Ag Retailers Face Challenges on Federal Level
CropLife editor Eric Sfiligoj has a Fireside Chat with ARA CEO Daren Coppock
Coppock says one of the bigger issues is the impact the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report released in May could have on the agricultural industry as a whole. “We’re all watching and trying to to contain that as best we can so that it doesn’t become something where it impedes our ability to produce food. That’s a fundamental economic benefit in our country that we take for granted, and if we do something to upset that cart, people are going to be hungry and it’ll be too late,” he said.
ARA said when the report was issued that the conclusions in it regarding pesticides contradict longstanding scientific research and fail to acknowledge the critical role pesticides play in ensuring food security and public health.
Coppock also noted that the Trump Administration approach to trade agreements over the past few months has created a lot of uncertainty within the ag retailer business. “We operate in a very global supply chain business. And so we’ve been over to the White House to visit with people and say, look, you can’t operate a business like this in a global supply chain when you don’t know from one day to the next what tariff rates going to be on a particular product,” said Coppock.
The One Big Beautiful Bill did contain some beneficial provisions for agriculture and gave some certainty for some farm bill provisions. “There were there were a number of tax provisions in that bill that we supported. We are also we’re very interested in the extension of the farm bill policies that they moved. I wish it could have been done in a farm bill. I think Chairman Thompson wishes the same thing. But the fact that the farmers have some some stability now to plan their operations, their bankers have some stability to be able to finance those operations. That’s a huge deal to get done in that in that bill.”
Learn more in this interview:
Daren Coppock, ARA (5:52)
Tech Hub LIVE Farmer Panel Hits Home Run
L-R: Tanner Winterhof, April Hemmes, Jeremy Muff, Tanner Knupp
Moderated by Farm4Profit Podcast co-host Tanner Winterhof, the panel included three innovative Iowa farmers: April Hemmes, Hemmes Farms in Hampton, Iowa; Tanner Knupp, Knupp Farms in Southeast Iowa; and Jeremy Muff, C & JM Farms, western Iowa. Winterhof grew up on a family farm in northwest Iowa. “But ultimately I don’t make any or very many of the decisions. So I’m excited to talk to these real farmers today, not ones that just play farmers on a podcast like myself,” he said.
April Hemmes, who received this year’s Ag Tech Visionary Farmer of the Year Award, is the full-time farmer on her 1,000 acre operation while her husband works off the farm. “So I got what I call a farming husband – my fertilizer and chemical guy. I went that way purely because of the service I got,” April said when she was asked about how she makes her input buying decisions. “It is a relationship business.”
Service was a common theme echoed by the farmers when it came to who got their business. Muff, who shocked the audience with his introduction when he said he just traded in all of his Case equipment for John Deere, said it came down to service. “I don’t know if we got tractors that were built in COVID or what, but we just seem to have a ton of breakdowns and we just weren’t getting the best service for repairs and finally, just made the switch,” said Muff. “We knew the technology was probably ahead of Case, it was the price that was holding us back. But after a while, you know, breakdowns cost money too, even if it’s warrantied, it’s still your downtime. So that was that was the main reason.”
Knupp said trust is most important for him. “Work with people that you trust. Number one is profit,” he said. “And at the end of the day, every farm is going to be different. So, working with your farm, your fields, your tile guys, your chemical guys, your seed guys work, work within yourself. Quit worrying about what the neighbors doing.”
Listen to their candid conversation here:
THL Farmer Panel (37:20)
House Ag Chair Addresses Peanut Growers
During the Southern Peanut Growers Conference, Congressman G.T. Thompson, House Ag Chair, participated in today’s general session. He talked about the farm bill which he described as provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill as version 1.0. He talks about the process and what these provisions mean to farmers and particularly peanut growers. He also met with several ag media who asks questions.
Congressman G.T. Thompson Remarks
Remarks from G.T. Thompson (29:57)
Congressman G.T. Thompson Press Conference with media
Remarks from G.T. Thompson (12:00)
Successful Tech Hub LIVE 2025 Concludes
The fifth annual Tech Hub LIVE Conference and Expo wrapped up another hugely successful event this week, ensuring they will be back again next year in Des Moines.
The exhibit hall was packed this year with the latest and greatest in ag technology, including an impressive group of companies who were honored for being there all five years: AgVend, DTN, EarthDaily, Ever.Ag Agribusiness, Growers Edge, AgWorks/FieldReveal by McGregor Technologies, Midwest Laboraties, Praxidyn, Ranch Systems, Inc., Razor Tracking, SoilView, LLC, Software Solutions Integrated, Taranis, Inc., TELUS, and Waypoint Analytical.
One of the newer exhibitors this year, and the biggest on the floor, was Emergent Connext, creating wireless solutions for the ag industry. “If your entire farm isn’t covered, then your technology doesn’t work,” said CEO Mike Roudi. “We make the internet access that tech solutions require to be effective.”
Roudi says they had a very small presence last year at THL but went really big this year to highlight some of their partners at the show and tell their story and they had a very good response.
Mike Roudi, CEO, Emergent Connex (4:09)
AI was a topic that came up in nearly every session and breakout at the conference. The final general session on Tuesday, retailers weighed in on what’s working, what’s missing, and what still needs to be built when it comes to AI for agriculture. Aman Anand with Nutrien Ag Solutions is very optimistic about the three A approach that AI brings to farming. “Acquisition of data, analysis of that data, and finally creating actionable insights,” said Anand, who received the new Emerging Leader Ag Tech Excellence Award this year. “It will change farmers’ lives.”
