New Faces at the Ag Leader Academy!

Agriculture is an ever changing environment.  As commodity prices change precision farming plays an even greater role.  However, precision technology is useless if nobody knows how to use it.  At the Ag Leader Academy we have recognized the need for training, and to meet the demand we have added additional training staff!  If you’ve been to trainings this summer you’ve likely seen some new faces.  Get to know a little about them here. 

Preston Poots
Training Specialist

Preston is from Huxley, Iowa and at an early age was very active in his family’s cattle operation. Having a hand in the cattle operation ignited his passion for agriculture. He obtained a degree from Iowa State University in Agricultural Education, which combined his two greatest passions, agriculture and teaching. Preston brought his teaching strategies and passion for agriculture to Ag Leader in May of 2014. In his free time he enjoys running, helping on the farm, working with his show cattle, playing sports, and hunting.

Teresa Beary
Training System Specialist

Teresa began working at Ag Leader in September 2013 as a member of the training team. As the Training System Specialist she maintains the Academy training portal and creates the online dealer courses. Prior to Ag Leader Teresa was a quality assurance tester for a healthcare software company where she developed and taught several internal courses. Teresa has a Master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and taught organic laboratory classes while in graduate school. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.

Lennie Clement
Training Supervisor

Lennie comes to Ag Leader from the Mid-west. He grew up on a small, mixed livestock and crop farm in Western Illinois, got his Ag Ed degree from Iowa State and worked as a 4H Educator in Illinois and Minnesota. He also has worked in a county FSA office and for the Minnesota Department of Ag and the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association. Lennie is proud to be associated with a company that puts such a high value on customer satisfaction and recognizes that value can be added to its products through a robust dealer and customer training effort. Lennie and his wife just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary and, starting this fall, are the parents of three college students.

Deborah Swafford

Training Specialist

Deborah joined the Ag Leader Technology Team in June of 2014. She is a member of the training team in the position of Training Specialist. Prior to Ag Leader Deborah taught Agriculture Education and served as an FFA Advisor for 9 years in Missouri and Oklahoma. Deborah received her Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Education from Oklahoma State University and her Master’s Degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Missouri. In her spare time Deborah enjoys running and spending time with her family.

We hope to see our dealers here at the Academy this summer.  If you’re a customers that is interested in training, please contact your nearest dealer to inquire.