Considering Customer Concerns

One of the primary goals for any business to survive and thrive is to know what its customers want and need. It’s for this reason that I really enjoy attending the annual Commodity Classic show each year. While many of the events I attend each year give me great insights into the minds of ag retailers and agricultural market suppliers, the Commodity Classic is one of the few shows that allows me to find out what the growers are worried about.

One of the places where the spotlight shines squarely on the growers is the annual AgVocacy Forum. Hosted by Bayer CropScience, this gathering typically looks at topics near and dear to the hearts and motivations of the grower community. Each forum, one of the highlights is a panel of growers from across the country talking about their anticipated concerns and challenges during the upcoming season.

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To say the comments from the 2017 growers panel were eye-opening — and a little scary — would be an understatement. By way of an introduction, David Hollinrake, Vice President of North America Marketing, Crop Science for Bayer, told attendees what he’s been hearing from his friends in the grower community as they prepare for 2017. “Growers want to get more yield from their crops and save a couple of pennies in the process,” said Hollinrake. “But there’s not been a farmer I’ve talked to who is glee about the prospects for 2017.”

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Deb Gangwish, Co-Owner of PG Farms, Inc. in Nebraska, agreed that 2017 is looking less than stellar. “This ag economy is killing us!” said Gangwish. “I’m looking at moving into specialty crops and trying to think outside the box to get some return on investment again. This is the toughest economic outlook I’ve ever seen.”

Furthermore, she was disappointed to see the U.S. pull out of trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. “We need to start doing new trade deals yesterday,” said Gangwish. “We farmers can’t wait for new markets to open up for us to sell our crops to.”

Another grower from New Mexico, Jay Hill of Hill Farms and Wholesome Valley Farms, noted his biggest challenge going into 2017 ties back to labor. “I could buy an automatic picking machine for my peppers that would replace 60 workers and could pay for itself in six months, but I need these people to hand pick some of my other crops,” said Hill. “So I don’t get the machine and end up each year digging a little deeper into my pocket to pay them instead.”

Because of these factors, and the prospect for continued low commodity prices throughout the next few years, many growers now find themselves taking on more debt than in the past. All this tells me that ag retailers will probably have to work extra hard in 2017 to help their grower-customers get as much yield and profit out of their fields as possible. Otherwise, the alternative is likely to be fewer customers to service.

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