About the Agronomic Advice Authors
Mike Almasri, Ph.D.
Expertise: Plant Nutrition, California Cropping Systems
Contact: mike.almasri@simplot.com
About Mike: Mike Almasri has a Ph.D. in horticulture and agronomy from the University of California, Davis. Mike has over 20 years of research experience in plant nutrition and soil water relations. Mike is a senior agronomist for Simplot Grower Solutions and has experience working in a variety of cropping systems across California. Mike is a Certified Crop Advisor (CCA), Pest Control Advisor (PCA) and Certified Professional Agronomist (CPAg).
Brice Bunck
Expertise: Corn Production Systems, Genetic Selection, Agronomic Efficiency
Contact: brice.bunck@simplot.com
About Brice: Brice’s experience in agriculture runs deep, growing up on the family farm in Everest, KS and working my first job tagging registered/certified wheat seed bags for a penny per bag for our family’s production facility. My roles and responsibilities within the family business changed over the years (sweeping floors, walking beans, bagging seed, stacking pallets, operating farm machinery, etc.) until I left to attend Kansas State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy, I began my first career as a crop consultant in Nebraska. Since then, I have gone back to work on the family farm, been a territory seed representative, a soybean product manager, and most recently, regional product agronomist.
Kevin Caffrey
Expertise: Midwestern Productions Systems, California Productions Systems, IPM
Contact: kevin.caffrey@simplot.com
About Kevin: Dr. Kevin Caffrey is a Senior Agronomist with Simplot Grower Solutions, covering the Eastern Cornbelt. He received his PhD from North Carolina State University in Biological & Agricultural Engineering before starting his professional career with BASF on their Technical Services team. Dr. Caffrey has worked as a technical expert throughout most cropping systems in the USA, covering the Mid-South, California/Arizona, and portions of the Midwest & East Coast. He has extensive experience launching innovative crop production products including fungicides, herbicides, insecticides and miticides. His passion is in education and knowledge transfer, assisting teams to solve complex problems and communicate these solutions to a broad audience. Dr. Caffrey’s diverse background and track record of success allows him to assist in supporting various functional teams within the Simplot Grower Solutions organization.
Chris Carpenter
Expertise: Plains Productions Systems, Non-Irrigated Agriculture Management
Contact: chris.carpenter@simplot.com
About Chris: Chris was born and raised in SW Missouri where he lived and worked on his family dairy farm. He attended the University of Arkansas where I got a Bachelors in Crop Science. In 2015 he moved out to Western Kansas to work in the retail space. In 2020, he left retail to work for a basic manufacturer and then joined Simplot Grower Solutions in the summer of 2023. He currently live in Ellis, Kansas with his wife and four dogs.
Connor Ferguson, Ph.D.
Expertise: Agrochemical Spray Application, Weed Science
Contact: connor.ferguson@simplot.com
About Connor: Connor Ferguson lives in Yukon, OK with his wife Meg and two children, Jonathan (3) and Cecilia (20 months). He started working for Simplot in April 2023. Prior to that he worked for Wilbur-Ellis as their Data Manager and spent 4 years as a faculty weed science assistant professor at Mississippi State University. He has a PhD in Agrochemical Spray Application and Weed Science from the University of Queensland (Australia), an M.S. in Agronomy – Weed Science from the University of Nebraska and a B.S. in Plant and Soil Science with a Minor in Agribusiness from Oklahoma State University. In his spare time, Connor enjoys playing with his kids, wood working, concocting delicious new meals in the kitchen and golfing.
Shane Hansen, Ph.D.
Expertise: Plant Disease, Plant Pathology, PNW Productions Systems
Contact: shane.hansen@simplot.com
About Shane: Shane grew up on his family’s potato farm in south central Idaho. He continued to work in agriculture during summers while earning his BS in biology from Brigham Young University-Idaho. After graduation he worked at Miller Research LLC where he helped conduct small plot field trials in potato, onion, wheat, sugar beets, corn, dry beans, and canola. Shane became fascinated with plant diseases while working at Miller Research and came to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to pursue a PhD in plant pathology. Shane covers the Columbia Plateau region for the SGS agronomy sales enablement team.
Terry Helms
Expertise: PNW Productions Systems, Corn and Potato Management
Contact: terry.helms@simplot.com
About Terry: With a lifelong background in agriculture, Terry developed an early passion for farming alongside his grandfather and father. His involvement in FFA as a student and his support for his children in 4-H and FFA reflect his deep commitment to agriculture. A graduate of Idaho State University with a B.S. in Plant Science, his expertise lies in crop production and agronomy. He began his career as a field agronomist in South Central Idaho, where he played a key role in advancing irrigation scheduling, grid sampling, and zone management across the region. As the staff agronomist at Cranney Farms, Terry helped the operation expand from 8,000 to 20,000 acres, developing comprehensive management systems and yield prediction models. His career also includes work at DOW AgroSciences, where he grew the seed business in the Western U.S. and contributed to the development of new silage hybrids. Now as an Agronomist for Simplot Grower Solutions, he continues to provide expertise across the Pacific Northwest, assisting crop advisors and fostering growth. In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing and fishing for trout, steelhead, and smallmouth bass.
Jon Hubble
Expertise: Soil-Water-Nutrient-Plant Relationships, California Cropping Systems
Contact: jon.hubble@simplot.com
About Jon: Jon was born and raised in the central valley of California where he grew up working on farms owned by family friends. After an enlistment in the Marine Corps, he attended school at Fresno State University where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in plant science with his graduate work focusing on phosphorus dynamics in calcareous soils that are common in the Western US. His areas of expertise revolve around soil-water-nutrient-plant relationships and how to best manage those variables to influence crop production. He also has a background in irrigation scheduling and management which comes in handy in California where most of the production acres are irrigated. He currently lives in Clovis, CA, still in the central valley of California in the heart of some of the most productive ground in the world.
Ben Lawrence, Ph.D.
Expertise: Weed Science, Herbicide Program, Southern Crop Production Systems
Contact: ben.lawrence@simplot.com
About Ben: Native of Mississippi and has spent the majority of his life working in agriculture from farming to obtaining a Ph D in Weed Science from Mississippi State University. Ben enjoys developing herbicide programs catered to effectively controlling troublesome weeds. During his tenure as a Weed Scientist, he has dealt with controlling numerous herbicide-resistant weed species. Ben covers the Bayou region for Simplot and has expertise in Rice, Cotton, Soybean, and Corn Production Systems.
Jeffrey Mansour, Ph.D.
Expertise: Plant Pathology, Rice Agronomy, Mid South Production Systems
Contact: jeffrey.mansour@simplot.com
About Jeffrey: Born and raised in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Jeffrey is a native of Greenville, MS. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Arkansas in 2014. Over the next seven years, Jeffrey pursued his M.S. in Plant Pathology and Ph.D. in Rice Agronomy/Soil Fertility at Mississippi State University working as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Delta Research and Extension Center-Stoneville, MS. Since joining Simplot Grower Solutions, Jeffrey has worked as a Technical Service Specialist for Innvictis covering the Texhoma and Mid-South U.S. Region focusing research and agronomic efforts in corn, cotton, soybean, rice, wheat, sugarcane, and fallow cropping systems. Jeffrey is the senior agronomist covering the Mid-South region.
Justin McCoy, Ph.D.
Expertise: Soil Fertility, Soil Testing, Southern Production Systems
Contact: Justin.McCoy@simplot.com
About Justin: Justin McCoy is a Senior Agronomist with the Agronomy Sales Enablement Group in the Southeast Region. Justin received his Ph. D. in Soil fertility/ Agronomy from Mississippi State University in 2019. He is passionate about providing solutions to growers and the continuation of agricultural advancement to provide nutrition in an evolving world. Justin currently resides with his wife and two young sons in his hometown of Columbus, Mississippi. In his free time he enjoys outdoor activities with his family.
Darrin Roberts
Expertise: Midwestern and Plains Production Systems, Soil Fertility and Plant Management
Contact: darrin.roberts@simplot.com
About Darrin: Darrin is our Senior Agronomist – Sales Enablement supporting the Northern Plains. Darrin comes to us from Nutrien Ag Solutions where he was a regional agronomy manager. Prior to Nutrien, he worked as a regional agronomist for WinField United; a field agronomist for DuPont Pioneer; a research scientist in DuPont Pioneer’s production research group; and an assistant professor in the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at Mississippi State University. He earned his B.S. in agronomy from BYU and attended graduate school at the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D., respectively. Darrin lives in Brandon, SD with his wife Carrie and their four children. He enjoys traveling with his family and volunteering with his local church youth group. When not working, Darrin can probably be found trying to keep up with the various activities that his kids are involved in!
Bobby Golden, Ph.D.
Expertise: Soil Fertility, High Yield Production Systems
Contact: bobby.golden@simplot.com
About Bobby: Dr. Bobby R. Golden currently serves as the Director of Agronomy for Simplot Grower Solutions, the retail agriculture division of the J.R. Simplot Co. His current team includes 12 regional agronomists that have responsibility for agronomic advising and field product development on a national level. Bobby is a member of Simplot’s global agronomy council and is current chairman of the Fertilizer Institutes research and education committee. Prior to joining Simplot, Bobby served as the statewide Extension specialist for rice and Delta area soil fertility specialist for Mississippi State University. During his time in academia, Dr. Golden authored/co-authored 70 refereed manuscripts and advised/co-advised 49 graduate students. He is a member of the 2019 USA Rice leadership class and has received awards from the Southern IPM center, National Conservations Tillage Cotton and Rice Conference and MSU Extension for his outreach related to rice and soil fertility research. Dr. Golden participates in international soil fertility consulting.
