Latest News From Retail Management

<p>New Century FS Floater</p>
Iowa Retailer Finds Blueprint for Successful Expansions

Floaters sitting idle in the field coupled with an unnecessarily slow and inefficient process to load fertilizer at the warehouse were catalysts for change at New Century FS.

Electronic Logging Device Regulations Just Ahead
Electronic Logging Device Regulations Just Ahead

December 18, 2017 is the compliance deadline for the Electronic Logging Device installation requirement.

Ohio River Closed Again as Water Levels Rise
Ohio River Closed Again as Water Levels Rise

Traffic along the Ohio River is seeing major hurdles this harvest season.

AgPro Podcast: CHS Says 4R Management Is Proactive And the Right Thing To Do
AgPro Podcast: CHS Says 4R Management Is Proactive And the Right Thing To Do

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

AgPro Podcast: MFA Steps Up Its Approach to The Right Rate and 4R Management
AgPro Podcast: MFA Steps Up Its Approach to The Right Rate and 4R Management

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

AgPro Podcast: Verdesian Life Sciences Tells The 4R Advantage for Retailers
AgPro Podcast: Verdesian Life Sciences Tells The 4R Advantage for Retailers

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

States Ask Applicators About Dicamba
States Ask Applicators About Dicamba

As the industry searches for the right solution for in-season dicamba some states are turning back to the users and applicators to find what they think is happening.

<p>At its annual Summer Education Week, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) dedicated an entire day’s workshop to help members leverage disruptive technology.</p>
Farm Managers Embrace Disruptive Technologies

At its annual Summer Education Week, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) dedicated an entire day’s workshop to help members leverage disruptive technology.

<p>In a talent-deficient market, employers are faced to do more with less. In a recent study, Ag 1 Source looked at how to align, strengthen and maximize personnel given these current economic circumstances.</p>
Tool Aligns Teams and Performance In A Talent-Deficient Market

In a talent-deficient market, employers are faced to do more with less. In a recent study, Ag 1 Source looked at how to align, strengthen and maximize personnel given these current economic circumstances.

How to Manage Harvest Stress
How to Manage Harvest Stress

Your mind and body are irreplaceable. Use these tips to make sure you’re caring for them effectively, even when it feels like you don’t have time.

Harvest 2017 Marks a 25 Year Milestone for Precision Ag
Harvest 2017 Marks a 25 Year Milestone for Precision Ag

This year is the silver anniversary of the first commercial combine yield monitor hitting the market. For all intents and purposes, that technology’s introduction marked the beginning of “precision agriculture.”

Bayer Delays Monsanto Acquisition
Bayer Delays Monsanto Acquisition

Bayer officials no longer expect their planned $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto to close at the end of 2017, saying instead it should close early 2018, according to Dow Jones.

Growmark Unveils Application Simulator
Growmark Unveils Application Simulator

To help train FS System operators, Growmark has developed an application simulator, which is located at the company's learning center in Bloomington, Ill.   Growmark aims to train 1,000 applicators over the next three

The Andersons Supports Agrible's Latest Funding Round
The Andersons Supports Agrible's Latest Funding Round

Agrible, the Champaign, Illinois startup offering a suite of decision support software tools for farmers as well as sustainability tracking for food brands, has raised $9.7 million of a $15.7 million Series B round of f

Pinnacle Agriculture Names Robert Marchbank President and CEO

Pinnacle Operating Corporation has named Robert Marchbank President and Chief Executive Officer. In this role, Marchbank will lead Pinnacle's agriculture retail and wholesale distribution businesses across 27 states. 

