Fertilizer Doesn’t Have to be Complicated

Insights from Sherry Koch of The Mosaic Company

With a background that spans over 30 years in agriculture, Koch’s journey from growing up on a farm to her role within The Mosaic Company was no short path. Still, her dedication has allowed her to build up an impressive portfolio over the years.

“I spent 15 years working as an agronomy production specialist for a local North Dakota retailer, selling directly to farmers, then I spent four-and-a-half years with the Monsanto Company as an Account Manager in seed and chemistry,” Koch said. “Then came the opportunity to work for The Mosaic Company, which is a fertilizer company. I made the switch to round out my professional portfolio, as I’ve worked directly with farmers and retailers through distribution and sales, and now working in fertility with The Mosaic Company for the last 12 years.”

The Mosaic Company is an integrated producer of concentrated phosphate and potash—two of the most important nutrients in agriculture. I had the privilege of speaking with Sherry Koch, Senior Technical Sales Manager at The Mosaic Company, who’s focused on supporting customers in the Upper Midwest region, teaching them product knowledge, and helping them sell directly to growers with marketing and sales tools they may need. During our conversation, Koch shared how she aims to increase farmer productivity through fertility solutions and educational outreach, her advice on what growers should be mindful of, and more.

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Did You Know?

Zinc and boron are the first and second most deficient micronutrients in the world.

The Mosaic Company mines and processes phosphate and potash minerals into crop nutrients to help feed the world.

Head to cropnutrition.com to find all of their product information and data. Growers can search their ZIP code to find their nearest local dealer.

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At the recent Grand Farm Field Days event, Koch highlighted the potential behind performance products and biologicals for growers in our region. “I discussed The Mosaic Company’s performance products for the Upper Midwest, which are Micro Essentials and Aspire. Micro Essentials is an enhanced phosphate product with sulfur and zinc, while Aspire is an enhanced potash product with boron,” Koch said.

“On the other side of the coin, Mosaic Biosciences is the biological side of our business. We have two separate products that my counterpart Peter White, Regional Sales Manager for Mosaic Biosciences, discussed, which are Powder Coat and Bio-Path. They are fertilizer-specific biologicals that can be put on any fertilizer, not just ours, hence why they make a great fit for our region’s growers.”

With industry experts like Sherry Koch and others leading the charge to improve crop productivity, our growers’ success is all the more likely in the years to come.

Q&A with Sherry Koch

Q: Do you have any words of advice or things that growers should be mindful of in different landscapes across the Upper Midwest that you serve?

A: 1 communicate with your retailers, consultants, salespeople, and agronomists and make sure that everybody’s on the same page and that things are getting done properly. Ultimately, a lack of communication is where issues can occur.

Keep it simple, be upfront, and be honest. It doesn’t have to be complicated! There’s enough complication in the world as it is. I look at things often and promote them like building blocks. Fertilizer makes up roughly 60% of a farmer’s yield, so what can we build on top of that to be successful? What else does a farmer need? If we have a pie, and 60% of that pie is our fertility or what we’re putting in the soil, what are the pieces that are most important?

Whether it’s soil testing, tissue sampling, or farm planning, growers should be doing their research. They need to make sure they know what they’re purchasing so that they can get the best bang for their buck.

Enjoy what you do, have fun, take care of your neighbor, and know that you’re helping feed the world.

Q: Do you have any other resources to recommend to readers and growers?

A: In February, we launched a YouTube series called ‘Advanced Crop Nutrition with Sherry’ that discusses different aspects of crop nutrition while trying to keep it simple, because it can be a very complicated topic. Oftentimes, folks hear the words ‘advanced crop nutrition’ [and] may question what it means. We cover different topics on some of the research that we’re doing with our R&D folks, and I’ll also be interviewing different people throughout the series. It’s a great, informative YouTube series to watch throughout the year, as we’re aiming [to] release several new episodes in 2024.

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I work with several agencies, television networks, and radio stations, and more throughout the Upper Midwest, where we try to cover different markets through social media, newspapers, radio, keeping in mind that a lot of farmers are over 50, but there are also a lot of young, aggressive farmers out there looking for new methods on different platforms, like social media and others.”

– Sherry Koch

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