain set in. At the end of the planting season, the customer checked all his planting data, and everything was as it should be. To this day the customer still talks about how quickly Ryan was able to diagnose and fix the issue and did not lose any of the data.  

—Jeff Mueller (Adrian, Mo.)


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Nathan Lott, A.C. McCartney (Durand, Ill.)

Nathan consistently goes above and beyond to serve the A.C. McCartney customer base. He is always finding creative ways to address customer needs using every tool and system he has access to. Nathan is very interested in the future development and capabilities of precision technology, and works closely with vendors to keep them informed of current issues, shortcomings, and opportunities for improvement. Nathan is great to work with. His customer base and the dealership are lucky to have him. 

—Tom Kramer (Edwardsville, Ill.)


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Eric Lund, Veris Technologies (Salina, Kan.)

Eric Lund has provided 30 years of thoughtful leadership and worked with technology known as proximal soil sensing. 

—Neil Havermale (Fort Collins, Colo.)


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Curtis Martin, Agriteer (Waynesboro, Pa.)

Curtis will go above and beyond what is expected of him to support and repair any precision issues that a customer would have. He has spent many hours on the phone with technicians and customers guiding them through tough diagnostics and troubleshooting. Another area Curtis does well in is training new technicians, as well as having in-house training for customers and dealer personnel to update all of the latest products and issues.

—Edwin Martin (Leola, Pa.)


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Randal Morris, CNH Industrial (Lexington, Tenn.)

Randal does a great job teaching precision to our dealerships. He is also very good at doing demos to get new interest in precision products with producers.

—Josh Griffin (Camilla, Ga.)


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Jeffrey Mueller, Heritage Tractor (Adrian, Mo.)

Jeff is always ready to get the job done and help with whatever he can. He always knows the answer, and a solution to the problem. A Great asset to Heritage Tractor Inc. We are blessed to have him on board.

—Myron Reynolds (Adrian, Mo.)


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Brant Palmer, RDO Equipment (Yuma, Ariz.)

Brant Palmer is a foundational pillar of our precision technology department. For over 10 years, Brant has worked tirelessly to keep our growers in California and Arizona up and running. The crop types in our region are extremely diverse and our growers farm 12 months out of the year. Brant has never shied away from these challenges and has excelled at everything from combines, cotton pickers, windrowers, bailers, sprayers, on top of every variety of specialty fresh produce equipment imaginable. He has even begun leading our charge into drones and the various autonomous equipment that are trickling into the market. 

His round the clock dedication has kept our precision market share strong and given our growers the peace of mind knowing that they have the ultimate expert just a short phone call away. Brant is everything a precision farming department should be about. His dedication to customer service, driving results, and most importantly, finding the right solutions are unmatched. I can't think of an issue or customer request that wasn't ultimately meet with an answer from Brant. He is constantly finding ways to drive value for our customer through our 3-pronged approach: making or saving our customers money, improving their quality of life, and creating a more sustainable environment. Brant's career is chalk-full of examples of helping customers achieve one, and in most cases, all three of these objectives. 

Year after year, I receive feedback from customers on how Brant helped them transform their businesses through technology. He has been there from the very beginning, from JDLink to John Deere's Operations Center. He is front and center helping RDO Equipment Co. lead the charge; helping our growers turn their digital equipment, agronomic, and financial information into actionable intelligence. Decisions that growers used make based on 'gut-feel' are now made through hard data that Brant has helped them capture and interpret. 

Over the last decade, I'd bet we'd all be hard pressed to find a more dedicated and engaged precision farming expert across the United States. Brant is everything that precision farming stands for and we all hope to achieve. He has certainly earned the recognition and I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish in the years ahead!

—Jeremy Smith (Salinas, Calif.)



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Brad Peet, Hutson, Inc. (St. Louis, Mich.)

Brad is one of a kind. He is a "leader by doing" on the precision ag team at Hutson. His prior work experience as a technician prepared him well to support and train around all product types in the agriculture business. He excels in demonstrations with his sales peers. He is right at home amongst technicians teaching technical content. He is a valued certified dealer instructor for our organization. And he does it all with a positive attitude. We're blessed to have him supporting customers in Michigan.

