Seeds, Farmland and Drones: #AgLife with Conner Schwartz

 

 

Conner Schwartz always thought he’d go into animal science until a few courses in agronomy changed his entire life path.

“During my third year at Purdue, I really found a love for agronomy,” said Schwartz. “And I found out that I loved talking to people, too, so I started taking some different classes – sales classes, agronomy classes.”

“All three complement each other really well,” said Schwartz.

 

For Geswein Farm and Land, Schwartz handles the northeast portion of Indiana year-round, which includes Adams, Wells, Steuben, DeKalb and Allen counties. He’s familiar with the lay of the land, so to speak, since he’s originally from that corner of the state. Schwartz grew up on a hog farm and was very involved in 4-H and FFA. His clients range from farmers and landowners looking to expand their acreage to a very specific type of clientele, the Amish, which requires the opposite of most sales strategies: a step back in technology and approach.

 

“I live within a really big Amish community,” said Schwartz. “Mailings work well. Meeting in person works really well. My last transaction was with an Amish family and I’m looking forward to working more with them in the future.”

 

Schwartz’s other two ventures are seasonal. He’s a sales representative with Steele Seeds in the spring and fall and, in the spring and summer, co-owner/operator of an agriculture drone company, New Heights Ag.

 

“During my junior year [at Purdue], the guy that I worked with at the seed company, well, we started talking about the possibility of spraying with drones and spreading seeds with drones,” said Schwartz. “I had the opportunity at Purdue to take a class about drones and we decided to jump into it.”

 

While the business is still getting off the ground, Schwartz said, this summer, it’s already grown to 53 farms. What makes his agriculture drone company unique is that they offer the ability to spray cover crops along with the usual fungicides even though spraying cover crops can be a “bit more labor intensive” since it requires different tools.

 

“We have a set up on our trailer that allows us to set a seed box up and funnel the seeds (mainly rye and brassicas) down into buckets,” said Schwartz. “From there, we take those buckets and fill the drone up with the seed.”

For Schwartz, it’s a way to offer a different service to local farmers that benefits both their bottom line and farmland in northeast Indiana. And there’s an advantage to using a drone to spray cover crops. Traditionally, cover crops are applied following the full harvest of the field.

 

“But if there’s rain in the forecast, we can go spread the seed right before it rains,” said Schwartz. “Then, whenever they harvest the corn, it creates a natural layer over top of it, allowing the cover crop to grow well.”

 

As for future plans, Schwartz would like to eventually return to his farming roots; however, for now, he’s pretty content on the path he’s chosen to follow.

“I definitely still have a lot to learn, but it’s been great to work with local people and local survey companies and title companies to understand the real estate business,” said Schwartz.

 

“I’m curious to keep learning about the Amish community, hopefully be able to continue working with them to serve their needs, while continuing to grow our client-base for New Heights Ag.”