AMES, Iowa – Logan McCrea is Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s newest field agronomist, serving nine counties in south-central Iowa out of the Mahaska County office. A native of Monroe County, McCrea started his new role in early March of this year.

Image

“We are excited to have Logan join the team as an extension field agronomist covering south-central Iowa. Being from the area, he already knows a lot of the local challenges and will be a great resource to farmers, landowners and ag retailers in the area,” said Rebecca Vittetoe, field agronomist in east central and southeast Iowa.

Growing up on a family farm, McCrea said he just kind of knew that this is what he wanted to be. To that end, he completed a number of industry internships and is currently working on his master’s degree in agronomy, hoping to hone his skills so he can be a resource to a wide audience with many different backgrounds.

“They’re going to have all kinds of different questions,” said McCrea. “I think that by developing those skills through internships and the places I’ve worked, I’ll be in a good position to be successful. And I enjoy getting out in the field and having boots on the ground.”

McCrea already has a full slate of summer programming planned, including an upcoming herbicide roundtable with Wesley Everman, assistant professor and extension weed specialist, to talk about general herbicide management strategies with retailers and producers.

In addition, McCrea and Vittetoe will provide general crop staging presentations to demonstrate how to determine the growth stage of corn and soybeans. In mid-May, Crop Scout School for interns or new employees is planned at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville, where the field agronomists will teach attendees how to perform stand checks, evaluate planting success and identify weed and insect species in the field to make better herbicide and insecticide recommendations.

McCrea will also help producers navigate herbicide labeling requirements related to the Endangered Species Act, whereby herbicide labels going forward may include drift and runoff/erosion reduction statements, and these reduction measures must meet a set number of points. To clarify some of the mitigation strategies available, McCrea stated, “It will be helpful to get out and talk to producers because there is still a lot of uncertainty with farmers and retailers, what they have to do now, and what is needed in the future related to herbicide applications.”

In addition, McCrea hopes to be a resource to younger producers who may be in line to take over a family farm over the next few decades. “I think a third of the producers in Iowa are over the age of 65, and the average age is about 57 or 58,” said McCrea. “Due to farm succession, there’s going to be a lot of people that are looking for a resource, for somebody to help. I think my way of trying to help create a better Iowa is to be a resource for those people, whether that’s a young, beginning farmer or someone taking over the operation, to a person just helping out a family member. I want to be a resource to take some weight off their shoulders.”

In his spare time, McCrea likes to go back to help on the family farm, attends Cyclone sporting events and is a football referee.

McCrea can be reached at ldmccrea@iastate.edu