Workforce Wednesday: Meet an Agronomist

“My role in agriculture is kind of a data keeper,” said Lynn Leahy, a research agronomist with Heartland Farms. “We can't improve on anything if we don't know how we've done previously on it.” 

Leahy, who began at Heartland as an intern, has been in her current role for 12 years. She’s responsible for data collection, research trials of new potato varieties, field emergence data collection, canopy data collection and more.  

“What I love about being a research agronomist is that I get to see all aspects of the farm,” Leahy said. “I really enjoy seeing the process from start to finish and then collecting all the data. I also get to see the differences from year to year and see the differences across the farm, whether a certain field did better or worse. Then, I get to hypothesize about the reasons behind all the data collected.” 

Leahy said her position allows her to feel like she has a greater purpose. 

“I feel like I truly have a purpose in providing the world with, in my case, potato chips, but ultimately providing people with food and nourishment,” she said. “It's an important part of life. I mean, you need agriculture every day.” 

Leahy, who was raised on a dairy farm in Southern Wisconsin, earned a Bachelor of Science in Dairy Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and later earned a Master of Science in Horticulture.  

“There are a lot of opportunities in agronomy,” she said. “You don't have to be from a farm background to go into agronomy. There are so many different subparts to agronomy. You're not necessarily going out in the field.” 

Leahy said most of her knowledge has come from on-the-job training. 

When Leahy considers the future of agriculture and farming, she says she is most excited about the advancements in coming years. 

“I get excited when I think about all the advancements that we've already made, and I just think about all the advancements to come that we don't even know exist yet and all the potential possibilities,” she said. 

Leahy said she’s also excited for the role agriculture will continue to play as the population increases and the necessity to feed the world grows. 

Leahy, who is comfortable collecting and analyzing data, says the relationship building aspect of her job can sometimes prove challenging. 

“There's always people out there you can connect with who may help you out it whether it be in your career or in your life,” she said. "Just reaching out and finding those opportunities has always been a challenging aspect to me at just based on my personality.” 

In addition to her degrees, she’s taken classes in leadership and communication through organizations like Wisconsin Farm Bureau and other organizations that she credits with improving her relationship building skills throughout her career. 

Though sometimes challenging, she truly enjoys working in agronomy and the agricultural industry. 

“I wish more people understood the reward of working in agriculture,” she said.

What is something you wish you had known on your first day:

A lesson I learned later into my career that I should have known on day one is that it's just so important to build relationships. I knew that grades weren't everything in school, but at the same time, I didn't quite understand yet the power of building relationships. I also was one of those people that thought I had to do it all and understanding the balance and picking and choosing what activities and things you want to invest your time in and in building relationships with those people. You don't have to do everything; you can be much less stressed out and still get to the endpoint.