Retailers Respond With Resilience
Retailers Respond With Resilience

Amid today’s challenges, retailers are investing in their businesses and realizing their important role in the marketplace, particularly in regard to the seed business. “In the context of seed, the retailer is the p

Bayer Partners with 4-H to Promote STEM Education
Bayer Partners with 4-H to Promote STEM Education

About 26 million science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related jobs go unfulfilled each year. Many students lose interest in these subjects as they enter middle school, and this year Bayer teamed up with 4-H

Agrium Buys 20 Southern States Locations for CPS
Agrium Buys 20 Southern States Locations for CPS

Agrium Inc. has entered a binding purchase agreement between its Crop Production Services (CPS) ag-retail business and Southern States Cooperative, Inc. The acquisition will include 20 Southern States’ retail location

AGCO and Precision Planting Deal is Done
AGCO and Precision Planting Deal is Done

In an open letter to AGCO employees and dealers, farmers and the ag industry, Eric Hansotia, Senior Vice President at AGCO announced that the company has closed its purchase of Precision Planting from the Climate Corpor

Plan Your Schedule for Work-Life Balance
Plan Your Schedule for Work-Life Balance

Balancing career and family is hard for any professional, but ag professionals often find themselves in an especially pressurized situation. With field work literally surrounding you, what are the best ways to ensure th

Registration Opens for Ag Retailer Day Slated for August 1
Registration Opens for Ag Retailer Day Slated for August 1

Join Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie and team for a series of hands-on, cutting-edge agronomic sessions at the 2017 AgPro Retailer Day. This information-packed event features a combination of classroom and in-f

Asmark, AGCO Open Training Center for Beginning Applicators
Asmark, AGCO Open Training Center for Beginning Applicators

Asmark and AGCO have opened a new Applicator Training Center, created in a collaboration between the two organizations. The specially designed facility located in Bloomington, Ill., is the home of the new Applicator Tra

The Andersons on How They Give Back to Communities
The Andersons on How They Give Back to Communities

How does your business give back to the community? What is the one initiative of which you are most proud? – By Pam Fretwell Julie PayeffMaumee, OhioCommunity CommitmentManager, The Andersons Listen here.

Do You Have What it Takes?
Do You Have What it Takes?

The world needs more soil and water conservationists. The world needs more entrepreneurs. But what if the world had more entrepreneurial soil and water conservationists? 

Industry Voices: How Retailers Give Back to Communities, CHS

How does your business give back to the community? What is the one initiative of which you are most proud? – By Pam Fretwell   Nanci Lilja Inver Grove Heights, Minn. President, CHS Foundation Listen here. 

Empower, Train and Show Your Employees How to Be Successful
Empower, Train and Show Your Employees How to Be Successful

Today’s selling environment can be tough. “When we are in uncertain times, there is great pressure for businesses to reduce costs,” says Linda Sowers, an instructor of ag economics at the University of Missouri. B

Reasons Why Cooperatives Are Merging

The latest uptick in ag cooperative mergers is pitting perception and reality against each another. Ag cooperatives formed as a tool for local farmers to pool together and gain better business scale in both buying and s

Retailers Stand Up For Safety With ResponsibleAg

Six years ago the team at CHS in Marshall, Minn., made a big investment in time and resources to get all of their processes and facilities in compliance with regulations. In January, they found out there was still some

Industry Voices: How Retailers Give Back to Communities, Landus Cooperative
Industry Voices: How Retailers Give Back to Communities, Landus Cooperative

How does your business give back to the community? What is the one initiative of which you are most proud? – By Pam Fretwell   Alicia Heun Ames, Iowa Communications Director, Landus Cooperative    

Management Training In Music City
Management Training In Music City

Build more rapport with your customers at the Tomorrow’s Top Producer conference July 20–21 in Nashville, Tenn. The event, hosted by Top Producer, a sister publication of AgPro, is geared toward producers 40 and you

How to Ensure Terminations Don't Negatively Impact Remaining Team Members
How to Ensure Terminations Don't Negatively Impact Remaining Team Members

We’ve all heard of unexpected firings and poorly handled layoffs. The latest example was about as high-profile as it gets: When President Donald Trump fired the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James

How Farmers Seek Collaborative, Not Competitive, Retailers
How Farmers Seek Collaborative, Not Competitive, Retailers

It’s a scenario farmers face almost every season—the production plan that looked so solid in the farm office last January won’t work in the field now in May. And it needs adjusting. That was the situation this spr

Identify Top-Performing Sales People Before You Make the Investment
Identify Top-Performing Sales People Before You Make the Investment

