About Us
Mike Palmier, PAg, 4R
Owner / Operator
Mike was raised on a mixed cattle/grain farm outside of Lafleche in south central Saskatchewan, and now resides on an acreage southwest of Plenty with his wife and co-owner Shannon and their 3 daughters: Elliot, Olivia and Emma.
Mike graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in AgBusiness and is a Practicing Agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists. Mike has a wealth of knowledge gained through roles in grain marketing, sales and agronomy over 15 years working in the Agriculture industry.
Mike’s passion is working closely with farmers to find the best solutions to maximize not only yield, but most importantly the profitability of their farming operations. With this goal in mind, Max Ag was established in 2019 to fully commit to these goals, while using the latest in applied technologies available to help make the best decisions possible!
Melissa Silvernagle, PAg
Agronomy Manager, Biggar
Melissa grew up in Biggar and now resides on an acreage southeast of Biggar with her husband Colton and their 3 sons: Reid, Rylan & Regan. She obtained her degree in Agriculture majoring in Agronomy from the U of S, and also has her PAg professional designation.
Over the last 15 years working within the industry she has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience through roles in Agronomy, AgTech, Sales and Team Leadership throughout west central Saskatchewan.
Melissa is passionate about working closely with and supporting others to maximize their potential - whether it be working with farmers or with her team. She is excited and proud to join the Max Ag team and is looking forward to expanding her knowledge in the Precision Agronomy space.
Nicole Osterwoldt, PAg, CCA, 4R NMS
Senior Agronomist, Elrose
Nicole hails from Manitoba and graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2014 with a B.Sc in Agronomy, but has spent her career working in Saskatchewan in several roles with retail, chemical technical support and Ag Tech/service.
Nicole's focus on professional development has led her to earning multiple designations, including PAg, CCA, and 4R NMS.
Nicole now lives and farms north of Plato, SK with her husband David and 2 dogs, and is looking forward to continuing to learn and make an impact to agriculture in west central Saskatchewan.
Dani Gaudet, PAg
Senior Agronomist, Kindersley
Dani grew up on the family farm just outside of Bellevue, SK and currently lives in Kindersley. Dani received her B.Sc in Agronomy from the University of Saskatchewan in 2019 as well as her Practicing Agrologist designation in 2022. Prior to joining us, Dani gained experience in different crop scouting, small plot research and Ag retail over the past 7 years.
Dani's love for Agriculture started at a young age as the family farm's swather operator, and checking fields with her dad. She loves to learn, ask questions and help farmers with difficult decisions, and is passionate about her career and working hand in hand with her farmers to maximize their potential.
Dani is excited to explore and learn a different area of the province, and is proud to be a part of the Max Ag team, and use the tools at our disposal to drive success within each of the farms that she works with.
Ian Spence
Agronomist, Luseland
Ian grew up north of Kitscoty, AB where he was active in 4-H, school sports, as well as helping out on his grandparent’s farm. While completed a degree in Ag Biology from the U of S, he spent his summers managing canola breeding trials for Monsanto in Lloydminster, SK, and Agrochemical R&D trials for Bayer CropScience in Olds, AB.
He went on to pursue his Masters in Bioinformatics from the University of Guelph, where he studied plant genetics, statistics and computer vision. After grad school, he spent a year working as a machine learning engineer at an AI startup, processing image data collected from drones.
By supporting the Max Ag team from Luseland, Ian is committed to helping farmers grow the most profitable crops by implementing the right technologies for their operation.
Kathryn Aldridge, AAg, CCA
Agronomist, Rosetown
Kathryn grew up on the family farm near Kelfield, SK, and currently lives in Rosetown with her boyfriend Brett and dog Bosley, her favorite scouting companion. Kathryn received her B.Sc in Crop Science in 2019, and recently completed her M.Sc in Plant Science at the University of Saskatchewan. Her Masters project focused on herbicide resistance management using tank mixtures for the control of false cleavers, kochia, wild mustard and wild oats, as well as using UAVs to estimate weed control.
Kathryn is currently busy working on obtaining her Practicing Agrologist and Certified Crop Advisor designations, and has several years experience working in both small plot and field scale research. One of her roles with Max Ag will be leading our On-Farm Research program which will be launching in 2023.
Kathryn has forever shown a love for agriculture, and is passionate about utilizing best agronomic practices that will increase the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of the Agriculture industry, making her a great fit with the rest of the Max Ag team!
Sarah Rieger, AAg
Agronomist, Rosetown
Sarah grew up in Watrous, SK and now lives in Rosetown with her husband Logan and their 2 sons: Leo and Raymond.
Sarah graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2017 with a B.Sc in Agriculture. Her experience in the industry has entailed roles in small plot research, scouting and agronomy, as well as on farm trials and Ag retail. She is currently working on obtaining her PAg from the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists.
Sarah is looking forward to continuing to learn about Agriculture and crop production in West Central Saskatchewan and helping growers adopt new technology to maximize profits on their farms.
Jay Bailey, CCA, ATech Ag
Agronomist, Eatonia
Jay was born, raised, and currently resides in Eatonia, SK where she also helps out on the family farm during seeding and harvest.
Jay received her Crop Technology and AgriBusiness Diploma from Lakeland Collage, and also has earned her Certified Crop Advisor designation. She is currently working towards earning her Technical Agrologist designation through the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists.
Jay has worked in a few different sectors of the Agriculture industry such as Ag retail sales, grain purchasing/grading, as well as roles in precision agriculture, which is where her passion lies.
In 2022/2023 Jay expanded her knowledge outside of her home region by working as a Precision Agronomist in Australia, building relationships with farmers and focusing on variable rate fertilizer, lime and gypsum on their farms. She is excited to bring this knowledge to the Max Ag team, and continue to strengthen her skills with the suite of tools at her disposal.
