Meet the Pioneer Agronomy Team

Matt Clover, Ph.D., Agronomy Innovation Data Leader

Matt is responsible for helping guide on-farm trials planning, protocol development, analysis, and communication of trial results. Matt leverages his experience in soil fertility to bolster expertise of the Agronomy Sciences team and support Pioneer agronomists, and sales teams. Matt earned his Ph.D. in soil fertility from Iowa State University and his M.S. and B.S. degrees from the University of Illinois in Crop Sciences. He is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPSSc). Matt came to Pioneer in April 2017 after a nine-year career in the fertilizer industry with various roles in agronomy and research and development.

Stacie McNinch, Ph.D., Agronomy Sciences Leader

Stacie serves as the North America Agronomy Sciences Leader for Corteva's U.S. seed business. Growing up on a beef and row crops farm in SW Iowa, she developed a deep-rooted passion for agriculture. Stacie earned her B.S. in Agronomy from Iowa State University and her Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In her current role, Stacie leads a dedicated team responsible for designing on-farm agronomy trials designed to enhance product knowledge, agronomy insights, and the development of innovative tools and solutions. The team is committed to applying a rigorous scientific approach to ensure that all findings and technologies are thoroughly vetted before reaching the field teams. By providing reliable data, advanced technology, and essential resources, Stacie and her team support field agronomy teams in differentiating the brand and achieving their business goals.

Matt Essick, M.S., Western Agronomy Innovation Leader

Matt is from a small community in northwest Iowa and earned his B.S. in Agricultural Business and M.S. in Agronomy from Iowa State University. Matt joined Pioneer as a Management Assistant working at the Cherokee, Iowa, soybean production plant. He transitioned to a Pioneer Sales Representative where he gained hands-on experience in both sales and agronomy before becoming a Territory Manager for Pioneer. Matt transitioned to an Area Agronomist and then to a Product Agronomist before joining the Agronomy Sciences Team. Matt is responsible for the Northern U.S.

Mary Gumz, Ph.D., Eastern Agronomy Innovation Leader

Mary is a native of northern Wisconsin and earned her B.S. in Agronomy from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and M.S. and Ph.D. in Weed Science from Purdue University. After working in the crop protection and seed industries as a Technical Service Agronomist, she joined Pioneer in 2008 as an Area Agronomist and later became Product Agronomist for northwest Indiana. She is now the Agronomy Manager for the Eastern U.S.

Mark Jeschke, Ph.D., Agronomy Manager

Mark earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and Ph.D. in Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mark joined Pioneer in 2007 and currently serves as Agronomy Manager. His primary role is development and delivery of useful and timely agronomy information based on Pioneer and university agronomy research. Mark authors and edits many of the agronomy resources available in the Pioneer agronomy library. Mark is originally from northern Illinois and is actively involved in the family corn and soybean farm near Rock City, Illinois.

Ken O’Brien, M.S., Agronomy Innovation Leader

Ken serves as the Agronomy Sciences Leader for Corteva’s U.S. seed businesses. In his 16-plus years with the organization he has held various roles in sales and marketing leadership across both seed and digital/software product lines. His current role supports the field agronomy teams for our seed businesses to provide them with the systems, processes, and information they need in order to provide our customers with successful crop management and product placement information. Ken holds B.S. degrees in Agronomy and Plant Health & Protection from Iowa State University and M.S. in Agronomy from Iowa State University.

Todd Rowe, M.S., Agronomy Leader - Southeast

Todd is a native of eastern North Carolina and earned his B.S. in Agronomy from North Carolina State University and M.S. in Seed Technology and Business from Iowa State University. Todd held Agronomist positions with other companies prior to joining Pioneer in 2010 as Area IMPACT Lead at the Kinston, North Carolina Research Station. He is now the Agronomy Leader for the Southeast sales area.