Michigan is home to more than 300 Certified Crop Advisers who are certified through the American Society of Agronomy, and during the coming months MABA is spotlighting their contributions to Michigan agriculture! To learn more, visit www.certifiedcropadviser.org. August 12, 2021 – Jon Rush has been a Michigan Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) since 2013. In his job as a senior business representative with BASF, Rush interacts with all three lines of production agriculture: distributors, retailers, and growers. When he was first starting out with BASF, he noticed that some of his customers were CCAs. Rush wanted to have that same credibility as those he served. “I said, ‘How can I recommend a product to a customer base full of Certified Crop Advisers if I’m not a CCA?’” he asked. “To me, it level sets knowledge and understanding of what we do every day in agronomy. That was the biggest reason why I decided to do it.” Rush also wanted to prove something to himself. Both his undergrad and master’s degrees were in business, and agronomy quickly became a passion. “I wanted to prove to myself that I was at an equal level with everybody else and achieved my CCA, which took me a little time. I passed the international test, but I actually failed the first time taking the Michigan test because I didn’t know there was a Michigan book you had to study,” Rush said with a chuckle. “On my second official try, I studied really hard and ended up passing it.” The CCA program provided a way to showcase his skills. Administered by the American Society of Agronomy and local boards of expert agronomists, the CCA certification was established in 1992 to provide a benchmark for practicing agronomy professionals in the United States and Canada. Today, there are approximately 13,000 CCAs across North America and 300 in Michigan. The Michigan Agri-Business Association offers many courses throughout the year for CCAs to earn continuing education credits in categories such as nutrient management, soil and water management, integrated pest management, crop production and beyond. “Maintaining all of these categories and the points you get through recertification classes, annual meetings, and online self-study material, you can obtain those recertification credits pretty quickly,” said Rush. Throughout his career, Rush has noticed a generational shift, particularly in agronomy sales. At a recent meeting, Rush observed colleagues who said they planned on retiring in a few years. That got him thinking about transferring the information network to the future of the industry. “I think a lot of the young folks today aren’t as aware of CCAs,” he said. “The CCA helps with the next generation by getting them the baseline knowledge, so we don’t have this gap.” At the end of the day, Rush said being a CCA means more than just a piece of paper. “To me, a CCA is somebody that cares a lot about what they do—they’re invested in agronomy,” he said. “It provides credibility and this knowledge base that you have with other CCAs in Michigan and across the country. That makes me feel like a better, well-rounded salesperson and agronomic solutions provider to my growers and retailers.” Michigan is home to more than 300 Certified Crop Advisers! Interested in joining them as a Michigan CCA? Visit www.certifiedcropadviser.org for more information on the benefits of the program and the certification process. You can also email the Michigan Agri-Business Association.
