BASF ANZ colleagues share their #AgVentures

In November, BASF Australia again joined with the National Farmer's Federation (NFF) in celebrating National Ag Day. In conjunction with the theme of 'Choose your #AgVenture', which celebrates the various interesting and rewarding career pathways on offer in agriculture, some of BASF Australia Ag colleagues from various backgrounds and experiences shared their personal #AgVenture.

Kiana Barrie-Gresham initially joined the BASF Agricultural Solutions Customer Service team but is now working as a Sales and Marketing Coordinator for BASF Professional and Specialty Solutions. "I remember being very excited when I was accepted for the undergraduate ag program at the University of Melbourne. At Dookie (College), I was able to learn, observe and participate at a full-fledged agricultural college and experimental farm. These experiences helped me understand the farming industry, which has proven invaluable for my career so far. My new role in BASF is even more people-focused than before, and involves responding to a range of customer inquiries from our various platforms, planning and supporting the delivery of product training, doing market research, and developing social media content; almost no two days are ever alike" she says.

While Kiana may not have been in the ag industry for very long, but she's already made some keen observations, saying "What I’ve realised is that the ag industry despite its geographical size, is actually a small and tight-knit community, so you’ll meet a lot of the same people frequently. This highlights the importance of communication and the ‘old bush telegraph’ in forging networks and building strong relationships that allow us to grow together. There are of course, challenges – like how the ag industry in general can be sometimes resistant to change or embracing technology and innovation, especially since ‘we’ve always done it this way’ - but at the end of the day, I see it as part of my job to find engaging and effective ways to get our customers to embrace progress!" 

Read about Kiana's #AgVenture so far here.

For some people, working in ag is a conscious decision, but in the case of Ian Francis, you could say he was born into it as he grew up on a mixed farming property with sheep, cattle and cropping, resulting in him having an appreciation and passion for agriculture from an early age. With years of field expertise, commercial responsibilities and an MBA, Ian definitely has a wealth of experience and is currently the Head of Development – Crop Protection at BASF Australia. He shares that he's had many interesting memories from his time in ag so far, but the one that stands out for him was the role he played in bringing Voraxor®, a herbicide and one of BASF Agricultural Solutions’ key products to market.

Ian shares, “I was initially involved in the global development project when I started with BASF, and through trial work, we identified that it would be a solid technical fit for the Australian market. However, there were limited resources at a global level which meant that the development of this product would be stopped, at least for the foreseeable future. I personally believed that there was a lot of potential in Voraxor and working with some other determined colleagues, we made a strong argument and were able to convince the global business to allow us to finish the development process. As a result, we were able to bring the fantastic new herbicide, Voraxor to market in 2020, which has been a superstar for BASF so far. What provides me even more satisfaction is that we’re finding even more applications for Voraxor to be used in other segments, thus broadening its application and importance to our company and the agricultural industry.”

For more on Ian's story, click here

Studies show that global food production needs a 70% increase by 2050, and the agriculture industry will be playing a crucial role in addressing this situation. With different key areas to focus on, such as research, innovation, and technology, there's many exciting career paths and countless #AgVentures to be found in the ag industry. 

Search available jobs at BASF Australia here.