10 / SEEDWORLD.COM JUNE 2019 are more focused on electronic connections. Looking ahead five years, getting younger people involved in our business will be extremely important for us to stay current. My experience in this business is that there are a lot of younger folks and millenni- als who are tremendous, hard working employees. They give us reason to have faith in the future. “Facebook was the leading social media source for informa- tion but is being displaced by Instagram and others. As farms become larger, there is more likely to be more than one person in the decision-making process. You have to be where your newer customers are getting their information while still maintaining your presence in traditional media.” When it comes to pure production knowledge, the older gen- eration tends to be more tuned in to the production elements of producing a crop. There is a difference in each generation’s area of expertise. “The interesting thing is that the younger generation or those coming back into farming may not have the depth in agro- nomic expertise the older generation has, but they have a much stronger financial and management background. They have all the skills that it takes to manage a business,” says Jeff Renk of Renk Seeds. “Our structural investment is into our technical expertise so we can function more in an advisor role.” Renk sees that as farm size increases, farmers — especially the younger, business-oriented farmers — are bringing together an outside team with technical product and production expertise to serve as an informal board of advisers. The newer genera- tion and larger operation managers are functioning as the CEO of their farming operation. Their larger suppliers are acting as consultants and function as a team of de facto business partners that serve as technical experts on an advisory board to the CEO. Supporting these customers requires that seed suppliers be more than a salesman with an order book. “We are structured to bring multiple people together so they can step onto the farm and advise on the various aspects of crop production,” Renk says. “We are structurally changing customer support so we can bring a team of experts – multiple people who can walk onto the farm representing various aspects of crop production. The sales person who has developed a personal rela- tionship with the farmer brings a technical agronomist or even a plant breeder to advise the farmers and support their purchasing decision.” The Invasion of Big Data “A farmer is only two decisions away from being broke,” a young farmer said recently. And most decisions these days are aided by the latest in technology. There is not enough money in farming to allow farmers to do it wrong and have to then do it over. They need informa- tion to enable them to select the right seed for the right field the first time. Fifteen years ago, the challenge for farmers was to collect larger quantities of detailed field data. As precision agriculture technology improved, so has the amount of field data. Equipment monitors on planters, harvesters and fertilizer applicators collect real-time data and generate multiple levels of LG CASE STUDY The speed at which seed companies must change to keep up with evolving technologies and expanding data is rapidly accelerating. “We hope to relate to farmers and provide the support they need so they will want to bring a large portion of their business to us,” says Chris Haag of LG Seeds. “They do not want to be on their own to translate every bit of data into a manageable decision.” LG has totally revamped its sales and customer support resources to capitalize on the expertise it is putting into place to support its dealer network and serve the market evolution it is anticipating over the next 10 years. LG’s front-line people are provided CCA training whether they are already a CCA or not. “This is the information they need to help customers use the information they have and work through to compare and contrast of all the elements that affect seed performance. Anymore you cannot just walk onto a farm and sell seed. You have to understand every bit of that farmer’s operation. It is building relationships several layers deep.” The company has made three major structural changes that has created: • A dealer development team whose sole purpose is to help improve our dealership and enhance their ability to help and serve farmers. They are only there to improve the skills and abilities of our dealers so they can be a better technical resource for our customers. • A team of technical agronomists to reach Agri Gold’s goal to have more technical expertise per unit sold than any other national seed brand. He says the company is putting a disproportionate amount of investment in technical experts that will get to the farm along with our dealers. • An elevated designation for Star Partner dealers. These are highly engaged dealers who are passionate about the seed industry and have an advanced level of technical expertise. “Looking ahead five years, getting younger people involved in our business will be extremely important for us to stay current.” — Adrian Polansky