By Taj Bradley

Copyright startribune

In an interview edited for clarity and length, Anderson talked earlier this summer all about ag retail.

So I actually joined here in a technology role and have rotated across lots of different parts of the business. I got to be out across the United States with dairy producers who welcomed me into their homes, welcomed me into their barns, let me meet their cows and their kids, and fed me lunch.

That was the first time I started getting deeply connected to what it is that we’re doing here, in terms of the obligation we have to help farmers and producers thrive. And not only them but really their communities they’re living and working in as well. It gets personal quickly when you know that the decisions you’re making are impacting someone’s farm, someone’s family, someone’s community. Not only is it personal, they own us.

Ag retailers right now are navigating a lot of the same challenges as farmers. They’re trying really hard to make sure they’re bringing them value and differentiated insights to help the growers make the best decisions right now, because every penny that growers spend matters because profitability is so challenged.

So I would say our retailers are still looking for help from us. You know, one area that’s been an interesting one for us to help them with is around their labor challenge. It’s hard to recruit talent into rural communities, and then it’s hard to retain and develop talent and skill them up. We said, well, if that’s one of the top problems we hear about from the general managers of these ag retailers, how can we help?

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