Conservation Agronomist

Cargill's size and scale allows us to make a positive impact in the world. Our purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way.

Cargill is a family company providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products that are vital for living. We connect farmers with markets so they can prosper. We connect customers with ingredients so they can make meals people love. And we connect families with daily essentials - from eggs to edible oils, salt to skincare, feed to alternative fuel. Our 160,000 colleagues, operating in 70 countries, make essential products that touch billions of lives each day. Join us and reach your higher purpose at Cargill.

This position is in Cargill's agricultural supply chain business. We sit at the heart of the supply chain, partnering with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver essential products.

Job Purpose and Impact

The Conservation Agronomist will provide input and drive implementation of our sustainability strategy and regenerative agriculture programs. In this role, you will work across farmers, with businesses, corporate team members, outside industry groups and with downstream customers with a goal of delivering practical sustainability solutions that enable our business to grow and customer to be more profitable. You will help to develop, train, and influence the team to gain proficiently in positioning and engaging farm customers in our sustainability programs and offerings.

Location: This will be a remote location. The preferred location would be Minnesota. Relocation assistance will not be provided.

Key Accountabilities

• Serve as domain specialist to farmers and sales teams in the successful implementation of regenerative farming best practices such as integration of cover crops, reduced tillage, expanded crop rotations or efficient nutrient management to ensure optimal outcomes.

• Provide insights and input into sustainability strategies and incorporate emerging opportunities and expectations of our customers as well as corporate goals.

• Gain expertise and an understanding of various external programs, sustainable production schemes and digital technology solutions and common sustainability programs that the industry is using to engage customers.

• Collaborate in the development of programs to engage producers around sustainability practices, tools and technology, metrics or certifications that are economically sound, scalable and drive value for all stakeholders across the supply chain.

• Drive the execution of plans, to build engagement and trust with the farming customer and the business and develop training tools, workshops and learning sessions to assist with internal and external execution for sales and farming customers.

• Track key metrics around sustainability strategy and business goals to ensure the value and progress is transparent to internal and external stakeholders.

• Partner with the marketing and communications teams to optimally position sustainability at the farming customer level and internally to tell the story of our efforts across the supply chain.

• Independently handle complex issues with minimal supervision, while escalating only the most complex issues to appropriate staff.

• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience

• Minimum of four years of related work experience

• Travel up to 30%

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree Agronomy, Crop or Soil Science, or a relevant field

• Minimum of four years of direct industry or consultancy experience working with farmers Experience driving productivity benefits and good environmental outcomes i.e. increased soil organic carbon, reduced nutrient run-off, water holding capacity and reduced green-house gas emissions

• Experience Provide deep insights on barriers to adoption of regenerative practices and input into project development to address barriers, deliver a strong value proposition to the farmer and ensure alignment with protocol standards, customer expectations and/or market requirements

• In-depth knowledge of agronomic principles and conservation /regenerative practices

• Ability to translate technical and scientific knowledge, concepts into practical and understandable terms

• Ability to navigate, leverage and utilize social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook

• Certified Crop Advisor designation

• Experience in project or program management.

Minnesota Sick and Safe Leave accruals of one hour for every 30 worked, up to 48 hours per calendar year unless otherwise provided by law

Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Vet.