As ag retailers struggle to fill open roles and prepare the next generation of leaders, Purdue University economist Trey Malone says the key question is not simply where to find people. It is this: What is the thing that makes your organization hard to replicate?
That question sits at the center of the “make versus buy” framework now gaining attention across agribusiness. For ag retailers, it offers a practical way to think about one of the industry’s biggest ongoing challenges: whether to develop talent internally, recruit it from outside, borrow expertise where possible, or automate lower-value work.
Labor availability remains a top concern in ag retail. At the same time, the traditional talent pipeline is narrowing, job demands are becoming more complex, and many retailers are trying to balance immediate hiring needs with long-term leadership development.
Citing USDA employment opportunities data, Malone says the broader agrifood industry is short roughly 100,000 agribusiness graduates each year relative to demand, part of a talent gap that has persisted for decades.
“I think a lot of agribusinesses spend all their energy trying to find the right hire and much less energy on trying to solve problems with the people they already have,” Malone says.
Start With the “Crown Jewels”
Malone says the value of the make-versus-buy framework is that it forces businesses to identify what is most essential to their competitive advantage.
“What I like about the make versus buy framework here is that it forces you to really understand what your company’s ‘crown jewel’ is,” he says. “What is the thing that makes your organization hard to replicate? Hiring decisions are a lot easier if you actually know that.”
He puts it even more bluntly: “You don’t want to outsource your crown jewels.”
For ag retailers, those “crown jewels” may include trusted customer relationships, localized agronomic insight, technical credibility, and the ability to turn recommendations into profitable on-farm decisions. If a role is closely tied to those strengths, Malone’s argument suggests it may make more sense to build that talent internally and protect the culture and knowledge that already exist inside the business.
There’s a deep dive into this subject on the latest episode of the Agribusiness Blueprint Podcast.
Why the Old Hiring Model Is Breaking Down
Malone says ag retail can no longer rely on the old assumption that someone with an agricultural background can be brought in, trained informally, and turned into a long-term leader.
“The traditional model was essentially to ‘borrow’ instead of making or buying,” he says. “The hiring strategy was to find someone who grew up wanting to farm, assume their company’s culture would do the training, and hope they would stay.”
That approach is becoming less reliable.
“The ‘ag background’ pipeline isn’t working as it used to, so retailers now have to decide how they’re going to develop their talent,” Malone says.
For many ag retailers, that means choosing how much to invest in the agronomists, salespeople and branch-level employees already on staff versus continuing to recruit from an increasingly limited outside pool.
“It’s probably going to take both, but my sense is that the most successful ones will ratchet up on the first option,” Malone says.
The Challenge Is Not Just Labor Supply
A key takeaway from the discussion is that ag retail’s workforce challenge is not only about finding enough people. It is also about the fact that the jobs themselves have changed.
As agribusinesses have grown in size and complexity, roles have become more specialized and management responsibilities have broadened. The skill set required today goes well beyond technical knowledge. Employers increasingly need people who can lead teams, manage customers, communicate clearly, think critically and handle greater financial and strategic responsibility.
Brenna Ellison, professor of agribusiness management at Purdue, says those human skills are often what separate good employees from future leaders.
“Your technical background might get you in the door, but how to function as a good human and collaborate with people, that’s what gets you moving up the ladder,” Ellison says.
For ag retailers, that shift has major implications. A strong agronomist or salesperson may not automatically be ready to lead a location, manage a team or handle the business side of the operation. Those capabilities often have to be developed intentionally.
Why Internal Development Matters More in Rural Markets
Malone says this challenge can be especially acute in rural communities, where the labor pool is naturally thinner and outside hiring can be more difficult.
In those cases, waiting for the ideal candidate to appear may not be realistic. Instead, retailers may need to think more seriously about identifying people who are already committed to the community and helping them build the skills needed for the next role.
That approach also reflects a broader mindset shift Malone argues companies need to make.
“Step one to me is just think about your people as talent, don’t just think about them as labor,” he says. “Step two is think about how do I create a better talent pool?”
In other words, workforce strategy is not just about filling today’s vacancy. It is about developing the human capital that will allow the business to adapt as demands change.
Make, Buy, Borrow or Automate?
While much of the conversation centers on make versus buy, the broader lesson for ag retailers is that not every workforce problem has to be solved the same way.
Some roles may justify investing in internal development because they are closely tied to customer relationships, company culture or local expertise. Others may need to be filled quickly through outside hiring. In some cases, retailers may be able to borrow expertise through consultants, advisors or shared services. And for lower-value or more repetitive work, automation may be the better answer.
The point is not that every role should be built internally. It is that retailers should be more deliberate about deciding which capabilities truly matter most.
A Long-Term Competitive Decision
Purdue researchers and faculty point to repeated examples of companies that continue investing in people, even during difficult markets, and emerge stronger as conditions improve.
That lesson may be especially relevant in ag retail, where labor shortages, management succession and shifting customer expectations are all colliding at once.
As AI tools advance, some tasks may become easier to automate. But customer-facing roles built on trust, judgment and relationship management will remain deeply human. For ag retailers, that means talent development is no longer just an HR issue. It is a competitive strategy.
The retailers that stand out in the years ahead may not be the ones that simply hire fastest. They may be the ones that best understand what makes their business hard to replicate — and invest accordingly.
