The Scoop Podcast

A recently announced partnership with Syngenta and Taranis will bring a proof of concept at scale. As explained by Meade McDonald, digital ag solutions marketing manager at Syngenta, starting this fall, select midwestern retailers will be using the artificial intelligence platform and scouting tools provided by Taranis. He explains more on how this fits into the company’s digital ag portfolio on The Scoop podcast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s beyond a traditional understanding of point, click, buy e-commerce. Co-founder and CEO of AgVend Alexander Reichert shares how ag retailers are looking to digitally enable not just the customer experience, but also have best in class tools for their sales teams, their marketing teams, finance, procurement operations, and helping their organization, do their best work with technology.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former NASA astronaut and U.S. Air Force Colonel Mike Mullane shares motivating stories from space learned from 356 logged hours aboard the Atlantis and Discovery Shuttles before retiring in 1990. As a Weapon Systems Operator aboard a RF-4C Phantom aircraft, he completed 134 combat missions in Vietnam. He’ll share more lessons in leadership at the 2024 ARA Conference and Expo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barry Jacobson is the business unit lead for Bayer crop science in southern Iowa. He leads a team of 35 and has been on the frontline of implementing Bayer’s new operating model—dynamic shared ownership. Jacobson shares how DSO is changing how Bayer internally works together, works with its channel partners, and shows up on the farm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New research outlines the key obstacles in adopting conservation agriculture practices, and how the path of least resistance forward is via ag retail. Dayna Gross, manager of programs and partnership for sustainable and responsible business team at Syngenta, discusses how the company’s goal is to make changes as easy as possible for the grower. And she shares why the retailer is a critical part in engaging farmers to make whatever their next step is.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What work in agriculture will be revolutionized by artificial intelligence? Ryan Raguse, chief innovation officer and co-founder at Bushel, expects AI to bring further insights, replace repetitive tasks and more. He’ll be part of a panel discussion at the upcoming Ag Retailers Association Conference, Dec. 3 to 5 in Houston. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Urban of Bracewell Technologies has advocated for clients on business tax issues, extension of temporary tax provisions, and federal tax policies within the energy sector. He says agriculture has potential game changers in the evolving energy policies, in fact, in many ways ag is in the middle of this evolution. Urban will present a general session with an outlook and insights at the 2024 ARA Conference and Expo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason Minton, chief commercial officer at Taranis, encourages ag retailers to embrace the power of technology to improve timeliness in how they can help farmers as well as time savings in their own work. Minton will be part of a panel discussion on artificial intelligence at the 2024 ARA Conference and Expo, Dec. 3 to 5 in Houston, Texas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joey Caldwell, senior vice president of retail for GreenPoint Ag, testified in July at the hearing on Financial Conditions in Farm Country. Caldwell was there to express strong support for the 2024 Farm Bill during the hearing that focused on addressing the financial challenges faced by farmers and ranchers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dan Schultz encourages ag retailers to think differently about their businesses and differentiate themselves. He says, just being better isn’t good enough, and retailers need to use strategy to market what is different about their business. He goes into more detail—and how marketing is more than just where you put field signs and your SEO gameplan—in this episode of The Scoop Podcast. You can find more ideas from Schultz in his newsletter, Ag Done Different.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ARA’s Richard Gupton and Hunter Carpenter discuss the latest policy and regulatory updates from Washington, D.C.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mike Weddel, President and Founder of Stratus Ag Research joins the podcast to discuss the latest findings by his firm on grower programs. With two ongoing studies, Stratus has studied retailer and grower perceptions of these programs since 2020. Overall, both groups are more positive than they once were, and Weddel explains why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek Emerine, National Agronomist with Helena, shares what to watch this season with crop fertility management. He highlights how to effectively use tissue sampling to not miss often overlooked deficiencies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raising a big crop requires you to pay attention to the small things that make a difference. Austin Anderson, adjuvant brand manager at Helena, shares his top tips for this year’s spray season and talks about the latest product from Helena, Cohort, which is a spray tank partner advancing the use of AMS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erin Mies and Kristen Ireland of People Spark Consulting offer insights on how to create process and equip people. The duo shares some takeaways for managing a multi-generational workforce. And they share how prepare high performing individuals to take over legacy roles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Veronica Nigh, senior economist at The Fertilizer Institute, shares the indexes she’s watching to gauge the direction of the global fertilizer markets. She discusses a short-term outlook for products as well as some things to watch in the long-term. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ross Bender, director of new product development for The Mosaic Company, references how many are finding success with some new approaches to crop fertility including 4R nutrient stewardship, focusing on crop needs, and finding a fit for biological. