Agronomist Tim Dahl on Turning Challenges Into Opportunities

From unfavorable weather to weed resistance, where others may see a defeating circumstance, Tim Dahl sees a problem to solve. 

An agronomic service representative for Syngenta Crop Protection in southern Minnesota, Dahl is one of the contributing agronomists for Successful Farming’s coverage of the USDA’s Crop Progress report. He’s worked in the agricultural industry for more than 35 years.

The Minnesota native spoke with us about growing up in the seed business and the biggest challenges confronting growers this season.

SF: How did you end up in the ag industry? 

TD: I grew up on a farm here in southeastern Minnesota. At the time, it was a moderate-size farm. My dad had a seed business, and I grew up in the business. It was kind of destiny, I guess. I went to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, studying agronomy. I had two internships in the seed industry, and then I went to work for the old Cenex/Land O’Lakes, which is part of what is now WinField United. I spent six years in retail with them and then worked for Cargill as a territory manager for three years. I then went to work for one of the Syngenta legacy companies and have been with them ever since.

I’ve been doing this since ’89. 

SF: How long have you been in your current role?

TD: Over a decade. 

SF: Are there particular moments that stand out in your memory?

TD: In my current role, new introductions are memorable. Bringing on the Acuron brands was a lot of fun. We got to work with bicyclopyrone before launch, training our sales reps and our internal people on it. That’s always fun — working with new products. 

On the negative side are the weather-challenged years. For example, last year at my “Grow More Experience” site, I think we had 17 inches of rain in the month of June, which led to challenges, which are memorable. The important thing is, we worked through those and had some great training events in spite of the weather.

So, as for memorable points, there’s good things, and then there’s overcoming some of the challenges. 

SF: What are your favorite aspects of your job?

TD: Coaching people on best use of the products, whether that’s a new product or an older product — that to me is fun. Helping people solve a problem. 

Right now, waterhemp is obviously an issue. Metabolic resistance is something that’s increasing, and how we come up with better solutions to overcome those challenges has to be the most rewarding thing. 

One of the most memorable things that we do as agronomists is solve problems, whether that’s a weed problem or corn rootworm or other issues. Mother Nature is always changing and always giving us challenges, and when we can help a grower work through those, that’s rewarding.

SF: What other challenges are you helping growers work through? 

TD: Rootworm is also changing, and it’s a huge issue in corn. As an industry, we’ve relied on traits as a management tool more so than insecticides to control that population. And just like weeds, insects evolve as well, so that’s a challenge. We need to be diligent in the fight to manage pest populations, whether that’s weeds, insects, or diseases.

Right now, the biggest challenge, though, is economic. If you have an endless supply of cash to throw at an issue, obviously we can usually manage through it. But there’s not an endless supply of cash, so growers have to be very strategic. Also, we have to help people understand what the ramifications are of not dealing with issues early when they arise.

SF: What are some of your interests that help you recharge after a busy growing season? 

TD: I do like to hunt, but I don’t harvest many animals. I’m a big softie. I just like being in the outdoors. My wife and I love canoeing. We have a canoe and kayaks, and we spend a lot of time on the river. We also have 50 beef cows — a small herd that we let graze a couple hundred acres of pasture.