—Travis Kiesel (Evansville, Ind.)

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Jason Pennycook, Johnson Tractor (Janesville, Wis.)

Jason Pennycook has devoted the time and effort to become the go-to guy for many when it comes to precision farming. He continuously goes above and beyond to share his passion with customers and build up his department. Johnson Tractor acknowledges just how much dedication a role like this requires and we couldn't thank Jason Pennycook enough for all his hard work. He has not only become a role model for others at the dealerships but has gone on to become a role model for people outside the dealership as well. We are so fortunate to have such a outstanding expert in the field of precision farming. 

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Layne Rapp, Heartland Tractor Company (Harrisonville, Mo.)

Layne is very knowledgable and is always helpful. He is friendly and will do whatever it takes to get the job done right. Layne is willing to talk to anyone at anytime and will get to anyone he can in person when he is able. All the people in our area know that they can trust Layne.

—Austin Hopper (Harrisonville, Mo.)


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Mike Schild, Titan Machinery (Casselton, N.D.)

Mike has been with Titan Machinery for 15 years and has seen a lot of technological advancements in the precision world. He keeps up with all of the updates and training protocols and does a great job at executing them all. When it comes to planting and harvest season — Mike is gone from sunrise to well beyond sunset. In the off-season he is busy installing Precision Planting products, direct inject systems on sprayers and fielding misc GPS calls.

He does a great job at training technicians, customers & salesman. Mike often assists with combine, planter and sprayer clinics. He will usually get talked into doing presentations. If he is not presenting, he still assists when instructors/specialists are going off on in-depth questions, Mike is always called on to help out with issues. Mike will often assist and help out other Titan dealers when in need, do field startups, diagnostics, etc. We at Titan in Casselton are very lucky to have a precision specialist like Mike at our dealership!

Mike grew up in Harvey, ND on a farm and when he has time likes to get back and help out. Thanks much Mike for all you do for Titan and our customers!

—Gabe Kost (Casselton, N.D.)


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Kason Scroggins, Tiernan Aeration (Amarillo, Texas)

Tiernan Aeration is a manufacturer of agriculture grain storage aeration systems. We've been at this work for more than 50 years; this is our specialty. Our sales engineer, Kason Scroggins, routinely goes above and beyond in his role; he is a specialist in the design of grain storage aeration systems and customer relationships. He assists in overseeing projects in our manufacturing process in order to ensure that they ship complete and on-time to the Customer's job site.

Kason routinely travels in this specialist role, however one very recent example of going above and beyond for our customer's expressed need involves an aeration system delivered to the customer’s job site in Nebraska. 

In transit, two large centrifugal fan housings moved against each other and by the time the equipment was delivered the paint on two housings had been rubbed off, exposing the steel to the elements. Our customer called about the circumstances and requested that we send a can of sprayable paint that matches our "Tiernan orange." We agreed to do so.

We quickly learned through the process of trying to ship-deliver this paint that it cannot be shipped via FedEx, UPS, other (it's not non-toxic). Therefore, in order to ensure that the customer's request was fulfilled, and the housings quickly repaired, Kason drove one can of paint to Nebraska!

This is just one example of specialists at Tiernan who partner with customers for their project needs. A great big thanks to Kason for the hard worker he is, ensuring the customer's equipment is ready for the demanding weather conditions of Nebraska.

—Dan Troublefield (Amarillo, Texas)


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Jason Smith, Select Sprayers and Equipment LLC (Kearney, Neb.)

Trimble and Raven certified and hands on for 20 years on Miller Nitro CNH products. Customers only want to talk to Jason. He can troubleshoot over the phone with the operators on Facetime, and help them track down any wiring problem throughout the sprayer, whether it's product control or boom auto height. 

—Denny Jorgensen (Kearney, Neb.)


