research will focus on carrot, onion, and spinach seed production.

Klein graduated in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy, Consulting Option. He continued his education at K-State by complet-ing his Masters in Crop Production in 1990. During his education Klein worked as an intern in Extension. The position provided the oppor-tunity to learn while conducting research, collect-ing data, and diagnosing field issues with grow-ers. Klein said it was great experience to build from as he got into his career and started work-ing with growers and production managers.

“My education gave me a great base of knowl-edge from which to start,” Klein said. “I had broad agronomic skills, exposure to research principles, and methods form Graduate School.”

Klein was involved in many activities at K-State, including being an active member of the waterski team. Based on all of his experiences Klein leaves current students with a bit of wis-dom from an Agronomy Department Alumni.

“When you finish school and start a career, don’t hesitate to get involved with some organi-zation outside of your job,” Klein said. “Whether it’s a cycling or shooting club, church or com-munity group like Jaycees, being involved in something you enjoy will really make meeting people and transitioning from college life to the ‘real world’ easier.”

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The K-State

Calendar

Alumni Highlight, Kelly Klein

If you’re in agronomy, you’re family December 2009

December 12 Graduation Bramlage Coliseum 1:30 PM

December 14-18 Final Exams

December 24 Final Grades Available on ISIS

January 14 Spring Semester Classes Begin

January 18 University Holiday

Agronomy e-Update Briefs

The Wheat State Agronomy Club meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month in Throckmorton 2002 - new members are welcome!

Department of Agronomy Kansas State University 1022 Throckmorton Hall Manhattan, KS 66506 (785) 532-7258 www.agronomy.k-state.edu When topdressing wheat with nitrogen in winter or early spring,

producers may be wondering if it would pay to add chloride or sulfur to their topdressing blend. Both are highly mobile nutrients in soils so split or topdress application may be beneficial, especially in regions of sufficient precipitation or with coarse texture soils that may cause leaching.

What methods work best for closing ruts in the soil? Multiple passes with a field cultivator seems to be the implement of choice for most producers, but other options would be a disk or one of the new vertical tillage implements marketed by equipment dealers for smoothing soil and managing residue. Waiting until spring do take any action is often useful because it will allow the uppermost portion of the soil profile to experience at least a few freeze-thaw cycles.

Kelly Klein has an interest in field research. His position as a Production Research Scientist with Monsanto Company allows him to have the opportunity to conduct research on a daily basis. Klein works out of Kearney, Neb.

“This position looked inter-esting because of the chance to do applied field research and learn new technologies in the seed industry,” Klein said.

His research is focused on corn seed production and pro-cess improvement. There are many facets that are involved with the position in order to conduct research. For example, Klein is involved in managing small plot field trials. The objective of these plots is to select and quantify genetic lines in an attempt to improve the company’s product quality in the bag. Klein said he enjoys the diversity of the projects that he works on.

“I do field research ranging from herbicide tolerance to genetic quantification of new lines, to testing of new GMO traits that will be com-ing to the market in the future,” Klein said.

At the start of the New Year, Klein will be relocating to a Monsanto branch in Nampa, ID. The new role will be similar to his current research position. The main difference is that his

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Student Agronomist

-Kelly Klein

Message from Dr. Mickey Ransom, Assistant Head for Teaching

Editor and designer: Kathleen Sexton, secondary education english student, ksexton@ksu.edu

Congratulations to the K-State Crops Judging Team and to Coach Kevin Donnelly for winning another National Champion-ship! K-State judgers finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall in both the Kansas City and Chicago contests. Team members include Kelly Younghans, Jared Kohls, Bryson Haverkamp, Jared Unrau, Nathan Keep, and Ben Meyer. This semester has really flown by. It is hard to believe that final exams are quickly approaching. Seven Agronomy students are scheduled to graduate in the Col-lege of Agriculture Commencement on Saturday, December 12, at 1:30 p.m. in Bramlage Coliseum. We currently have 133 un-dergraduates enrolled in Agronomy, which is our largest enroll-ment since 2001. The job market for Agronomy graduates and interns continues to be strong. The Agronomy Teaching Office has been busy recruiting new students during this fall semester. Dana and I greatly appreciate the help of the Agronomy Am-bassadors in hosting these prospective students. Good luck with exams and best wishes for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

Six undergraduate students have the chance to lay claim to being a part of this historical achievement as the members of the 2009 Kansas State University Crops Team. Team members were: Bryson Haverkamp, sophomore in agronomy, Bern; Jared Kohls, sophomore in agronomy and agricultural economics, Clearwater; Kelly Yunghans, junior in agronomy, Leavenworth; Ben Meyer, sophomore in agronomy, Linn; Jared Unrau, senior in agricultural technology management, Newton; Nathan Keep, senior in agronomy, Elm Creek, Neb. The team defined history after competing in the Kansas City Board of Trade and Chicago CME Group Collegiate Crops contests.

The K-State Crops team continued the near decade tradi-tion as they claimed the eighth national title out of the last 11 years. Haverkamp said he wanted to be a part of the Crops Team because of the strong tradition that the team had as being National Champions.

The success of the 2009 Crops Team was a bit different from previous years. The K-State team placed first in all three parts of the content at Kansas City and Chicago. The contest con-tains three parts: plant and seed identification, grain grading and seed analysis. The high individual and K-State team received scholarships from contest sponsors at both contests for their accomplishments.

“The sponsorship shows that the sponsors are interested in col-lege students and want to invest in those students,” Haverkamp said. “It is money well invested; eventually that student will invest the money back into them when they enter their careers.”

The coach of the team is Dr. Kevin Donnelly, professor in the Agronomy Department. The success of the team can be attributed to hard work from the team members. Help from an experienced coach aided in the success of the team. Haverkamp said Donnelly was a good coach because he liked to have fun but knew how to push the team.

“He didn’t force us to study, it was come in on your own. But he told us that the amount of time that we put in will show up when we go to nationals and that showed up with the results of how we did at nationals.”

Clean Sweep- Crops Team Takes National Title

Readers of the Agronomist are among the first to read this exclusive behind the scenes information. The information below on Dr. Scott Staggenborg, is the first in a series of faculty profiles in this newsletter.

Dr. Scott Staggenborg is a farm-raised native Kansan from rural Marshall County. In 1988 he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy from K-State and later received his Masters in 1990. Dr. Staggenborg went on to obtain his Doctorate from Texas Tech University.

His first job carried him to Clemson Univeristy in South Carolina, where he was a Cotton Agronomist from 1993-95. In 1995 he took a position as the North East Area Extension Crops and Soils Specialist. In 2004 Dr. Staggenborg left Extension to join the teaching and research faculty in Agronomy at K-State.

He has taken a special interest in cropping systems during his professional career at K-State because “cropping systems involve everything.”

Dr. Staggenborg most enjoys conducting field research while working with graduate students. There are many rewards to this kind of work beyond the merely financial. “If it was my goal in life to be rich, I probably wouldn’t be here,” he said. “But there’s more in life than simply making the most money you can.”

Outside of teaching at the University, Dr. Staggenborg enjoys spending time with his two children and wife. He also finds time to ride his motorcycle and help on his family farm.

Featured Faculty - Dr. Scott Staggenborg

K-State 2009 Collegiate Crops Team and alternates (l to r): Ben Meyer, Linn; Jar-ed Unrau, Newton; Kevin Donnelly, coach; Kelly Yunghans, Leavenworth; Jared Kohls, Clearwater; Bryson Haverkamp, Bern; Nathan Keep, Elm Creek, NE.