The American Society of Agronomy recently named Harold D. Watters, associate professor and field specialist at Ohio State University, as its International Certified Crop Adviser of the Year.

The annual award is presented for outstanding contributions to agronomy through education, national and international service, and research.

Harold Watters

Watters works directly with agronomic crop producers, crop advisers and extension educators to provide relevant information in a timely manner with emphasis on web and media outlets.

Recruited as a team coordinator in 2004 for the OSU Agronomic Crops Team, Watters has influenced Ohio agronomic crop production education as a co-coordinator of the 80-member team. Watters' work is in the areas of agronomic crop production practices, systematic data evaluation and field research done locally to confirm best practices.

He serves as editorial coordinator of the Crop Observation and Recommendation Network newsletter and is a regular OCJ contributor through his monthly “CORN to go…” page. Watters also serves as an informal mentor to new team members, and has participated in 10 training visits to Ukraine to aid producers there on adoption of modern crop production methods.

The International Certified Crop Adviser of the Year Award is designed to annually recognize a certified crop adviser who delivers exceptional customer service, is highly innovative, has shown that they are a leader in their field, and has contributed substantially to the exchange of ideas and the transfer of agronomic knowledge within the agriculture industry. The award recipient will be recognized at both the Commodity Classic and the American Society of Agronomy Annual Meeting. The award consists of hotel and travel expenses to the Commodity Classic Meeting and ASA Annual Meeting, $2,000 honorarium, a commemorative plaque, and a one-year membership in the American Society of Agronomy.

The ICCA of the Year Award celebrates a level of proficiency that belongs to an individual and not to a company.

Source: American Society of Agronomy