Agronomy & Field Trial Technician

Key Responsibilities

• Support trial planting, including printing plot stakes and labels, seed handling, and planting equipment setup.
• Assist with trial harvesting, including sorting, labeling, phenotyping tubers as needed.
• Conduct in-season data collection (e.g., stand counts, crop health observations, growth staging) using standardized protocols.
• Accurately record and organize field data using data collection apps and spreadsheets.
• Help maintain field equipment and ensure trial sites are labeled, mapped, and maintained to protocol.
• Communicate observations and field updates clearly to the trial and breeding team.
• Follow safety practices and site-specific protocols while working outdoors in varying weather conditions.

Qualifications

• Recent college graduate with no prior experience or non-graduate with 2+ years of hands-on field agronomy experience.
• Comfortable performing physically active outdoor work, including bending, lifting (up to ~40 lbs), and walking fields for extended periods.
• Well-organized and detail-oriented, with the ability to follow standardized data collection protocols consistently and manage multiple simultaneous projects.
• Basic computer skills for recording and organizing field data.
• Good communication skills and ability to work well as part of a small field team.
• Willingness to travel to trial sites as needed (up to 20%).
• Valid driver's license.

Preferred Experience

• Coursework or hands-on experience in agronomy, plant science, horticulture, or a related field.
• Experience with breeding or agronomic field trials is a plus, including familiarity with plot-based research, GPS-based field mapping, installing soil temperature and moisture sensors, or basic soil/tissue sampling.
• Familiarity with potato or other row-crop production systems.