Anand serves on the advisory board for Tech Hub LIVE and says the conference is needed for all aspects of the agtech industry. “It should be applicable to everyone,” he said. “Our goal is that everyone in the ag value chain will get benefit from it.”
2025 Ag Tech Award winner Aman Anand (6:16)
Tech Hub LIVE was pleased to have the generous sponsorship of a variety of industry partners, many of whom have provided support for many years. Scott Cogdill is currently Director of Business Development for Agworld, which was registration sponsor this year, but Scott has been supporting Tech Hub LIVE since the beginning and helped to form the direction of the conference. “I think it’s done a really good job keeping it to what is commercially viable,” said Cogdill. “It is one of the best opportunities to truly get together as an industry.”
Scott Cogdill, Agworld (8:08)
Thanks to all of the partners and sponsors, including: The Greater Des Moines Partnership, Agri-Access, Agri Spray Drones, Agworld, BioConnect Iowa, Ever.Ag, Solentra, Carlton Fields, EarthDaily, Faegre Drinker, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Farm4Profit, People of Ag, Agribusiness Association of Iowa (AAI), Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), Iowa Ag Expo.
There were nearly 70 exhibitors, five general sessions, 9 breakout sessions, 21 Tech Talks and 15 Fireside Chats at THL this year, plus the Women in Ag Tech pre-event conference and the post-conference Spray Drones and Ag Retail workshop. It was a busy and very successful conference for all.
Industry Ag News 7/25
Dr. Issac “Nealy” Barrett, Jr. | Alabama Farmer of the Year 2025;
Jeremy Allen | Arkansas Farmer of the Year 2025;
James “Jim” Alderman | Florida Farmer of the Year 2025;
Kent Hamilton | Georgia Farmer of the Year 2025;
David “Harrell” Overman | North Carolina Farmer of the Year 2025;
Jeff Wilson | South Carolina Farmer of the Year 2025;
and Steve Hopkins | Virginia Farmer of the Year 2025.
Alltech Gets USDA Grant for Biological Fertilizer Production
Alltech’s Dr. Steve Borst makes announcement with Gov. Beshear
Located on the campus of Alltech’s global headquarters in Nicholasville, Kentucky, this state-of-the-art facility — ACS’s first U.S. production plant dedicated solely to crop science — will produce more than 66,000 gallons of biological fertilizers per shift per month and create six new full-time jobs. Made with beneficial microorganisms, biofertilizers improve soil fertility, stimulate root development, enhance nutrient uptake and support a healthier soil microbiome. These biological solutions offer farmers an environmentally responsible alternative to traditional chemical fertilizers, helping reduce reliance on synthetic inputs.
“This USDA grant is a major step forward for farmers seeking natural, science-based solutions,” said Dr. Steve Borst, vice president of Alltech Crop Science. “By expanding our production capabilities here in Kentucky, we are investing in our local economy, providing farmers with high-quality biological solutions that improve soil and crops and contributing to a more resilient agricultural system.”
Steve Borst, Alltech Crop Science (1:15)Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the expansion project on Thursday.
“Kentucky’s manufacturing and agriculture sectors have been crucial in contributing to our state’s recent economic momentum,” said Gov. Beshear. “We continue to see global companies like Alltech invest and reinvest in the commonwealth and our communities, providing quality jobs for Kentuckians. I want to thank Alltech’s leaders for their years of commitment and investment in Kentucky and congratulate the company on receiving this award from the USDA. I look forward to seeing Alltech’s successful expansion in Nicholasville.”
Peanut Association Executive Directors Talk About the Crop
Peanut growers and industry representatives from Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi and now South Carolina are in Panama City Beach, FL this week for the 2025 Southern Peanut Growers Conference. You can find the conference blog here.
Leaders of the state organizations, pictured here, gave us an update on the condition of their crops this year and what they peanut farmers are expecting as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been passed.
Listen to comments from each state director below.
Interview with Libbie Johnson, Executive Director, Alabama Peanut Producers Association
Interview with Libbie Johnson (1:53)
Interview with Brittany Greene, Executive Director, Florida Peanut Producers Association
Interview with Brittany Greene (2:40)
Interview with Don Koehler, Executive Director, Georgia Peanut Commission
Interview with Don Koehler (5:31)
Interview with Malcolm Broome, Executive Director, Mississippi Peanut Growers Association
Interview with Malcolm Broome (2:14)
Interview with Katharine Helms, Executive Director, South Carolina Peanut Board
Interview with Katherine Helms (2:43)
Agri-Access Supports Tech Hub LIVE and Women in Ag Tech
Kelly Miller and Courtney Zimmerman of Agri-Access display one of the blankets they gave attendees at the WiAT meeting
Kelly Miller, Director of Agtech and Retail, says Women in Ag Tech is really important to them because women are a major part of agriculture, both on the ag tech side and on the farm. “We are both places and we want to make sure that we have a really good presence of that so Women in Ag Tech is really important to us as well as Tech Hub LIVE. We have a lot of our partners here and we want to make sure that we can show up and help sponsor this great event.”
Miller led a panel at the WiAT conference on the role of ag tech in farm credit and crop insurance, and she also gave a presentation on innovation during the Tech Hub LIVE conference. “I love talking about innovation because it’s really one of my passions alongside of agriculture,” said Miller, who outlined three keys of innovation in any organization.
“The top three are making sure that you are in a good space from a profitability standpoint to be able to innovate. The second one, make sure it aligns with your strategy and number three have fun and be creative with your innovating within your organization.”
Listen to an interview with Miller here:
Kelly Miller, Agri Access (6:45)
Precision Ag News 7/24