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Brian Titus, Van Wall Equipment (Marshalltown, Iowa)

Brian has been part of the Van Wall precision department for over a decade. He has been instrumental in the direction the department has went through his expertise and customer focused mentality. Brian also has a knack for figuring out how to make something work even when it is not is for the intended use. Brian is an outside the box thinker and is always looking for the next precision tool to help increase his grower's margin and make their life easier.  

—Scott Meldrum (Nevada, Iowa)


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Andy Waters, Linco-Precision (Springfield, Ill.)

Andy has been in the precision ag business for 10 years. He is well known and highly thought of in central Illinois. Andy has been a leader in our organization and takes on many responsibilities in the precision ag department and is always eager to assist other employees with their questions. As an example of Andy's hands on, preemptive style of service to his customers, I've copied a portion of an email he sent last spring to all his customers and co-workers to be ahead of a potential problem.

Andy wrote,

As of May 17th 2022, the US Government has decommissioned WAAS satellite 138 which has been our main correction satellite in Illinois and much of the Midwest for many years, and they are replacing it with satellite WAAS 135 which is in commission now.  ONLY if you use WAAS on any of your systems, and ONLY if you are having issues converging or getting a GPS fix, attached are documents on how to change the satellite settings for an EZ Guide 250, EZ Guide 500, CFX 750/ FM 750, TMX using Precision IQ application, and GFX 350/ XCN 750 or GFX 750/ XCN 1050 displays with Nav 500, or Nav 900 receivers.  As far as a FMX/ FM-1000 or TMX 2050/ XCN 2050, I only have a video for that.

He went on to cover additional brands and models of precision equipment as well as attaching several PDF files and videos to assist area farmers in this transition. This was completely his idea, his initiative and his foresight in caring for his customers.  

—Lloyd Lewis (Greenville, Ill.)


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Austin Weyer, Hopf Equipment (Huntingburg, Ind.)

Austin has worked for Hopf Equipment since high school. He started as part time set-up person in our lawn and garden department, and did various jobs for years, helping us where ever we needed. I always liked to hire "farm boys" because they know how to work. CASE IH was pushing for a full time precision farming person at each store, so we ran that by him and he liked the challenge. He took training courses and was out demoing systems. He luckily got the opportunity to take over his family farm with his cousin. So, now he can use the technology in a real time setting. There is no doubt that being in the seat and using the technology first-hand helps with the precision farming position. I've heard him on the phone talking guys through issues. There's no better training than hands-on! We let him take off in the spring and fall to get his planting and harvesting done, and he knows if he has to go see someone there will be some late nights. It seems to work for him and us!    

—Mike Hopf (Huntingburg, Ind.)


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Felipe Zavla, Vantage Northwest (Fruitland, Idaho)

I have been the manager of Vantage Northwest for a little over a year. I have worked with Felipe Zavala for 3 years, since he started with Vantage Northwest. Felipe was dedicated to this department and to precision agriculture from the day he applied. It took him 2 years and lots of interviews before he was ever hired — he has no quit in him. Felipe cares deeply for customer service. He may be the best provider of customer service that works for Vantage Northwest. It does not matter the time of day or the day of the week, Felipe will take the customer's call and if he can't fix the issue over the phone, if the problem can't wait until the next day, Felipe is on the road to get them going. Felipe has recently been promoted to a technology sales position within Vantage Northwest.

I have never seen anybody in the precision ag industry like Felipe. He is never happy with his knowledge of the industry and is always trying to further his understanding. When he is away from work he spends his time researching products and trying to find ways to help him better serve his customers and help provide solutions to the issue they face on their individual farms.

Vantage Northwest is the technology division of Agri-Service, a large AGCO dealership scattered throughout Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Felipe has 2 stores in the area that he covers. I am constantly getting calls from store managers, equipment salesmen, and store employees letting me know how dedicated Felipe is to them, to our products and how much they appreciate his willingness to help. One of the salesmen from these stores is who brought this spotlight to my attention and asked that I nominate Felipe Zavala. I have worked in several different industries and in different sides of those industries in my life, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a person more dedicated to his customer, to his team and to the products we offer than Felipe.

—James Merrill (Kimberly, Idaho)


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