Science Behind 2023 Digital Media Kit

Speakers

Wade Firestone

Wade Firestone started with BASF in 2013 as part of BASF’s Professional Development Program. After a year in the PDP, Wade joined the Missouri district as a Business Representative where he worked closely with our retail and grower customers. In 2021, Wade joined the US Ag Solutions Marketing team as a Product Manager for our Corn Pre Herbicide portfolio.

Brady Spangenberg

Brady Spangenberg is the Marketing Director, US Crop Protection for BASF Agricultural Solutions. His primary areas of responsibility include go-to-market strategy, portfolio management, financial forecasting, demand planning, and positioning and messaging. In his 12 years at BASF, he has held various roles in strategic marketing, business systems/CRM, market intelligence and global communications. Brady has also held various academic appointments, including Affiliate Staff in College of Agriculture at Purdue University and Visiting Scholar of Interdisciplinary Studies at Simpson College in Iowa.

Brady holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Purdue University and has also served as a Research Fellow at the University of Freiburg. He has been published on a wide variety of topics including trends in global agriculture, literature and writing. His dissertation, “Civil Death in Early Modern Europe from Jack Cade to Luther, Raleigh and Hamlet” explores the practical and metaphoric consequences of the legal designation civil death.

His two most memorable moments in agriculture are selling John Deere t-shirts at the Iowa State Fair and picking peppercorns in rural Vietnam.

Nik Jakobs

Nik Jakobs has been a partner at Jakobs Brothers Farms in Sterling, IL since 2014. The third-generation farmer works closely with his father and two brothers to raise beef cattle, corn, wheat, and soybeans. In addition to the family farm, Nik also works as an executive advisor at nZero, helping industry partners across agriculture deliver innovative carbon solutions and shape carbon policy.

Prior to coming back to the farm, Nik earned his Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois in 2007 and honed his skills in finance and operations through various roles in the financial sector with companies like The Keystone Group and Element78 Advisors.

Daniel Waldstein

In his current role as Technical Market Manager, Dan Waldstein manages field research and projects on 10 different herbicides. In addition, he provides technical oversight for product managers and acts as a resource hub for the marketing, research and development, regulatory and field sales teams.

In his previous positions with BASF, Dan worked as a Technical Service Representative in South Dakota and California. Prior to that, he worked as an Area Extension Specialist in Crop Protection for North Dakota State University. He also has experience working at Missouri State University and Michigan State University. Dan has a PhD from Cornell University in Integrated Pest Management. He currently resides in Pittsboro, NC with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he enjoy canoeing, fishing, and pheasant hunting (in the Dakotas).

Doug Findley

In his current role at BASF, Doug manages the Biology research farms and field biologists. This team supports the evaluation and development of the crop protection product portfolio across multiple U.S. geographies.

Doug joined BASF in 2015 as the Herbicide Greenhouse/Lab Lead where he worked closely with various U.S. and global project leads evaluating herbicide products to complement field trial results. In 2018 he moved into a Biology Project Lead role responsible for several herbicides and managed a field and greenhouse program for the commercial development of several products.

Prior to joining BASF, Doug was a Site Lead with Monsanto, managing the research and operations of a farm supporting herbicide and seed treatments. In addition, he held various research-focused roles at Monsanto and The Scotts Company, and he was an assistant professor at Auburn University.

Introducing Surtain Corn Herbicide