Meet the Pioneer Agronomy Team

Danny Brummel, M.S., Agronomy Systems Manager

Danny leads the Pioneer UAS/Drone Program and supports the execution, analysis and delivery of on-farm research trials that drive Pioneer Agronomy innovation. He earned his B.S and M.S. degrees in Agronomy from Iowa State University and holds CCA and PASp certifications. Danny started his career with Corteva Agriscience in 2019, where he managed disease screening trials and supported precision phenotyping efforts for corn, soybean, and wheat breeding programs. He also serves as chair to the Corteva Grows Science program in Iowa, promoting STEM Outreach in our local communities.

Matt Clover, Ph.D., Agronomy Manager

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.

Matt Essick, M.S., Agronomy Manager

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.

Grant Groene, M.S., Global Seed Agronomy Lead

Grant has been with the Corteva organization since 2010 when he began as a Field Agronomist in Eastern Kansas. He spent the next several years working as a Territory Manager and Product Life Cycle Manager, supporting teams in Texas and across the High Plains. Grant relocated to Iowa and began leading the Global Agronomy efforts in 2018. His primary responsibility is to plan strategic agronomy initiatives, facilitate agronomy trainings, and share best agronomic practices with colleagues across the global Corteva business. Grant graduated from Kansas State University with B.S. in Agronomy and an M.S. in Crop Physiology and Plant Breeding, and holds an M.B.A. from West Texas A&M.

Mary Gumz, Ph.D., Agronomy Manager

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.

Luke Northway, Agronomy Systems Manager

Luke double majored in Management Information Systems and Agricultural Business at Iowa State University and received his MBA from the University of Iowa. He started with Pioneer in 2007 as a support person for FIS and Pioneer® FIT Mapping System. He now works on the Agronomy Sciences team as Product Owner of Performance Explorer, Trials Planning, and mobile Trials Data Entry.

Ken O’Brien, M.S., Agronomy Science 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.