Agronomist Selected to be State Grain Laboratory Bureau Chief
News Date April 10, 2006
Craig Essebaggers, an agronomist in Cascade County for 16 years, has been named bureau chief of the State Grain Laboratory in Great Falls, according to Nancy K. Peterson, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
"Craig brings energy, enthusiasm, experience and a desire to serve our No. 1 industry in Montana," Peterson says.
Essebaggers grew up on a farm between Ulm and Cascade, south of Great Falls. He previously worked as a certified crop advisory for Kernaghan's Service of Great Falls. He earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering/technology from Montana State University, with a minor in plant soils.
Essebaggers says his primary goals in his new job are to maintain the laboratory's high standards and improve customer service. The laboratory building is undergoing physical changes and upgrading lab equipment. The federally licensed facility conducts quality tests on about 20,000 crop samples per year.
He says he looks forward to working with employees at the State Grain Lab and working to support and promote the grain industry in Montana. For more information about the State Grain Laboratory, contact Essebaggers at 406-452-9561 or by e-mail at agr@mt.gov.
Essebaggers lives south of Sun River with his wife Dianne and three children, Haelee, Bridger and Cambrie. (Contact: Joel Clairmont, 406/444-2402)