b'OLDERandWISER CUSTOMER BASEHow an aging agricultural workforce impacts messaging.Melissa ShipmanIF FARMERS AREgetting older, agribusiness companies have to get wiser, because better understanding their customers leads to better communication.The average age of all U.S. farm producers in 2017 was 57.5 years, up 1.2 years from 2012. Looking back even farther, todays farmer is, on average, 9.7 years older than he or she was in 1945.It is important to note that the average age of farmers isnt aging much faster than the U.S. general population. In 2012, the medium age was 37.4, and in 2017, it was 38. Carl Zulauf, a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at Ohio State University, com-pares this shift to a slow-moving glacier, and doesnt necessarily see the rising age of farmers as a major problem.I dont mean to say that there arent issues we need to discuss, but I think we should be celebrating the age of farmers and that farmers want to continue to work, Zulauf says. He says he rarely speaks with a farmer who actually wants to retire. They truly love farming. They dont want to stop working, he says. According to census data, 87% of farmers over the age of 65 still make all the day-to-day farming operations.Carl Zulauf works as a professor at Ohio Moreover, 96% of U.S. farms were family-owned, and many are multi- State University.generational operations; 54% of farms are classified as having two or more producers responsible for farm decisions. Justin Welch, Syngenta Seeds head of Digital Ag, says this considera-tion is the key to success.When were working with a multi-generational operation, and were sit-ting down with a father and his daughter or son, we have to remember we are talking to both of them, not one or the other, he says. Decoding DecisionsWhen having these multigenerational conversations, Zulaf says its crucial to know who the decision-maker really is. A lot of times the person doing the most talking isnt the one who actu-ally has the final say. We see that a lot of the farm, he says. However, that doesnt necessarily mean new technology will be a harder sell. Welch says he hasnt really seen any hesitation for farmers to try new things, if the benefits are clear.When there is value to be had, farmers of any age will figure out howJim Robinson serves as corn & soybean to use it, whether its a yield monitor, auto steer, or a new seed variety, heproduct manager with Rob-See-Co.says.36/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2021'