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ARA’s policy team joins the podcast to talk about the recent Farm Bill developments as well as regulations that directly effect ag retailers and their businesses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his 15-year career Travis Fuller says it’s been amazing to watch the technology develop for the ag retail industry. As a customer success manager for AgWorks, he helps ag retailers deploy software to streamline their business and gain new insights. The biggest thing he’s watching… artificial intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an agronomist and crop consultant with Nutrien Ag Solutions, Jeff Kloucek says working out in the field is where he enjoys his job the most. While the weather was the biggest challenge last year, Kloucek doesn’t expect too much of a reprieve from that unknown this year. However, he and the team are focusing on what they can control. In soil fertility, they are taking a new look at the whole system and how nutrients interact with each other. And for weed control, Kloucek has two pieces of advice: don’t cut rates, and the adjuvants are just as important as the herbicide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kyle Meece, agronomy manager at United Prairie, started as a machine operator when the company had four locations. Today, they’ve grown to 14, and Meece also discusses how the team and the technology they use has changed. Last year, they had 950 acres of side by side drone application trials, which supported the decision to add four more this year. The team is also adding a John Deere See and Spray Ultimate machine to their fleet, which Meece says it an effort to answer the multitude of questions of how the technology fits into their agronomy services.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Hushon, sustainability and technology director at The Mill, details how sustainability factors into their ag retail business and how to partner with farmers on the technology adoption required. Hushon shares the challenges to find farmers and fields who can qualify for some of the carbon opportunities, while there’s still a lot of potential for nitrogen reduction programs, including they as a retailer realizing a future of potentially selling a lower total amount of bulk fertilizer. Then he shares the new equipment their team is working to deploy in 2024 including section control spreading and drone spraying.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the heels of the ARA fly-in, Hunter Carpenter shares details on the association’s policy priorities for the year ahead and some insights on how the Farm Bill is shaping up.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tyler Mitchell, agronomy account manager at River Valley Cooperative in Davenport, Iowa, details the daily complexities he and his team unravel for farmers as they serve as boots on the ground.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the driest year in over 130 years to extreme hail events, Evan Fust and his teams work with farmers across Colorado and Kansas. Fust is general manager of CHS High Plains, CHS Quintec and CHS United Plains which totals more than 40 locations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marketing consultant Morgan Seger says one prediction for the year ahead is companies will start using more artificial intelligence in their communications. However, she cautions her clients to be careful so they don’t start sounding like everyone else. Seger also provides insights on how digital marketing can be used to meet farmers where they are, prime the sales funnel, and improve how ag retailers show up at the farm gate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Gupton with the Agricultural Retailers Association joins the podcast to give a regulatory and policy update. This is on the heels of the federal court in Arizona’s ruling which vacated the label for over the top dicamba application in 2024. Gupton shares what steps the ARA is taking, and what retailers should know. He also shares updates on litigation surrounding treated seed and chlorpyrifos. There have been a few notable house committee hearings with implications for agriculture and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an irrigation water management specialist at Centra Sota Cooperative, Rebecca Schubert does farmer outreach, education, and program partnerships. As a Technical Service Provider, Schubert assists farmers with opportunities via USDA-NRCS. She says this expansion is beyond what has been assumed a co-op can provide while also helping farmers pull together all aspects of their approach to conservation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Consulting with farmers across 40 crops, Cory Broad and the team at Avid Water help bring agronomic solutions to the field including system automation, moisture monitoring, satellite imaging, water treatment systems and more. With $20/hour minimum wage and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, Broad shares how irrigation technologies can help farmers answer these challenges.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a technical resource, Kyle Gustafson shares his role as Crop Protection Product Manager at Winfield United allows him to help with some of the most difficult weeds to management in row crop agriculture. He says the way agriculture does business has changed, but a farmer’s nature hasn’t. And his focus is threading the needle of doing business in a better way while understanding the farmer’s decision-making process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tyler Steinkamp, crop protection product manager at Winfield United, works with farmers and retailers across Iowa and Missouri. He shares why last year made agronomists recite the common real estate mantra: location, location, location. And Steinkamp says killing weeds is a favorite part of his job while encouraging farmers to make every application count to give the best level of weed control.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Co-founder and CEO of Bushel Jake Joraanstad shares what is table stakes in ag software. The past two years have seen accelerated onboarding for the team at Bushel, which now connects more than 2,600 grain locations to farmers. Joraanstad says when the business was launched, the expectations of farmers was much lower than what the team knew the technology could deliver. And that’s been a driver for the business ever since—as he has observed farmer willingness to adopt technology isn’t the obstacle, rather it’s the experience in using the tools.