From the Floor with Agrality’s Adam Monke
At ASTA’s Field Crop Seed Convention in Orlando, Seed World U.S. editor Aimee Nielson sat down with Adam Monke, Agrality’s North America Commercial Business Manager, to chat about Nebraska Irrigated Seeds (NIS) shift into Agrality’s portfolio and how the change will expand opportunities for his long-term family business.
Agrality is a seed service company that spans seed production from pre-commercial through commercial seed. Agrality currently operates primarily in North and South America but has a global vision and big plans to grow.
In September 2023, Agrality acquired NIS, expanding its reach in the Corn Belt. Monke, who was previously president and CEO of NIS, is staying on as a managing partner with Agrality. The NIS brand will remain and NIS’ services in seed production, processing, manufacturing, warehousing, shipping, distribution, logistics and support will continue largely unchanged.
“Same faces, same places, same offerings — improved offerings — and a wider scope of network,” says Monke. “If there were things I couldn’t provide to [customers] being geographically in Nebraska, now I can move services, production — anything that could bottleneck — to the east or into south America. The changes will be nominal in Nebraska but if there are additional needs that my customers had prior to the acquisition, we can fulfill those needs now.”
Monke is a fourth-generation seedsman who follows in the footsteps of his great-grandfather who started the family seed business in 1935.
“On your global entry report [when you travel], it asks ‘how long have you been with the company?’ I put 1986 because that’s the year I was born, and that’s basically my start date in the seed industry,” he says.
The long-term personal and family commitment added weight to the decision to move under the Agrality banner, he adds.
“From detassling, to the research portion of owning a brand, to then becoming president and CEO of a company, it does mean a lot. There’s a lot of lineage and education that go along with that, which makes the decision to partner with a company like Agrality that much more special.”
While NIS’ customers won’t feel much change from Agrality’s acquisition of the company, Monke says the move offers important benefits to customers.
“We can offer the same values, the same vision, the same morals — all the same services and scope — but now on a global level. It’s about thinking globally, acting locally,” he says.
