L.E.A.D Academy Original/Old

Welcome to L.E.A.D Academy, our education platform designed to share information with our growers on agronomy technologies, product development research, local and national economic data, and more. Learn from our internal experts, and other industry professionals for the latest, unbiased agronomy intel.

Over the past 50 years, Liqui-Grow has invested heavily in agronomy research to develop cutting edge products that achieve profitable high yields. We have historically shared our insights with local growers, and now plan to expand that effort.

“They bring cutting edge knowledge to my operation that I can use to directly impact yields and ultimately the gross profit per acre. They are the expertise that I need to be a better farmer.”

Winter Session:
Durant, IA
(IN-PERSON)

2/3 @ 9:00am-12:30pm
CEUs: 1

Durant Community Center
606 5th Avenue
Durant, IA

Our service showcase will kick off with company updates, an overview of the nitrogen market, and our industry outlook for 2022. We'll move onto seed sales, the continual benefits and precision found with RTK banding, findings from our many research plots, and end with an expert overview of the U.S. and global economic outlook for the 2022 ag economy.

Speakers
Scott Tinsman
Katie Hess
Chris Tinsman
Jake Vossenkemper
Curt Struhbar

Winter Session:
Hampton, IA
(IN-PERSON)

RESCHEDULE TBD
CEUs: 1

Franklin County Convention Center
1008 Central Ave W
Hampton, IA

Speakers
Scott Tinsman
Katie Hess
Chris Tinsman
Jake Vossenkemper
Curt Struhbar

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Scott Tinsman
Scott Tinsman is COO of Twin State, Inc. and the Liqui-Grow brand of fertilizers. He is also Chairman of Rock River Lumber and Grain, CEO of Sivyer Steel Castings, LLC, and a managing partner of Twin State Technical Services. Scott is a graduate of Northwestern University, B.S. of Industrial Engineering. Prior to joining the family business, Twin State Inc, in 1989, Scott was employed by IBM in engineering, sales, and finance leasing. Active in his community, Scott has served as a volunteer for many Quad City organizations including as a Board of Directors member for several businesses and non-profits, school board member and board president for Bettendorf Community School district, and The Fertilizer Institute (Washington, DC).

Hovey Tinsman
Hovey (Hov) grew up in the Quad Cities and graduated with a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado. He joined the family business, Twin State Liqui-Grow, in 1983 and was based in Madison, WI where he developed the liquid fertilizer footprint in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. He relocated to corporate headquarters in Davenport, IA in the early 1990s. In 1997, first-generation ownership began a five year transition to the second generation, and Hov was named President in 2002 and maintains that position today along with management of the revenue strategy.

John Tinsman
John studied Economics at Northwestern University and University of Oxford. John previously worked as an institutional crude oil market maker and securities trader in Chicago before returning home to join Twin State Inc. as Director of Purchasing, Trading, Investments. John takes part in the financial management of Twin State Inc., and procures Ammonia, Urea, UAN, Potash, Phosphoric Acid, Phosphates, Zinc, and Sulfur for the fertilizer plant. John specializes in supply and demand forecasting and economic trend analysis.

Curt Strubhar
Curt Strubhar is a Commercial Merchandising Consultant and Vice-Chairman of ATI. Raised on a central Illinois grain farm, Curt graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Agricultural Economics and started his career as an ag chemical sales rep. He joined ATI in 1995. Curt serves as a commercial consultant with clients that include grain warehouses and grain end users. He has clients from the Corn Belt through the Hard Red Winter Wheat Belt. Curt’s tenure with ATI has included travel to Brazil, South Africa, and Ukraine to help identify opportunities in those regions. Curt is a current member of the National Grain and Feed Association's Risk Management Committee and a subcommittee for the CFTC’s Ag Advisory Committee. He is a past Alliance Board Member of the Grain and Feed Association of Illinois and a long-time member of the Workforce Development Committee.

Edwin Benkert

Edwin Benkert is a Seed and Trait Technology Development Representative (TDR) for Bayer Crop Science covering Southwest Iowa. As a TDR, Edwin is responsible for conducting research trials on pre-commercial products and works with agronomists to provide technical product support to Bayer sales teams and their customers. Edwin is originally from Michigan and grew up on a farm that grew corn, soybeans, wheat, and sugarbeets; and raised beef cattle and hogs. Prior to joining Bayer, Edwin obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Albion College, and a PhD in Entomology from the University of Minnesota where his focus was on corn rootworm Bt resistance and management.

Greg Tylka

Tylka joined Iowa State University in February 1990. He currently is a Morrill Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology. Activities in Greg Tylka's program at Iowa State University focus on the biology and management of plant-parasitic nematodes, with major focus on the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines. Current research includes study of SCN-resistant soybean varieties, effects of nematode-protectant seed treatments, and interactions between SCN and insect herbivores. Much of the activities of the Tylka laboratory are funded by the soybean checkoff through grants from the Iowa Soybean Association, the North Central Soybean Research Program, and the United Soybean Board. Tylka also serves as director of the Iowa Soybean Research Center at Iowa State University.

Connie Davis
Connie Davis, Corn Systems Market Development Manager Disease, Yield and Stress for Bayer Crop Science. She is the technical lead for US Markets on current and new yield and stress traits in corn, and is responsible for technical project prioritization, product positioning and coordination of field protocols and research programs for the US corn business to support new corn product launches and corn systems focused on diseases and short corn. She has experience with cross functional collaboration from Technology R&D to Marketing and Sales support with customer facing field teams. She also has extensive experience in corn breeding, trait integration and field research in 21 years with the company.

Jody Gander
Jody Gander is a Market Development Manager for Corn Traits within the Corn Agronomic Systems Group at Bayer Crop Science. In this role, Jody works cross-functionally with several organizations across Bayer to develop and support the next generation of corn insect control technologies as well as to support their current commercial corn insect trait platforms. Jody joined Monsanto in 2007 as a Technology Development Representative (TDR) conducting research trials and providing sales support to the various Monsanto seed brands. Prior to joining Monsanto, Jody served as a Technical Service Representative with American Cyanamid and as a Research Agronomist/Agronomic Research Manager with Pioneer Hi-Bred International. Jody has a B.S. in Agricultural Education and an M.S. in Agronomy, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia, as well as a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Arkansas.