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As ag retailers report a tightening labor pool, many are seeking new outlets to find team members. In 2023, The Equity brought on 20 seasonal H2-A workers. They’ve found such success that they are more than doubling that in 2024. Learn more from Human Resources Manager Robin Brown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Gupton and Hunter Carpenter from the Ag Retailers Association share news from capitol hill including what the new speaker of the house means for the legislative pipeline. They also give their outlook for the Farm Bill extension. And the policy team shares what ag retailers should be watching for in regards to court cases and regulatory agency decisions effecting the products they sell.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lindsey Sankey, a marketing specialist at Co-Alliance, explains a new program, SEED (Securing Experience and Employee Development). This will bring on two high school graduates who were enrolled in FFA to come work for the co-op for two years with a multi-division rotation through all of the business units.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave Swain draws on his experience from application equipment, ag retail and technology roles with his consulting business: Vision Technology Management. On the podcast, he shares where the gaps are in the industry and the way he advocates for ag retailers and farmers to get the most from their technology.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Woodke is sustainability director at Star of the West. She shares how their business has helped connect food companies with farmers to advance conservation agriculture from the field to the grocery shelves. Woodke walks through a handful of real-world case studies, including their work as part of the USDA’s Climate Smart Commodities Grants.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kristen Ireland and Erin Mies started People Spark 5 years ago with a consulting focus to boost a company’s bottom line by increasing profits and margin, increasing retention and engagement, and creating a culture of success. They aim to provide business leaders with simple, practical solutions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can organizations do to elevate their entire team’s performance? Dave Mitchell, Founder of The Leadership Difference, says the answer lies in your company’s culture. He’ll be sharing insights during the session “The Foundation of Peak Performance Culture” at the Ag Retailers Association Conference and Expo, which takes place Nov. 28 to 30 in Orlando, Fla.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunter Carpenter from the Ag Retailers Association shares a bit more about the timing of the pending Farm Bill deadline and how in 2018 even getting the bill done 4 months late is now considered “on time.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Gupton with the Agricultural Retailers Associations rejoins the podcast to give an update from DC. With the failure to reauthorize CFATS and EPA’s announcements around pesticide regulations, Gupton shares what retailers need to know about how these actions effect their business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Erich Eller, of Forefront Ag Solutions details how he got hooked on digital agriculture—and using precision ag tools to make in-field decisions. He shares how his consulting business helps farmers agronomically and economically do better.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Lambert, technology services manager at Centra Sota Cooperative, shares how his team is structured to help farmers advance their yields and return on investment. He says technology can be overwhelming because of how everything intertwines like a cobweb. But as a baseline: the exponential benefits will come when they are able to get a majority of their farmers optimizing soil sampling, variable rate fertilizer, and yield mapping.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Even with a footprint across 10 states, the team at GreenPoint Ag is focusing on the local communities they are part of. Shannon Fortenberry, Community investment manager at GreenPoint Ag, shares more about the programs the company has stood up in the past couple of years, which now boast giving matches up to $1,000 per employee and two days for volunteering which have already totaled 2,000 hours this year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Dolch is the corn product manager for NK Brand at Syngenta, and he says he’s a bit of an outlier for his generation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joseph Rickard is a crop protection product manager at WinField United who shares the past three years have definitely taught us one thing about the ag retail industry—it’s still a face-to-face business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Asmus from Asmus Farm Supply didn’t have a linear path to being in ag retail–from a graphic designer, to a county correctional officer, she found agronomy via the Certified Crop Advisor program. Asmus shares the value of coming together with peers across the industry as part of the Agricultural Retailers Association and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blake Gates, national accounts manager at Morral Companies, shares how the company serves the industry as a fertilizer manufacturer and retailer. He brings to life the importance of stewardship, advocacy, and in particular what has benefited him and his company in being a member of ARA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Gupton from the Ag Retailers Association comes on The Scoop Podcast to detail what retailers needs to know about recent WOTUS news, train safety discussions, non-compete agreements, and EPA’s action on diesel trucks in California, plus more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hunter Carpenter with the Ag Retailers Association is cautiously optimistic the Farm Bill will get done this year. But he says right now, everything hinges on the ongoing debt ceiling discussions. In addition to the timing of the Farm Bill, Carpenters says there are five provisions they are advocating for on behalf of ag retailers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.