Sally is the Director of the Crops Testing Program in the Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences. She first joined the program in 2010 as a research assistant, and then as a Research Agronomist after finishing graduate school. She is responsible for developing and maintaining a strong, innovative, research program in crop production management relevant to the needs of producers in Colorado. She delivers and participates in crop production extension programs and publishes research trial results in addition to relevant extension content.

Sally earned her M.S. degree in Soil and Crop Sciences in 2012 from CSU where she studied agronomic factors that affect grain sorghum yield and maturity in Northeast Colorado. She obtained her B.S. in Soil and Crop Sciences from CSU as well.  Sally works out of the Washington County Extension Office in Akron, CO and is a Certified Crop Advisor.

Sally Jones-Diamond
Crops Testing Program Director
Dept. of Soil and Crop Sciences
181 Birch Ave
Akron, CO 80720
(970) 214-4611
sally.jones@colostate.edu

Ed joined the program as a Research Associate in 2015. He plants and harvests all of our variety trials across eastern Colorado. He also repairs, builds, and maintains equipment and vehicles that are used in the program. As the principal field person for the Crops Testing Program, Ed works with graduate students, Cooperative Extension agents, Research Station personnel, and staff at CSU and other universities. He also collaborates with area farmers for many of our trials.

Ed grew up on a farm and graduated from North Dakota State University in 1990. After graduation he worked in Wisconsin for a year as a crop consultant, and then farmed full-time while doing custom combining until 2002. Ed was a retail agronomist in South Dakota until 2010, when he and his family moved to Colorado and he worked as a manager and retail agronomist. Ed has been a Certified Crop Advisor since 2004.

Ed Asfeld
Research Associate
Central Great Plains Research Station
40335 Co. Rd. GG
Akron, CO 80720
(970) 554-0980
ed.asfeld@colostate.edu

Candace joined Colorado State University Crops Testing Program as a Research Associate in February 2022.  She handles variety trial entries and works with fellow researchers, seed company representatives, and our farmer cooperators for field trials. She helps with planting and harvest, collects our in-season field data, manages harvest data, and publishes trial results and annual crop reports.

Candace earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology with a minor in Conservation of Natural Resources from Kansas State University. She has worked for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service designing terracing, diversions, and tailwater pits, and assisted farmers and ranchers with the CRP seed mix development and planting, as well as wildlife habitat planning. In 2011, Candace trained as a microbiologist with the Bureau of Reclamation Ecological Research Laboratory.

Candace Talbert
Research Associate
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences
181 Birch Ave.
Akron, CO 80720
(970) 554-1626
candace.talbert@colostate.edu