CropLife Retail Week: New Ag Secretary, Unmanned Drone News, and Remembering De Willard

Eric Sfiligoj and Lara Sowinski talk about the incoming Secretary of Agriculture, a new drone, and a long-time ag retail pioneer.

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*Below is a partial and edited transcript:

Eric Sfiligoj: Hello. Welcome to another edition of CropLife Retail Week. I’m Eric Sfiligoj, editor of CropLife. I’m here again with Lara Sowinski. Having survived our Thanksgiving and Black Fridays. How are you doing, Lara?

Lara Sowinski: I’m doing well, thank you. How about you?

ES: I am, I am doing good myself. Yes. Actually, ain’t too much, shopped too much, and, now ready to decorate for Christmas, which I know my son always pushes me to decorate early, but I insist on at least getting through Thanksgiving before I let him put the tree up so.

LS: Well that’s good. You probably have your work cut out for you, though.

ES: I actually mostly, again, being a teenager, I let him do most of the work. I just, I help him get the stuff upstairs, and then he decorates as he sees fit. So it could be interesting since he’s a teenager this year. That’s good.

LS: Well, good. Put on some Christmas music and a little bit of eggnog.

ES: Yes, actually, he does love eating. He discovered that a few Christmases ago. So that is a regular part of the refrigerator, fair this time of year. So. Good. Good deal. Yeah. So, hey, just talking about some things and news. Of course, we did have the election for president.

Not quite a month ago. And president elect Donald Trump is getting ready to come back into office in January. And he’s been naming members of his cabinet to head up the various key departments in the US government. And one of the nominees, of course, people in agriculture paying attention to or, of course, is the secretary of ag, very important role right now.

Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. But Donald Trump is nominated a woman by the name of Brooke Rollins to be the next secretary of ag in his administration. And what little I was able to find out her, she’s a lawyer from Texas, which is, of course, where you are. She is 52 years old and a graduate of Texas A&M and a former member of the Future Farmers of America.

So again, she does have some agricultural background. And I know that, the emails I’ve been getting, over the last couple of days have been coming from the National Corn Growers Association, American Soybean Association, all congratulating her on getting the nomination and all saying they’re looking forward to working with her. And if, if things stay like they normally do, probably when you and I are attending the Commodity Classic in March, in 2025, we will get to hear Miss Rollins talking in person to the assembled attendees at that event.

LS: Yeah, that sounds good. How, how far up does Commodity Classic typically announce their keynote? You would know better than me.

ES: Well, they always they always invite the secretary of agriculture, and it’s usually a matter of their schedules if they can attend in person or if they have to video conference in from Washington DC. But I think the last few years, if I remember right, they have had the secretary in person.

So it’s sort of a tradition, and I suspect that if, if Brooke Rollins is confirmed that we will see her in Denver come March, that’s a good, good deal. All right, so, hey, I guess you have some news to share on the technology side, so I’ll kick it to you.

LS: Yeah. We’ve been, talking about drone technology and just how it continually improves and new advancements and such.

And, a recent announcement from New Hampshire based Rotor Technologies. And, I look them up because I wasn’t familiar with them. So Rotor AI is their website. They’re the manufacturer of the largest spray drone in the world. And the announcement, indicated they’re partnering with Canada’s ag nav to bring automated aerial application to, Rotor’s Spray Hawk unmanned helicopter.

The photos are pretty cool. Looks like a helicopter. Just a smaller scale version. So, according to the announcement, the two companies have demonstrated an integrated automated aerial application system that allows users to fly Rotor’s Spray Hawk Ag UAV, which has a 110-gallon capacity. It’s an unmanned Robinson helicopter, and it uses guide gear, platinum navigation system.

So, this, the system and the collaboration between the two companies, will be available on Rotor’s 2025 Spray Hawk. And, the Spray Hawk will be equipped with advanced navigation and flow control technology as standard, including the variable rate spray control equipment on board with the Gear Platinum Navigation Terminal in the ground control station.

So, yeah, pretty cool. Again, this I was watching a couple of YouTube videos, the, the demo of the Spray Hawk. I let’s see one other item here. Yeah. The the input cost. Let’s see, ab mission. And that’s the planning software that, nav uses. So add mission enables sprayers to create safe and efficient spray patterns for any type of field input custom settings to build operations to their specific needs, and use advanced data analysis on past jobs and spray routes.

So that’s pretty cool. In fact, I did circle back with them. Somebody from Rotor, they were exhibiting, in mid November at the National Agriculture Agricultural Aviation Association in Fort Worth. But he said he’s going to be, on this and a road show, throughout the remainder of the year. And early next year, they’re going to be nearby in El Paso.

So I may be able to see a demo or talk, talk to them, find out a bit more, but, kind of cool. You know, just a little not surprising, but, you know, we definitely plan to, include drones as part of our Tech Hub LIVE show in 2025. Kind of the latest and greatest. And this is, just one more announcement, an example of, what’s happening with drone technology.

Bigger, better, more capacity, all that good stuff. So it’ll be good. Hopefully. Besides the road show, maybe we’ll see those folks exhibiting at Tech Hub LIVE next July, because it would be great, you know. Yeah. To see a demonstration. And, at our event there in Des Moines, Iowa, come, the 21st of July, I believe so, yeah.

ES: Well, speaking of shows, just have to give a plug because in next week, our staff, the CropLife group will be attending the annual Agricultural Retailers Association meeting taking place in Houston, Texas, in your home state again? Boy, we’re just talking about Texas a lot. That takes place December 3rd to the 5th downtown at the Marriott.

This year it’s a little different. Normally, the ARA event would always start with, like, reception on the exhibit floor. The first night Tuesday. But this year they change it up a little bit. And actually, there’s a keynote address taking place on Tuesday. And Darren Coppock, the head of ARA, is going to give the association an update that evening as well, starting around 3:00, I believe, Houston time.

So if you’re coming to the event, plan to be there a little earlier than normal because there will be sessions taking place Tuesday afternoon, and then I know there are other sessions taking place throughout the event. One was talking about carbon credits, and another is going to be talking about the, governmental and regulatory changes that may happen now that we have an administration coming into play in 2025.

So again, check out ARADC.org for information on the event if you want to attend. And if you cannot make it, then watch our future videos. I’m sure I’ll have a video clip or two. I’ll take it the event, and I’ll be able to share the highlights with our viewers of what was said, by whom, and what was important.

So, hey, now I have to end a little bit on a sober note. We have another, another sad, tidbit to share with our viewers. I am sorry to report that, long ag retailer known to us in the industry, De Willard has passed away.

De Passed away on November 13th at the age of 93. For those in the industry, Willard was the founder of what was Willard Chemical back in 1970 and eventually is now known as Willard Agro Service, which is a very big retailer in the on the East Coast, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, new Jersey and Virginia and, you know, he and I met him a couple of times at various events, I think an ERA probably back in the day.

He was a colorful character. My own recollection of De is the thing I remember most about him is, of course, every year he did the CropLife 100, send out the forms, and again back in the days to send them out by regular mail. But I’d send them up by email.

Didn’t matter how I sent them to De when De was filling out Willard AG was services CropLife 100 form. He always used an IBM Selectric typewriter to fill in the form, because the lining would not line up correctly, and there’d be whiteout in the forms for some of the sales figures. And I just I always loved getting his forms back.

And of course, he mailed them to me regular mail as well. So, De was definitely a character. Very memorable, but never apparently used the computer. I always loved that IBM Selectric, so, That’s great. I it’s a good story. Yeah. So our hearts go out to Bob Willard and the family for their loss. But, rest assured, he will be remembered by many of us who knew him fondly.