Magazines December Cover Crop | Page 13

13 Mark Morten What are your primary objectives for the year? To organize new employee training workshops as needed. Plan and coordinate the annual PDC conference, as well as assist with or coordinate any additional training events throughout the year as needed by experience level and geographic area. What do you most want to accomplish in the position in 2018? Hold a new employee training this spring before the field season begins and another in the fall. Establish an understanding of the training needs for each of Servi-Tech’s different territories and create a plan to accommodate all of them. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am from central Nebraska and grew up in Holdrege. I worked around agriculture all of my life, starting with detassling in the 8th grade. My hobbies include most outdoor activities, but mainly hunting and hunting dog training. I am married with three daughters and live north of Kearney, Nebraska. Mark Morten Director of Education How long have you been with Servi-Tech, and what positions have you worked in? I have been with Servi-Tech for three years. Prior to this position I was a precision ag specialist in which my duties included variable rate mapping and data analysis. Tell us about your new role as Servi-Tech’s new education director. What made you interested in the job? What interested me about this position is the opportunity to work with Servi-Tech’s entire footprint and not just the central Nebraska area. I have always had an affinity for coordinating, education and multitasking. What excites you the most about Servi-Tech? The fact that we are the largest agronomy company not affiliated with any input products in the region. This allows us to give advice in an unbiased manner to bring the best possible recommendations to our customers. Where do you see agriculture going in the future? What changes do you expect to see happening a few years down the road? I see a big shift happening right now. The low crop prices are forcing every ag business, including growers, to re-evaluate their operations and seek out the most efficient methods possible. A large part of this is the introduction of technology into the system. Not just introduction of technology, but the filtering of the useless from the useful. As with everything, some techniques work and some don’t. The companies that identify and implement the useful techniques first are going to have a leg up on the rest of the industry. THE COVER CROP