Agronomist

Focus on: Soft fruit advisor

Rosie Houston
Fruit Advisory Services Team (FAST)
Full time, salary up to £35k

I work with various soft fruit growers to help them achieve their optimum yield and quality of fruit. I visit growers on a weekly or fortnight basis to advise and help them optimise their crop production. This advice covers all aspects of growing including nutrition, pests and diseases, general guidance and husbandry matters.

I have a degree in agriculture and in the past couple of years FAST LLP has put me through my BASIS and FACTS qualifications to become a fully qualified advisor.

Focus on: Technical specialist

Alex Matthews
Fargro Ltd
Full time, salary up to £35k
West Sussex

Agronomists provide support to the agriculture industry advising farmers about soil management for the greater benefit of crops, their protection and rotation. The role has a strong basis in science with emphasis today on providing information on managing land for biodiversity, integrated pest management, and enhancing the living landscape to promote the improvement of air, soil and water.

I grew up on a smallholding where my family kept sheep and livestock. While at school I worked on neighbouring farms where I developed a passion for entomology and the interaction of insects with plants. I'm a passionate beekeeper.

After school I studied for a BSc agricultural management at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. After working on an arable farm in Western Australia and with bees in Tasmania, I studied for a research MSc in biological science at Royal Holloway, University of London. My research focused on investigating the effect of insecticides on pollinators, specifically bumble bees.