Yara Ireland welcomes John Hegarty as Crop Nutrition Account Manager

As part of his varied role, John will be working with farmers in an agronomic advisory capacity, ensuring they are applying the nutrients their farm needs with a focus on nutrient use efficiency. John will take over a well-established and loyal distributor customer base ensuring their needs are met by supplying crop nutrition advice and premium quality fertiliser.

A Harper Adams graduate from an Irish family farming background, John brings a wealth of expertise and experience to his role that he has gained from working within agriculture at many different levels. While studying for his degree in agriculture with crop protection, he completed a placement year with crop trials company Eurofins Agroscience, testing the efficacy of chemical products and herbicides on a variety of crops from cereals to potatoes, and grassland.

After his placement year, he was offered a job as a trials agronomist as part of the company’s graduate recruitment programme. From there, he ventured into large-scale farming operations and worked for RG Abrey Farms in East Anglia which gave him the opportunity to put the agronomic knowledge he had gained into practice.

In the years that followed, he went to work as a farm manager on a 1000-acre family farm in Suffolk then moved to Oxfordshire where he worked for Beeswax Dyson Farming, which became Dyson Farming in 2021. Owned by Sir James Dyson, the business has a strong focus on sustainability and good environmental practice, which resonated with John’s own values.

It was Yara’s commitment to sustainability and innovation that was a significant factor in his deciding to join the company. After going back to Ireland for a couple of years and working as a technical advisor with a local co-operative, John came across the Yara role and decided that it matched both his own values and his personal ambitions.

“I always knew Yara as a brand that offered superior quality and service. At the same time, I knew that the Ag industry was changing, sustainability was becoming hugely important, and I wanted to work for a forward-thinking business that was committed to change and innovation. I relished the prospect of being able to take my career to the next level with a global brand, and that was instrumental in me applying for the role,” John stated.

Having recently completed a master’s degree in Agricultural Innovation at the University of Galway, John’s ambition for his role is to continue to grow with the company.

“Yara is constantly looking at innovating towards the future, being leaders for sustainability and driving change, and supporting the farmer and the industry where we can. I’m excited to be part of it and I’m looking forward to growing with the business,” he added.