Get to Know Nick Groth and His Approach to Supporting Wisconsin Growers

Whether it’s understanding how to manage a weed like waterhemp or helping a grower find the best products for their dollar in this tight economy, Nick Groth is up for the challenge. 

Groth is an agronomic service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection covering the state of Wisconsin. His educational background includes bachelor’s degrees in agronomy and soil science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in agronomy from Iowa State University. Before his role with Syngenta, he worked for several years in ag retail.

During the growing season, Groth is a contributing agronomist for Successful Farming’s coverage of USDA’s Crop Progress report. He spoke with Successful Farming about his heritage in agriculture, the challenges confronting growers today, and his personal mantra for his role.

SF: How did you get your start in agronomy?

NG: My start in agronomy dates back to my grandparents. Both sets of my grandparents were on working farms when I grew up – one in the dairy industry in the driftless area of Minnesota, and the other one right on the Iowa border in the southeast part of Minnesota, a grain-farming and beef operation. I spent a lot of time with them on their farms, learning about agriculture and all the benefits that I saw in that industry. From there, I pursued a degree in agronomy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After that, I went to work in retail for about eight years on the east side of Wisconsin. In that period, I began to work toward my master’s degree through the Iowa State distance program, completing the program in 2021. I began my work with Syngenta starting in January 2020. 

SF: Tell us a little bit about your interaction with growers. 

NG: I cover the entire state of Wisconsin for the crop protection side of Syngenta. I work with four different sales reps, and there are two AgriEdge reps that I work pretty closely with, as well – that’s the software and grower-facing side of our business. My interaction with growers is two-fold. I do a lot of training events for growers and retailers at some of our research facilities – they are called “Grow More Experience” sites, where we have a lot of trial work and do a lot of training. Then, in the off season, we do some classroom-type training, utilizing what we learned throughout the season to inform our customers in retail update meetings and grower meetings. In the summer, a lot of our one-on-one interaction with individual growers comes from product performance issues or potential crop injury issues. They are pretty few and far between with Syngenta’s portfolio, but we do have a few that I get called on. 

That can be a fun part of the job – to be on-farm and directly offering my expertise in that way, and to solve problems in real time. 

SF: What’s your favorite part of the job?

NG: Taking complex issues – weed control, disease control – and trying to position our portfolio in a way to simplify those issues and provide solutions to growers. Waterhemp management has been a huge part of my job throughout my entire career. It just seems to be something that is ever changing and evolving, and it takes additional management as we go. I feel like we’ve done a really nice job here at Syngenta to position products that fit those ever-changing needs. It’s my job to take this complex product and position it in a way where it can have real value for the customer and solve some of these really challenging issues. 

SF: What’s a challenge you’re preparing for as the season approaches?

NG: On the weed control side, waterhemp is probably the biggest challenge we face. We spend a lot of time at our “Grow More Experience” sites developing protocols to learn more about how we can best utilize all of our tools to manage that weed. From a disease-control side, tar spot is a real challenge. We’re still learning a lot about that and the best way to manage that disease. 

An overall challenge is finding a healthy balance between wanting to do a really good job with pest management, disease control, and weed control, but understanding the economic situations in the industry right now impacts what can be spent. That’s a real challenge that we all face – retailers, basic manufacturers, and growers alike.

SF: Besides agronomy, what’s something that keeps you busy?

NG: I have two little kids at home. I have an 18-month-old and a 3.5-year-old, so it can get pretty hectic around here, especially in the summertime – a lot of running to try to make it home for supper and relieve my wife from her duties of parenting all day. Family time is critical to me right now – doing a good job so I can get home and spend time with them.

SF: What else should our readers know about you?

NG: Being adjacent to farming my whole life has put me in a different light than a lot of people who have developed in this industry. It’s been a strong background for me. It’s always been important to me because of my family involvement in it.

Retail ag was a great place to learn. That gave me a unique perspective that not everybody at the basic-manufacturer-agronomy level shares – knowing what it’s like to be in this day-in/day-out partnership with a grower.

My mantra is that I want to use the tools I have now – the research arm of Syngenta, the Grow More Experience sites – to develop solutions and provide fact-based evidence, as opposed to just selling a product or making promises.