4/23/2020 - By William Buehn

Employee-owned Harrell’s, LLC is pleased to announce that Dr. Tom Reed has joined the Harrell’s family as the Director of Agronomy for Specialty Ag. 

Dr. Reed has been involved in the agricultural industry for the past 12 years, primarily focusing his efforts on research and commercial sales for a variety of crops including corn, soybean, wheat, potato, small fruits, and vegetables. After earning an undergraduate degree in Biology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Reed headed south to the University of Georgia where he earned a Masters in Crop and Soil Sciences through his extensive research in turfgrass. Dr. Reed then continued his studies—and his southern migration—at the University of Florida, focusing his research on strawberries and vegetables and earning a PhD in Horticultural Sciences. For the past three years, Dr. Reed has been with the UK-based Azotic Technologies Ltd. managing field research trial programs and handling US technical support to distributors and growers for a biological fertilizer product. 

As the Director of Agronomy for Specialty Ag, Dr. Reed will help to continue Harrell’s growth in the Specialty Ag market. “I’m excited to join the Harrell’s family and thrilled at the opportunity within Specialty Ag,” said Dr. Reed. “There’s great potential for the growth of Harrell’s products in Specialty Ag, and I’m privileged to join such a great team.” Responsible for the management of current product lines, as well as the development and implementation of new products, Dr. Reed is a “welcomed addition to the Specialty Ag division of Harrell’s,” says Matt Shook, VP of Specialty Ag. “It’s great to have someone of his caliber totally dedicated to the specialty Ag division. He’ll be working closely with our customers, extension personnel, university researchers and reps.” Dr. Reed’s role will be dedicated to the success of Harrell’s customers. With that, he’ll be available for consultation on all aspects of agricultural production. 

In addition to being one of the nation’s largest distributors of branded fungicides, herbicides and insecticides, employee-owned Harrell’s produces top-quality, custom blended fertilizers, specialty nutritional liquids, wetting agents, and adjuvants. Harrell’s maintains stringent quality control procedures, tight manufacturing specifications and a careful selection of raw materials for each product that carries the Harrell’s name. Harrell’s is also the proud owner of POLYON®, the industry’s superior controlled-release fertilizer, which features a reactive coating layers technology that diffuses nutrients based on soil temperature and coating thickness, rather than moisture.