CCA of the Year

Greg Schmitz, 2014 Iowa Certified Crop Adviser of the Year addressing his fellow CCAs during the Iowa Certified Crop Advisers Recognition Luncheon.

Greg Schmitz, Marketing Manager with Crop Production Services, Inc. was recognized as the Iowa Certified Crop Adviser of the Year.  This honor was awarded to Schmitz during the Iowa Certified Crop Advisers’ recognition luncheon at the Agribusiness Association of Iowa’s (AAI) Agribusiness Showcase & Conference, held on February 11 in Des Moines at the Varied Industries Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs) utilize their skills in nutrient and pest management to assist growers with economical and efficient crop production.  They also ensure that growers are aware of regulations and utilize best management practices to protect the environment.

Iowa CCA board initiated the Iowa Certified Crop Adviser of the Year designation to recognize a member of the industry who exemplifies CCAs providing professional and effective “good advice” to clients.  Past recipients include Mike Gannon (2010), Tracy Cameron (2011), and Bruce Baier (2012).

Schmitz, who lives in Wall Lake, IA, has worked in and around agriculture for the majority of this life.  His career began at a retail inputs operation that his father was involved with when Schmitz was in sixth grade. Schmitz worked for Boyer Valley and UAP before joining Crop Production Services, Inc. in 2009.

In addition to awarding the Iowa CCA of the Year to Schmitz, the Iowa Certified Crop Advisers Board of Directors recognized 97 individuals for fifteen years and 58 individuals for twenty years of professionalism and years of service to agriculture as CCAs during the luncheon.  EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey and Iowa DNR Director Chuck Gipp were the luncheon’s featured speakers.

At the Agribusiness Showcase & Conference, approximately 200 CCAs received continuing education training to maintain their certification.  AAI offered fourteen hours of continuing education units (CEUs) at the event and will offer six additional hours during a summer session in 2014.  A CCA must accumulate a total of forty hours of CEUs every two years to maintain their certification.