Following years as a researcher/instructor at North Dakota State University (NDSU) and agronomist at AGVISE Laboratories in Norwood, N.D., Dr. Jed Grow is excited to get back into the classroom at Dickinson State University (DSU) as the newest faculty member of the agriculture department.
“I just love teaching,” Grow said. “When this position opened up, (my family and I) jumped at the opportunity.”
Grow earned both his master’s and PhD at NDSU in Plant Science, along with his university teaching certificate. He also worked as a graduate instructor and potato researcher at NDSU.
“I did a lot of applied agronomic potato research. New genetics would come out, or growers would be facing a novel disease or other problem, and we in Extension would help them by testing different rates, placements, and timings of fertilizers or other products. We also would set up on-farm research trials across the state,” he said. “Potatoes are my thing! I loved helping students get excited and see how what they were learning could be applied in real world situations. For example, a fun thing I’d do with class is I’d get a bunch of fries from Five Guys, and I’d show the students which ones were over fertilized, which were stored wrong, or which had experienced any in-season heat stress.”
After NDSU, Grow worked as an agronomist at AGVISE Laboratories.
“I loved working at AGVISE! At the lab, I was kind of an on-call plant and soil doctor. Customer calls ranged from home gardeners asking what’s wrong with their heirloom tomatoes to corporate agronomists looking for advice on how to improve yields in a particular field based on their plant, soil, manure, and/or water samples they had sent in,” he said. “I was kind of a crime scene investigator mixed with a doctor, helping them decide how to move forward and what their best options for treatments were.”
Now at DSU, Grow is excited to focus again on his passion for teaching and helping students gain an applied understanding of modern precision agricultural techniques – enabling them to go out into the workplace or back to their family farm and fix some of the real problems facing local growers. He remains heavily involved in the local industry and currently holds certifications as a Certified Crop Adviser and 4R Nutrient Management Specialist. He also continues to serve on the North Dakota CCA Board.
“My aim is to help some kids go back home with what they’ve learned and use it to make a world of difference for their family’s operation,” he said. “Picture a student who goes home and cuts their farm’s fertilizer budget in half while maintaining quality yield, that’s the goal, that’s what drive me!”
He’s especially excited to share his expertise with students on plant nutrients and soil fertility.
“Those courses are my bread and butter,” he said. “There are some things in agriculture that have changed a lot, and yet there are some that hasn’t. Sound agronomy doesn’t change; science is still science.”
Originally from Utah, Grow grew up helping on other peoples’ farms, but never on one himself. It wasn’t until he served a 2-year mission in Peru for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that his passion for feeding the world really started to grow.
“I guess in that sense you can say I went into agriculture through the back door. I first wanted to be a humanitarian and help to end suffering where I could. I came to understand that the best way to do that was by ending hunger and helping people be able to feed themselves. To that end, I knew I needed to learn everything I could about agriculture and how to grow crops, and well, here I am!”
He and his wife of nearly 10 years, Hannah, share four children – sons Jesse and Stockton, as well as daughters Elizabeth and Gracie. Grow speaks both Spanish and Chinese, loves tapioca pudding, lefse, and has many hobbies, such as baking, hand-pulling noodles, jewelry making, needle felting, as well as playing both hockey and rugby. Most of all, he just loves being a husband and father.
“Being a dad and a father is my dream come true. No recognition or reward can beat that,” he said.
As his family begins their new chapter in Dickinson, Grow is looking to make a difference for his students at DSU, as well as the community.
“I want to teach them the correct agronomic principles and allow them to go out on their own and improve their lives and the lives of others. I can show them how a plant grows, teach them what it needs to thrive, and let them go back to their farm and apply it and see for themselves. If you will, I want them to enter my classroom at DSU to learn and go out of it to serve,” he concluded.