Hello, my name is Jack Hardwick and I am your Soybean Agronomist from Crop District 6.

I was born and raised in Beardstown, Ill., on a grain farm located in the Illinois River Valley.  I graduated from Beardstown High School in 2000 and received a B.S. degree in Plant and Soil Science from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale in 2004.  I spent the first three years out of college working as a Crop Specialist for Sunrise Ag FS based in Mason County, Illinois, where I was exposed to a variety of grain crops as well as vegetable production.  I then transitioned to AgriGold Hybrids where I spent 7 years working as a Regional Agronomist covering around 70 counties in Illinois and Missouri.  In December of 2014 I came to work for BRANDT as a Technical Field Agronomist servicing the southern retail locations.  My wife, Melissa, and I will be married nine years this summer and we have three-year-old twin daughters named Lynn and Kennedy.  We currently live on one of our family farms located in Virginia, Illinois.

My passion for agriculture started at a very young age riding in tractors and combines as soon as I was old enough.  I spent summers working in production seed corn fields from age 12 until I went to college.One of the things I most appreciate about agriculture are the contacts you make and people you meet along the way.  I am someone who learns from experience, and appreciate drawing information from farmers and industry professionals who have experienced more than I have.  I pride myself on constant learning and hope to bring that attitude to the grower level.

I have always tried to bring a “best for the farmer” approach to agronomy.  As a farmer myself, I always try to look at economics as well as agronomics when developing plans and strategies for the grower.  There are a lot of fun and different ideas/products in agronomy right now, but they have to make a grower money first and foremost before being implemented on a wide scale in someone’s operation.  I always try to stay on the cutting edge of agriculture while maintaining a grounded, common-sense approach.

As a CCA (#36405) working in Crop District 6, I look forward to advising growers on soybean production and answering any questions they may have.