The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) represents the people who supply farmers and ranchers with the products and services they need to produce food, fiber, and fuel for the world. Many members are also farmers who sell seeds, nutrients, crop protection products, farm equipment, precision technology and agronomic services, so ARA has a strong interest in educating the public so those tools remain available for farmers to use.

That is why ARA became involved with the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) from the start and communications director Brian Reuwee says it is well worth it for them.

“It provides us such a great opportunity to educate the public and inform consumers about agriculture’s story in a way that our organization can’t do on its own,” said Reuwee. “We’re not making a multi-million dollar investment in USFRA, but we feel a multi-million dollar impact of the work that they do because of our small contribution to be part of it.”

Reuwee says they especially appreciate USFRA’s focus on sustainability issues such as water and pesticide application and the SMART Farm concept. “Retailers are looking for ways to help their farmers implement precision ag technologies, be better stewards of the land, be more sustainable,” he said. “There’s a great role for retailers to play in promoting that message and telling agriculture’s story.”

Learn more about why ARA is USFRA in this interview: Interview with Brian Reuwee, Ag Retailers Association