Tim Greene, president of Burrus Seed, talks about what he’s learned in his time in the seed industry and what’s on his mind for 2020.
Seed World (SW): What’s your favorite movie to watch during the holidays?
Tim Greene (TG): I don’t really watch a lot of movies. Actually, truth be told, I couldn’t tell you the last time I watched a whole movie. If I am watching TV, it usually involves a sporting event with our beloved Illini or something on food network.
SW: Best music genre to listen to?
TG: If I had to pick, I’d choose to listen to classic rock.
SW: One thing you never leave home without?
TG: Definitely my cell phone but my small pocketknife is a close second.
SW: No. 1 thing you’ve learned from working in the seed industry?
TG: I have learned that you must continue to evolve, learn and be open to new possibilities so you can continue to exceed your goals. We have a tagline here at Burrus “Always Growing”, our goal is to always be growing in some form or fashion, whether that be growing sales, more seed or our team’s knowledge in the field, we must continue to grow in all facets of the business.
SW: You’ve been adding new soybeans to your lineup! Why did you decide to add DONMARIO soybeans into your product line?
TG: It was a great fit! We are actually very similar to how we approach the business by being family owned and operated along with a desire to stay independent. The DONMARIO soybeans also allowed us to offer something unique to our growers and tap a global set of genetics to propel our soybean business forward. We are very pleased with our family relationship and our business relationship.
SW: How would you like Burrus to grow in 2020?
TG: This sales season has already started off with a bang and we need to keep the momentum rolling. We focus on finding the right fit for growers because we have a full selection of products and technologies. So, we ask our teams in the field to listen to the grower, learn what their goals are and then find the best product fit for their specific scenario. We try to avoid going in with some set product recommendation until we can learn more about the grower’s management goals for their operation. That strategy along with the performance of our product lineup in independent testing has proved to be a nice combination.
