Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development (MARD) is losing its weed specialist Tammy Jones.
She took the job in January 2018 and her last day is July 17.
Jones becomes Corteva’s technical sales agronomist for Manitoba July 20.
Meanwhile, Anastasia Kubinec, MARD’s manager of Crop Industry Development, hopes the department will fill the position quickly.
“Getting the approval when it’s a high profile position like that can be fairly quick,” Kubinec said in an interview July 15. “It’s just finding the right candidate that can take the time, and doing all the checks.”
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Hiring a new weed specialist could take three months or so, Kubinec said. The first step is getting approval to fill the position, then advertise it, interview candidates and check references.
The new weed specialist should have a masters degree in weed science or many years of weed science experience so they can conduct research and assess other’s research, she said.
The weed specialist has to work closely with the province’s weed supervisors and help administer the Noxious Weed Act.
“They need to be able troubleshoot,” Kubinec said. “They need to be pretty calm and cool because there can be a lot strong feelings when it comes to noxious weeds and spray drift complaints and stuff like.”
Jones said she loved being MARD’s weed specialist.
“There are always other opportunities out there and sometimes it’s difficult to turn down those other opportunities,” she said.
Jones said she could’ve started earlier with Corteva but didn’t want to leave MARD before the annual Crop Diagnostic School was running.
“It’s hard to leave at any point, but it’s challenging when you’ve been working on something and there are things to do,” she said.
Before becoming the weeds specialist in 2018, Jones worked for FMC. She has also worked for DuPont, Crop Production Services, Alberta Pulse Growers Association, Manitoba Agriculture from 2007-2009 as a diversification specialist and the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association.
