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A day in the life of an agribusiness professional during the spring

May 1, 2023

Tyler Barringer
District 11

A day in the life of an agribusiness professional during the spring…..

The hustle and bustle in the spring is such a rush! Being able to have another opportunity to grow a new crop and improve on the prior year is an exclusive tradition reserved for farmers.  It’s such a unique opportunity that farmers get to choose to plant their crop at just the perfect window of time. Yet, there are so many different agribusiness professionals such as equipment dealers, co-ops, seed suppliers, technology specialists, agronomists, bankers, farm managers, and more that network to devise a customized “game plan” to make the current year the most successful for each individual farmer. However, as we all know that ideal “game-plan” may not work out like we intended due to unforeseen circumstances---equipment breakdowns, floods, cold temperatures, lack of rain, frost, etc. Welcome to the wonderful world of farming!

Now that I’ve got your attention, allow me to introduce myself.  I’m Tyler Barringer, District 11 State Young Leader Committee Member, from DeWitt County. I’m a District Sales Manager for Beck’s Hybrids. Spring is one of my most rewarding times of the year, but it’s also stressful for me as an agribusiness professional. There’s so much more than selling seed to customers in the fall and delivering it in the spring.

With the extremely dry weather and cooler temperatures we’ve experienced this spring in central Illinois, there’s such a wide range of progress made by each farmer. I have some customers completely done planting one crop or the other. Then there’s some done with everything, and a couple that just got started planting this past week. It’s truly amazing how each farmer has their own formula to determine the ideal time to plant. For me, once spring planting starts it’s a rush to get crops planted in the window of opportunity mother nature gives us. As a District Sales Manager, I’m glued to the phone helping customers make planting decisions based upon the variety previously selected in their “game-plan”.  Often, I’m out of the house before daybreak moving around extra seed that’s needed throughout the district. During daylight hours, I’m busy evaluating fields, offering advice, planting plots and side-by-side trials.

Once crops are planted, I lace-up my boots to scout fields to evaluate crop emergence and share the results with customers. It’s never enjoyable to occasionally inform a farmer that they might have to replant. However, with Beck’s Hybrids replant seed is provided for free, so that makes my job easier.

 At the end of the day, regardless of the miles I put on my truck or the hours I spend on the phone, it’s all worth it! Behind every farmer, there’s a team of agricultural professionals standing proudly as contributors to their customized “game-plan”. It’s so rewarding to be an agricultural professional, but the real agricultural “Most Valuable Players” are the farmers. Thank you, farmers, for all that you do!

Editor’s note: This blog was published in the May 1 issue of FarmWeek.