Darrell Smith has been writing about agriculture for 39 years, the last 31 of them for Farm Journal. His subject areas include Corn Navigator stories, Soybean Navigator stories, Corn College stories, the Upstream Heroes nutrient management series and farmer-built shops and machinery entered in Farm Journal’s I Built the Best Contest. He also does photography for the magazine. He has won three writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association and earned AAEA’s designation as Master Writer. Before launching his ag writing career, the Mt. Carroll, Ill., native earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and then served 22 months active duty as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. When not writing, he reads history, gardens, hunts, and assists his local Pheasants Forever chapter. Contact Darrell dsmith@farmjournal.com 217-359-3240 Farm Journal P.O. Box 137 Champaign, IL 61824-0137