In this special 5-year anniversary episode of Beyond Brevant, hosts Andrew Robinson and Ashley Bergthold sit down with Travis Belt, Mike Lozier, and Luke Bergthold—key players in Brevant Seeds’ origin story—to reflect on how the brand began, evolved, and earned its reputation as an agile, high-performance partner in ag retail. 

From naming the brand and launching during COVID, to tiny field signs, orange Crocs and a culture of humble confidence and execution, this episode is equal parts storytelling, strategy and celebration.

Navarro, Research Scientist at Corteva Agriscience, has spent a lot of time recently focused on corn stunt, a bacterial disease that affects corn plants. It stunts growth and reduces yields. Until 2024, it wasn't a disease often seen in the U.S. Fast forward to the 2025 growing season, and it's becoming a growing issue for corn growers in southern states.

"When we first started to see this last May, we were getting lots of calls from farmers," she said. "One of the first symptoms you're going to be observing is that at the beginning of the season you'll see the plants dying, some reddening in the leaf, and then you will see a corn leafhopper."

Outbreaks in Texas have been linked to the corn leafhopper moving north from Mexico. Corn leafhoppers feed on corn plants, and then they spread the bacteria to other plants as they feed on them. 

Navarro's best advice is to scout early and often. For more information, go here: https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/corn-leafhopper.html

Andy and Ashley talk to Lewis Kuppler (ND), Kaitlyn Lowe (CO), and Justin Jamison (KS) about the challenges of working on the Outskirts of Brevant. Learn more about row crop farming in the West, including dryland acres, decreased planting populations, and water management.

Discussion with Andi Belt growing up in a family of FFA advisors, member and MO president; What opportunities it presents and key learnings.

Read more about Andi's story: Missouri Ruralist article

Retail sales agronomists from across the Brevant® seeds footprint share updates from the field, hot agronomy topics from the 2024 growing season and their favorite Brevant products in the latest episode of Brevant seeds Beyond Products podcast.

Curious about agriculture jobs and what it takes to work for Corteva Agriscience? Whether you are graduating from college or wanting to look at an internship for the Summer of 2025, this is the episode for you. Learn about internships and the Associate Territory Manager program from current intern Madi Kerr, a student at Purdue University, and former Associate Territory Manager program participant Julia Quisley, who now works as an Retail Sales Agronomist with Brevant. Also, learn what it takes to stand out from the crowd and land that next role!

Additional Resources:

Corteva Careers: https://careers.corteva.com/

Corteva Market Development Specialist, Will Tubbs, joins hosts Andy Robinson and Ashley Bergthold to discuss corn and soybean diseases and whether a fungicide application is needed this season. 

Ashley has a special guest this week, Dustin Voss (Retail Sales Agronomist from Minnesota) to talk about his participation in the Brevant Turn the Bag, Blue and Gold Program. We also get a chance to visit with Cassidy, Landon, and Ava from the Buffalo Lake-Hector FFA Chapter on their experience with the program. The Brevant Turn the Bag Blue and Gold Program provides six FFA Chapters per year with agronomic education, career development and fundraising opportunities.

Resources

Article: Chapters Turn the Bag Blue and Gold with Brevant Seeds - https://www.ffa.org/the-feed/bag-blue-and-gold-brevant/

PDF: Turn the Bag Blue & Gold Program Information - https://www.ilaged.org/connect/admin/attachments/22BV%20FFA%20Detailer_3519.pdf