From Plot Research to Retirement Ready
As Jeff Blauwet prepares for his upcoming retirement, he’s been reflecting on his over 30-year career in agronomy. Growing up on a farm near Larchwood, Jeff had a passion for agriculture early on. In 1993, Jeff graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and began working for an independent retailer that he had interned with for three years prior. Ironically, that independent would later become CFE’s Lester location.
Later that same summer, Jeff decided to move into the cooperative system, wanting to focus more on agronomy. He joined Farmers Elevator Cooperative, one of CFE’s legacy cooperatives, as a sales agronomist. From 1993 to 2007, Jeff transitioned from sales agronomist to senior agronomist before spending two years at Monsanto as an area agronomist. In 2009, during a pivotal time in the economy and agriculture industry, Jeff decided to come back to the cooperative and has been here ever since. Upon his return, Jeff worked closely with leadership to establish a more support-heavy role that would help train agronomists and troubleshoot hurdles in the field.
As his role evolved, Jeff continued looking for ways to support the more experienced agronomists. “I thought back to when I was in sales and said to myself, what would have been nice to have?” Using his past experience, Jeff began to take on more research work to gather data, uphold value-added products and develop new ideas for practices and systems. In 2011, his field research transformed into plot books, showcasing trial data and application information. FEC and now CFE have created trial booklets for 15 years and counting thanks to Jeff’s work.
Between operations and data summarization, Jeff’s work has always revolved around being a problem-solver, placing an emphasis on physically seeing things develop for himself. “I enjoy the challenge of diagnosing things, even if it’s just getting another set of eyes on an issue,” Jeff says about piecing together his knowledge and experience in the field.
Changes and enhancements across the industry have helped with every aspect of Jeff’s role. One of the most incredible feats he’s witnessed throughout his career is how soybean and corn yields have essentially doubled. While he can’t singlehandedly take credit for the advancements in soil health, technology, equipment, genetics and fertility, it’s always been important to Jeff and CFE to be at the forefront of innovation. “Just the change in size, scale and speed of operation has been incredible,” Jeff shares as he reflects on how the entire agricultural system has grown.
Through the decades, Jeff has always felt grounded in his agronomy department. He’s also placed tremendous value in being able to be in the field, and surrounded by such great people on top of that. Jeff says he never felt the need to take on more management-style roles or climb a corporate ladder, joking, “You don’t stick with a role for 30-plus years if you don’t like it, the company or the people.” For years, his focus has always been on utilizing his talents and skillset to be the best resource to his team, and when you enjoy working with your team as much as Jeff has, it makes it a little tougher to walk away from.
In his retirement, Jeff plans to farm more personal ground, putting all his knowledge to good use with his own crops. “I’ll miss the people and the routine, but I am looking forward to the flexibility and what’s next,” Jeff says about this upcoming chapter. He’s eager to escape to Florida during the winter more often, spending time on the beach with his wife, joining competitive clay shooting tournaments and playing more baseball like in the senior world series. Jeff plans to use more of his newfound free time to visit his kids as they have taken jobs in other states and is excited to be able to attend more weeknight ISU sporting events, too! October 2 may be Jeff’s last day as a full-time CFE employee, but his preparation, dedication to excellence and ongoing support will have a lasting impact on the entire cooperative.
