Having grown up on a small ranch while also working at family members’ farms, James Johnson was hooked on agriculture.
Nuseed Field Sales Manager, James Johnson, focuses his time now on Nuseed Omega-3 Canola in North Dakota and Montana. Having grown up working on his family’s small ranch and at his extended family members’ farms as well, Johnson has always been passionate about agriculture.
“I attended North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota,” shares Johnson. “I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Systems Management with minors in ag business and agronomy.
”During his time in school, he also continued to work on farms as time allowed. While his family’s ranch was no longer operational, Johnson knew he wanted to stay involved in some part of the agriculture industry.
“My focus shifted towards the agronomy side, specifically sugar beets initially after being exposed to beet harvest every fall during college,” recounts Johnson. “That led me to my first job which was an agriculturist with Sidney Sugars Inc.”
Johnson stayed at Sidney Sugars Inc. for six years until the company closed. This chapter ending lead him to his current company and role with Nuseed as a Field Sales Manager.
“The role with Nuseed sounded very interesting because it was very similar to what I was previously doing–meeting with growers, contracting, agronomy and harvest support, and just helping with any other questions they might have, ”says Johnson.
Johnson hoped when he began the role, canola would be a profitable alternative crop for farmers in the area since sugar beets were no longer an option. The career change wasn’t easy for Johnson at first.
“Switching my focus from sugar beets to canola took a little time to get more familiar with agronomy practices. Canola is also a fairly new and unknown crop in some of the areas I cover so it’s a lot of teaching and advising for new growers.
”All of Johnson’s hard work and learning aboutOomega-3 Canola paid off in the long term. He was able to achieve additional licensing due to his high level of canola knowledge.
“My biggest career highlight has to be when I obtained my Certified Crop Advisor license. I spent numerous hours studying and preparing for those tests and the hard work paid off,” adds Johnson.