A recent Salesforce.com study found a 58% increase in organizations integrating predictive analytics to measure and grow sales. If you can measure who is most likely to perform in a role, then how might that affect hiri

A Look at Side-Wall and Pinch-Row Compaction
A Look at Side-Wall and Pinch-Row Compaction

2017 has been a “wet” spring for planting which also can cause compaction issues; side-wall and pinch-row compaction. Compaction of any kind can lead to emergence issues and possible yield loss. Identifying compacti

Empathy is OK; Encouraging your Team is Better
Empathy is OK; Encouraging your Team is Better

The wrong approach to empathy and encouragement validates poor performance, frustrates leaders, and hinders teams. Encouragement is better than empathy. Responsible failure calls for empathy and encouragement. Empathy

Pinnacle Plans President and CEO Transition

Pinnacle Operating Corporation (“Pinnacle”) announced today that Kenny Cordell will be stepping down from his role as President and Chief Executive Officer in the coming months. After the transition is complete, Mr.

Be Recognized Among the Best: Apply for Retailer of the Year
Be Recognized Among the Best: Apply for Retailer of the Year

Wanted: Innovative, tech-savvy, environmentally conscious and community-minded ag retailer with outstanding employees and a solid track record. Must be able to build and maintain customer, industry and community relatio

ARA: Strategic Decision Making Boils Down to Discipline About Assumptions
ARA: Strategic Decision Making Boils Down to Discipline About Assumptions

Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan, in their seminal 1995 piece titled “Discovery-Driven Planning” in the Harvard Business Review, identified the key components to making decisions when faced with a great dea

2017 AgPro Salary Survey

Conducted in March 2017, AgPro’s 18th annual Salary Survey had respondents who hold management positions from 38 states. The survey was developed to give retailers insights about the salary and ben-efits provided to a

Agricultural Networking for Career Growth
Agricultural Networking for Career Growth

Networking may be top-of-mind in the job search process, as a principal connector for candidates and employers. But networking is imperative for overall career and personal growth too. Furthermore, if a company wants to

6 Practices To Create A Safety-Conscious Culture
6 Practices To Create A Safety-Conscious Culture

Two file cabinets, one red, the other yellow, stand along an open wall in J.R. Simplot’s office in Fresno, Calif. They are a silent testament to Paul Simpson’s ever-vigilant attention to details, both large and smal

Think About This: Consider The Care Factor
Think About This: Consider The Care Factor

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot, and hold on.” I know from talking with retailers during the past few weeks that some of you are practicing your knot-tying about now, as

Why Diagnostics can be Expensive
Why Diagnostics can be Expensive

In the Shop As a farm machinery mechanic and writer, Dan Anderson brings a hands-on approach that only a pro can muster. Along with his In the Shop blog, Dan writes a column by the same name as well as the Shop Series

Wheat streak mosaic virus confirmed in Montana fields
Wheat streak mosaic virus confirmed in Montana fields

Farmers in Montana and Canada are already watching disease pressure in winter wheat, as reports of wheat streak mosaic virus have already been confirmed. Symptoms in the fall are unusual, but weather conditions are a la

Weed control strategies in grain sorghum
Weed control strategies in grain sorghum

Severe grass and broadleaf weed pressure will reduce grain sorghum yields and can make harvest very difficult. Good crop rotation and herbicide selection are essential components of managing weeds in grain sorghum. Cont

Use These Nine Important Leadership Qualities
Use These Nine Important Leadership Qualities

None of these qualities involves rocket science, but they can all pay dividends many times over.

USDA pegs U.S. winter wheat seedings at six-year low
USDA pegs U.S. winter wheat seedings at six-year low

U.S. farmers planted the smallest number of acres to winter wheat since 2010, and plantings of one class, hard red winter wheat, were the lowest in at least 30 years, according to government data released on Tuesday.

USDA forecasts record-high corn and soybean production in 2016
USDA forecasts record-high corn and soybean production in 2016

Both U.S. corn and soybean growers are expected to harvest record-high crops this year, according to the Crop Production report issued today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics