Current Role: Lance Gibson serves as the Agronomy Training Manager for Corteva Agriscience, a position he has held since 2016. He has spent approximately 10 years in this specific training management capacity.
Educational Background:
* He holds multiple degrees from Iowa State University.
* He earned a PhD in Crop Physiology from Kansas State University.
* He also gained experience in southern agriculture during his time at North Carolina State University.
Academic and Professional Experience:
* He served as an assistant and associate professor of agronomy at Iowa State University for 10 years.
* During his professorship, he taught courses in crop management, weed science (focused on herbicides), and precision agriculture.
Pioneer Career History:
* He joined Pioneer in 2008 as a research scientist.
* His original work focused on developing seed product software, spanning from the creation of inbreds to the release of hybrids to growers.
* He was responsible for the analysis and design of software systems used throughout the seed development lifecycle.
Certifications and Accolades:
* Certified Crop Adviser (CCA).
* Precision Ag Specialist (part of the Certified Crop Adviser program).
* Project Management Professional (PMP).
* FAA Remote Pilot Certification (Drone Pilot).
* Named the 2026 Iowa CCA of the Year.
Personal Roots:
* Native of Northeast Iowa, a region characterized by mixed agriculture.
* Raised around various livestock operations including dairy, swine, beef cattle, turkeys, and chickens.
Program Overview: Pioneer Agronomy Essentials Customer Program
Origins and Scale:
* An internal Agronomy Essentials program has existed for Pioneer sellers and Corteva employees since 2014, with nearly 4,000 participants to date.
* The customer-facing version of the program launched in 2025 and has seen 54 participants complete it thus far.
Summer 2026 Session Details:
* Participants: 22 individuals signed up for the current session.
* Duration: 7 weeks.
* Content Focus: Primarily corn and soybean production, using the same resources and structure provided to internal Corteva sellers and employees.
* Geographic Distribution: Participants are largely from the Eastern Corn Belt, with representation in Missouri, Illinois, and one individual in Colorado.
The Philosophy of "The Long Look":
* The program is driven by the management philosophies of Pioneer, which date back to the 1930s and 1940s and were codified in the 1950s as "The Long Look."
* The fourth pillar of this philosophy is the primary focus: "Providing helpful management information to assist customers in making optimal profits from our products."
Core Learning Objectives
Crop Development: Gain a foundational knowledge of crop growth stages to ensure agricultural inputs are applied at optimal times.
Protection and Management: Develop the ability to manage insect pests, disease pathogens, and weeds.
Herbicides: Establish a fundamental understanding of herbicide types and their specific use cases in weed management.
Nutrient Management: Walk through the process of creating a nutrient management plan; the speaker emphasizes that true mastery comes only through the actual creation of a plan.
Confidence Building: The ultimate goal is to build participant confidence in selecting and executing various agronomy solutions.
Program Structure and Schedule
Three Pillars of Learning:
1. Web Courses: These provide the base for learning agronomy basics, similar to a university or community college curriculum.
2. Webinars: These connect course content to real-world applications and allow interaction with Pioneer experts who work in farmers' fields.
3. Mentoring: This involves one-on-one, hands-on application and discussion of course content to local situations.
Weekly Time Commitment:
* Phase 1 (Weeks 2, 3, 4, 6): Three required web courses per week, taking approximately 2 to 3 hours total per week.
* Phase 2 (Webinars): Five total webinars in addition to the orientation (Corn Production, Soybean Production, Corn Insect/Disease, Nutrient Management Planning).
* Phase 3 (Mentoring): A target of 6 total hours of mentoring throughout the program (1 hour weekly or 2 hours every other week).
Holiday Break: The program includes a week off to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of America.
Registration and Learning Portal Access
Initial Step: Look for an email from "Corteva US Digital" titled "Corteva Agriscience Training Portal Registration."
Registration Process:
1. Click the text within the email that says "this link."
2. On the browser screen, click "Complete Registration" in the bottom right corner.
3. Enter the exact email address used for the invitation (errors will occur if a different address is used).
4. Click "Send verification code." (Do NOT enter a password or click "create" at this stage).
5. Check your inbox for an email from Microsoft on behalf of Corteva for the verification code.
6. Enter the code and click "Verify code."
7. On the subsequent window, enter and confirm a password, then click "Create."
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