Farmer Spotlight: Jesse Starks

Location: Owatonna, Minnesota
Name of Producer: Jesse Starks
Name of Operation: Starks Farm
Carbon Sequestration Practices: Reduced Tillage, Cover Crops

Jesse farms near Owatonna, Minnesota with his dad where they grow corn, soy, and finish out hogs. He gained an interest in conservation ag practices in college, both for agronomic benefit, and to maximize operational efficiency – doing more work with less manpower. In pursuit of this interest, he has incorporated cereal rye cover crops, and use of vertical tillage. He also utilizes a 4R approach to nitrogen management, including the use of split application and stabilizers, as well as using manure to reduce synthetic nitrogen when available. This led to a great fit with our program, which he has been a part of since 2021.

“I looked into cover cropping and reduced tillage; that’s when carbon programs started picking up. And I thought I’d look into that. I researched a couple different programs, and then I ended up going to the Agoro Carbon program.”

As the support agronomist for Jesse Starks, I help support him with our data collection, which is a seamless process through partnerships with his digital ag software. We also bounce various agronomic ideas off each other, such as cover crop mixes and tillage reduction strategies. Working with folks like Jesse who are excited about conservation agriculture and the benefits it holds makes my job fun.

“I don’t think there’s any negatives. Definitely the support’s been good… I can say
it’s been a good experience so far.”
– Jesse Starks, Owatonna, MN

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Steve Hasselman

Agronomist, Support

Based in Rockford, Illinois, Steve joined Agoro Carbon Alliance after spending nearly seven years working with leading crop management companies throughout Illinois. Steve has garnered extensive knowledge in carbon cropping, plant tissue sampling and soil sampling by working with top agronomists. He earned a bachelor's degree in Agronomy and Crop Science, and Agribusiness from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Steve is a Certified Crop Advisor whose passion for agriculture and farming began during life on his family’s farm in Northern Illinois. This made working in agronomy an easy choice. He attended UW-Platteville, earning an A.S. in Agriculture and a B.S. in Soil and Crop Science/Ag Business. Steve’s expertise includes cover crop selection and management, reduced and no tillage management, and nitrogen management. He has worked full time in crop production since 2016, with prior experience at Ag Tech Crops (later purchased by Nutrien Ag Solutions). During that time, he worked alongside growers to help plan and advise them on their crops. This introduced him to many conservation-minded growers, which spurred a deep interest in conservation ag and soil health.

More about Steve Hasselman