SASKATCHEWAN POLYTECHNIC
From farm kids to tech specialists

You don't need to be from the city to work in tech. Kristie Pedersen and Sage Pilon are proof. The two colleagues and Saskatchewan Polytechnic alumni are logging into remote diagnostics from gravel roads, optimizing machines worth more than houses and turning farm data into real-world decisions.  

They grew up watching combines harvest prairies fields, never imagining they would one day help those same machines run smarter. Pedersen, raised on a grain farm near Raymore, knew agriculture inside and out but wasn't sure where she fit. Pilon grew up on an acreage outside Aberdeen and was drawn to the farming community through weekends spent helping family friends in the field. Both were rooted in rural life yet neither saw themselves becoming ag tech specialists. Not until they found the Sask Polytech Agriculture and Food Production diploma program. 

For Pedersen, the program came to her attention through an ad her mom heard on the radio. The program's hands-on approach and co-operative education option appealed to her, as did the opportunity to study in the smaller city of Moose Jaw.  

Pilon discovered the program while scrolling social media. To her Sask Polytech felt more accessible than university because the schedule was already built, the learning was hands-on and the environment felt supportive.  

They connected on their first day. Pedersen and her roommate saw Pilon's friendly smile during orientation and said hello. Within minutes they were walking the halls together. Soon they had a tight group of classmates. As the first-ever cohort in the program, they studied together and shared many late-night laughs. "We were a little family," Pedersen says. 

Their co-op education placements helped them clarify the direction they wanted to pursue. Pedersen's time at the Southeast Research Farm in Redvers, followed by Richardson Pioneer in Nokomis, offered a broad range of learning opportunities. Pilon explored several roles as well that included retail and field scouting at Co-op Agro in Prince Albert as well as harvesting and plot maintenance at BASF research farm near Saskatoon. These experiences helped them both build confidence, develop practical skills and gain clarity about the kind of work that best matched their interests and strengths. 

Clarity arrived during Pedersen's final semester as she began considering her post-graduate path. Having grown up with a strong appreciation for John Deere products. "Green only," she jokes. She naturally thought about opportunities with South Country. After exploring ways to get connected, she landed an interview and was hired in March to begin in May after convocation. Not long into her role, she received a company email featuring an internal posting, and she immediately thought of Pilon. 

Today, Pedersen and Pilon are colleagues in precision agriculture at South Country Equipment. Pedersen works as an integrated solutions consultant with the John Deere Operations Centre app, helping farmers manage equipment data, GPS guidance lines, diagnostics and calibrations. She optimizes new combines and sprayers and educates farmers how to use advanced in-cab technology. She can even remote into a machine and guide a farmer through troubleshooting in real time. She still marvels at features like Machine Sync that connect a combine and grain cart to work together in automating speed and positioning. "It's mind-blowing what the technology can do," she says. "Seeing how it helps farmers. That's the best part." 

Pilon's career focuses on Crop Intelligence. As an integrated solutions agronomist, she works with the weather stations, soil probes, moisture data and post-season analytics that help farmers understand what their fields need next. She maintains and installs weather systems, analyzes rainfall and soil moisture and helps farmers interpret what the data means for nutrients, spraying conditions and next year's planning. She supports customers from Lake Diefenbaker to Fort Qu'Appelle. "I didn't even know this job existed," she says. "Now I love it." 

Looking back, both credit Sask Polytech for giving them the foundation they needed in precision ag, meteorology, irrigation, machinery and the confidence to step into roles they once would've found intimidating. Their cohort has become a professional network across the province. Their classmates now work for the potash industry, ag retailers, family farms and dealerships.  

"We were together every day for three years," Pilon says. "Now we're all working in the same industry. It's the best!" 

Learn more about the Agriculture and Food Production diploma program.