Our Sales Agronomist - Mike Leighton
A Little Bit About Mike...
I grew up in South Eastern Alberta and with farming all around me I developed a strong interest in it. My grandparents also had a cow calf operation in the Blackfalds area, and when we went to visit them, I would help, mostly with working cattle, and fencing. After graduating high school, I completed a BSc. in Environmental Science from the U of A, Augustana Faculty in Camrose. At that point I had been working at Agriculture Canada on the grounds crew and enjoyed it, so I made the decision to attend Olds College and take a Diploma in Landscape Management. All along I still maintained a strong interest in Agriculture, and after completing my diploma, I still felt that I wanted to continue my studies and enrolled in a Bsc. in Agriculture. In the summers between completing this program I worked at Sunstar Nurseries on the field crew. Through this experience I learned a lot about tree production and got to work with a lot of really cool landscape plants.
After graduating from the U of A, I worked another season at Sunstar, from there I went into Agriculture Research first work for ICMS in Fort Saskatchewan as an efficacy technician. I assisted in conducting herbicide trials, variety trials, and nutrient trials. After completing my contract with them I moved to Grande Prairie, where I worked as a Research Technician for Agriculture Canada, in the Forage Program. In this role I assisted in conducting forage seed production, and forage feed trials.
I enjoyed my time in research but felt like something was missing, and that was working on a practical level helping with agronomy on farms. I then got a job with Richardson Pioneer in Bow Island. Bow Island was a great place to learn, because being irrigated there was a wide variety of crops. I enjoyed my time there, but I was wanting to get back to the Edmonton area to be closer to my girlfriend Nicole, so when the opportunity to take this position presented itself, I took it.
In my spare time I enjoy golfing, hiking, reading, and keeping up with the latest and greatest in agriculture. I am also preparing to write my CCA exam and look forward to expanding my knowledge of crop production working for Ray Agro. I look forward to meeting new people, excited for the conversations that we will have, and look forward to providing you all with value added agronomic solutions.
