By Brian Hefty

I woke up Sunday, January 3rd to a text message from the wife of our longtime television producer, Bob Rasmussen.  Bob died of a heart attack early that morning at the age of 41.  Bob had worked for us for more than 15 years primarily as the editor of Ag PhD TV, putting together the show each week.  He was multi-talented, so we had him also working on everything from shooting video to building computers to running audio/video at Ag PhD events.
While we have aired nationally and internationally on TV and radio for years, host workshops and field days, publish a monthly newsletter, develop phone apps, produce videos, maintain a website, and more, Ag PhD is a very small company with only a handful of employees.  In order to do all that with only 3 or 4 people, those 3 or 4 people have to be special, and Bob certainly was.  Darren and I personally worked with him almost every day for over 15 years.  He will be deeply missed.

Each month I hope you look forward to reading articles in our newsletter about agronomy.  While we often say we “live and breathe” agronomy, we occasionally need to step back and remind ourselves that “living and breathing” has nothing to do with our agronomy jobs.  Instead, it is about what you eat, your physical activity, your genetics, and how you live your life.  I don’t know whether or not what happened to our co-worker and good friend could have been prevented, but I do know that if you haven’t had your heart checked out and had a physical exam recently, whether you are 40 years old or 70, you probably should.  If you have children at home, like Bob did, it’s probably a good idea to have a Will and life insurance, too.  I don’t recall Bob ever being sick, missing work, or even working at a slow pace.  We had no signs that anything like this could happen.  What I’m saying is that even though you might think you are in perfect health today, it’s still a good idea to be prepared and to get a checkup on a regular basis.

Ag PhD will continue on without Bob, but he was as much a part of Ag PhD as Darren and me.  If you would like to help Bob’s young family, you can contribute at www.youcaring.com/BobRasmussen