Highlights From ARA Conference Keynotes And Breakout Speakers
On Wednesday, the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) concluded its first full day of the 2022 ARA Conference & Expo with more than 600 ag retail industry professionals in attendance.
The opening general session keynote speaker and geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan shared his message on World of the Future to bring attendees up-to-date developments from the Russia-Ukraine war and what it all means for us as Americans, for the global industry of agriculture, and for US-based farmers.
“Our industry cannot escape the impact of the war in Ukraine and other geopolitical events, so it was necessary we started today off with an update from a top geopolitical expert like Peter Zeihan,” says ARA President & CEO Daren Coppock. “While we are already experiencing challenges stemming from the conflict, it was eye-opening to hear more about what the future may hold for agriculture.”
Later in the day Margy Eckelkamp, editor of The Scoop, and Brett Sciotto, founder & CEO of Aimpoint Research®, took the main stage to share their keynote message, Farmer of the Future. They shared new research findings from Aimpoint and Farm Journal that shed light on who our future farmer-customer will be and how they will drive changes in ag retail.
“As trends like consolidation and technological innovation continue to change the dynamics in our industry, we must be looking ahead to collect the critical tools and knowledge needed to meet the needs of farmers for years to come,” says ARA Board Chair Ian McGregor with The McGregor Company.
After the general session concluded, the new Expo Live theater premiered with three back-to-back energetic presentations from ICL Growing Solutions, Taranis, and Esri. ARA’s Expo Live is an energizing approach to discovering the newest innovations in products, technologies, and services available to the ag retail industry.
Later in the afternoon, attendees participated in two breakout sessions. The first was a panel focused on Technology of the Future, featuring industry leaders from AgVend, TELUS Agriculture, Raven Industries, Upstream Ag Insights, Bushel, and Prassack Advisors. Panelists candidly discussed what new innovations might come from other industries to agriculture, and what might ag retailers be doing in 5 or 10 years that we have not yet started.
Peter Zeihan continued his message from this morning in a second breakout session to answer questions about the root of developments as they relate to ag retailers specifically.
The day concluded with another networking reception in the Expo to encourage relationship building across the industry and to showcase the leading products, services and programs.
