Remembering Philip Allan Wheeler, Ph.D., 1939-2025
It was in the summer of 1984 that I met Phil Wheeler. I had been selling a liquid fish fertilizer, traveling throughout the eastern states, and I learned that Phil would be starting a business at about the same time. I called Dan Skow, who told me, “I don’t know what kind of a businessman Phil is, but he is a good agronomist.” Together we formed TransNational Agronomy (TNA). Because of a few contacts Phil had in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, and the ads we placed in Acres U.S.A. magazine, we were in business.
Using a VCR recorder, the first thing we did was to put Dr. Carey Reams’ message on tape. We rented a hotel room, turned on the lights, and Phil began teaching module after module. No breaks were needed. Information rolled off his tongue without consulting any notes.
During 1985, Phil and I drove throughout the states, holding farmer meetings for a week at a time, with a different group every night. These meetings were the impetus from which I started writing what would become known as The Nontoxic Farming Handbook, which Fred Walters of Acres U.S.A. agreed to publish.
Phil’s role was the agronomist, product developer, salesman and visionary. We were early adopters, marketing powdered microbial products in addition to the basic Reams program: gypsum, high-calcium lime, and Tennessee brown and colloidal phosphate. We hired Arden Andersen to assist us in developing a line of dry soluble fertilizers and to represent TNA in Pennsylvania. We soon offered radionics classes, taught first by Steve Weston and then by Phil and me.
Phil left TNA in 1993 to start Crop Services International (CSI), and I joined him in 2006. We sat in his small home office taking calls, writing up orders, and shipping out product. I helped him move from paper to digital records. Joe Miazgowicz later joined CSI and brought with him microbe testing technology and compost tea brewing, which his former boss, Dane Terrill, had brought to farm scale. Dane subsequently bought CSI from Phil in 2014. He has taken the Carey Reams-based technology of TNA/CSI to a whole new level with his current offerings of education, products and services.
Phil was a Mensa member and had a photographic memory. He wasn’t known for his tack, though. I once received a call from a dealer asking, “Ron, why does Phil say, ‘I’m eating lunch, call back later?’ Why doesn’t he just not answer the phone?” Phil would also “endear” himself to the Michigan State University agricultural community by stating, “The only thing their departments have in common is the public sewer system.” Ah, Phil — the guy we knew and loved!
It was my great privilege to work with Phil those many years, as a business partner, an employee and a friend. When you re-read The Nontoxic Farming Handbook, just know that most of the agronomy understanding came from my relationship with Dr. Phil. Fairwell, my friend!
Ronald Ward is the co-author, with Phil Wheeler, of The Non-Toxic Farming Handbook, published by Acres U.S.A.
