Farming Forward: Tech, Change, and Leadership

This week on The Turn Row Podcast, Alyssa steps out from behind the scenes and into the host seat alongside Cross Creek’s Spencer for a conversation about the future of agriculture, leadership, and innovation.

As two of the younger members of the Cross Creek team, Alyssa and Spencer bring a unique perspective shaped by backgrounds in ministry, operations, youth programs, and now agriculture. Together, they discuss the generational differences they see across the industry, why change can be challenging in farming, and how balancing tradition with innovation is key to long-term success.

The conversation also explores the growing role of technology in agriculture, the opportunities and challenges that come with adopting new tools, and the ways the next generation of ag leaders can help move businesses forward. Spencer shares his thoughts on where the industry is headed over the next five years, the technologies that excite him most, and practical advice for young professionals preparing to take on greater leadership roles.

Plus, hear what the Cross Creek team is working on this week as the summer heat ramps up.

Whether you're running a farm, preparing to lead one, or simply passionate about the future of agriculture, this episode offers valuable insights on growth, adaptability, and leading through change. Tune in!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Thanks for tuning in to this week of the TurnRail Podcast. This week, I'm sorry and Alyssa talk about the impact of generational farming, change, and the advancements of technology. Let's tune in. All right. Well, welcome back to the Turnrail Podcast. I am not your typical host, and neither are you.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Yeah, we're uh we're doing it today. Uh everybody's kind of out on vacation, or we've had a couple guys sick. So it's been uh a bit of a turn of events in here in the office. Um, but we are keeping the boat afloat and everybody's here and and kind of uh making things through.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

Yeah, trying to make it happen. Uh it's quieter than usual, which is quieter.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Although the new headphones are like makes it sound louder here.

SPEAKER_02 0:48

It's a little a little something different. We've gotten some more technology. We are diving into this whole podcasting world and trying to make it as legit as possible for people.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yes, it's more legit for us too.

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Yeah. Hopefully it'll be good. Um, well, if we haven't met, my name is Alyssa, and I'm the marketing director and CRM manager here at Cross Creek. Um, typically I am in the backseat of a truck or behind the scenes, but today with most of the crew out, this is what you get. So uh here we are. Both of us uh don't really have podcasting experience, but you've been on an episode. So I threw myself in and thought we could make this happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

I think we'll be just fine. I think we'll probably be a little more entertaining than Brad and Kyle, but that's because people usually like us better.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Yeah. So we'll see. We're good, we're good with people. Um, well, both of us have a wide range of experience that has varied from ministry and pastoral work to youth programs, and now we're working in the agricultural field. Um, even with like 10 to 15 years of other work experience, we're still two of the youngest employees here at Cross Creek.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

I'm just a few years younger than Kyle. You're just a couple of years younger than me. Um, so that's played out very interestingly here.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yeah, it's been uh it's been kind of crazy. Every time we get to hire somebody else, I'm like, let's bring the age down a little bit. Like, you know, I'd I'd really love for us to hire somebody like even younger than me, but I'm 28. So chance that we're gonna find somebody that's pretty experienced or seasoned in our area and and and does a great job and stuff is not impossible. Not impossible. It's something that we kind of struggle to find sometimes, and and uh especially to fit whatever need we're looking for in that in that season. But yeah, I mean, I think uh Brad's like mid-40s, um Teddy's going on 40, he's 39.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Birthday coming up, Halloween, shout out Teddy.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Marsha's forever 29. So that's great.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Marsha's forever 29, and we will always be harvesting on her birthday.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Oh so for Marsha. Yeah. At least it's not Christmas. I mean, that's that's fine. It all works out.

SPEAKER_00 2:58

At least we're not harvesting on Christmas. Yeah, also that. Also be bad.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

That would be terrible. Um, well, one of the things that I've noticed, and you kind of pointed it out, like it's hard to get younger people into ag. And I know that you and Kyle had the conversation um a couple weeks ago about uh you don't really see people who are not born into farming join farming. Um, so especially if we're, you know, hiring people um in the ag industry that are, you know, we have our family kind of around here that are in the business, but um it is hard to pull people out of their own farming um families to get them to work here. Um but one of the things that I've watched kind of play out, I'm new to ag, um, but one of the things I've noticed is that is that there can be this like big difference in generational tendencies. Um, especially, you know, you and I are uh millennials, I think, right? Are we both millennials?

SPEAKER_00 3:53

I'm technically, I'm right there at the cutoff. Right there. But I made it.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

There you go. So we're millennials, then you've got uh the boomers, we've got Gen X and Gen Z and all of these different generations. Um, but I've noticed that everybody has like different tendencies, especially in the ag industry. Have you noticed that at all?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Yeah, that's uh that's a big thing. Um, you know, grandpa does things a certain way, dad does things a certain way. Yep. Um son tends to maybe find his own way to do things, but they still probably do it a certain way when grandpa or dad are around. Um but yeah, everybody's uh I mean, every age is a little bit different. Um typically the older generation is a little bit more hesitant to change um toward or to adopt new things or new ways to do new things. Um and like one of those hot topics about it is technology. That's just a a huge thing right now in ag. I mean, there's just so much going on, so much evolving. And over the next uh five years the landscape will look entirely different, yeah, in my opinion. But whether it's how you load the sprayer, how you spray a field, I mean things you're looking for while you're in the cab. I mean, everybody that you talk to or you have a conversation with about their activities on the farm talks about things in a different way. And it it's cool to see that. Um unfortunately it kind of can like you know make you gravitate towards one or two people on that farm that you relate with better. But that's also probably a beautiful part about why we have a diverse staff and why there is such an age difference between people is is we have certain people on staff that can relate better with uh certain customers or or certain people in those in those kind of like kind of sex.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

So um well, and you kind of like you pointed out something that I hadn't thought about, but there's the general generational tendencies that come with like actually farming, like being in the field, doing the work, you're gonna do things a certain way. But then there's also this other part of farming that people outside of farming don't think about a lot. But this farming is a business, like you're operating like a business, and so there are different ways that different people are doing things based on their age, and maybe grandpa ran the farm this way, and so dad's gonna run the farm this way, and the son's gonna run the farm this way, or maybe you're gonna get a random, you know, kid who didn't plan to inherit the farm and then they did, and they're like, Oh shoot, now I have to figure out how I want to run this.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Um, and so things change a little bit, but I think that's I think that's like the nature of the beast with having agriculture. I mean, we talked on it like a couple episodes. I think Brad and Kyle talked on it a little bit last week. And maybe Kyle and I talked about it a little bit in our previous episode, but there's not exactly a direct playbook to being a farmer or just being an entrepreneur in general. Yeah, right. Um there's a lot of people who have a lot of great advice, but ultimately if you're the one wearing all the hats, then you have to make your own calls. Yeah. And how everybody prioritizes things or goes about that like the process of you know building the priorities is is a little bit different. Or thinking about what needs done next. Uh, you know, how am I gonna make this decision? Um there's a lot of different moving parts in farming. I mean, you know, there's a lot of farmers out there that are blessed to have their wives as bookkeepers and and you know, run the checkbooks and everything like that. But there's a lot of farmers who are not either. And so they're balancing, you know, not just financial stress and financial decisions, but also, you know, trying to be an agronomist and figure out the crops and also be an operator and go out there and make sure they're doing everything right, and also be a mechanic if they break down and and all of those things. I mean, i that's why like maybe we see a loss of interest in the younger generation getting into agriculture or farming because you kind of have to have this overwhelming passion or obsession with with agriculture because it's not a nine to five job. And even when it's not a nine to five job, it's not the kind of job that somebody you can just call up and they're gonna maybe be able to tell you who you need to talk to or or what you need to do to fix a certain problem.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

So that is scary for a lot of people. I mean, that's that was a hesitation of mine getting into agriculture. Like I loved it. And I love the thought of it, I love the idea of it, but obviously didn't grow up in it. And and the thought that oh, I wouldn't have somebody to lay out okay, this is you know, this is what you need to do, this is who you need to talk to. For every step of the problem was very different when I came from the dealership because the dealership is a you know a corporation, it's very structured. There's you know, every step is laid out. So it's just a very different dynamic than almost any job in the entire world, um, so to speak.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

And I feel like our generation specifically has leaned very heavily. I mean, you were an IWO kid, so I know you know this, like we've leaned very heavily into the like what personality fits uh the the job that I want to do, or what kind of personality do I need to have to fit into this career world? Um and and so instead of it being maybe that like you were born into ag, and so you just know that you're gonna do that your whole life. Our generation, we see a lot more people kind of making career decisions based on passion and personality and what their interests are. And instead of just getting a job to have a job, it's all about like, well, what's gonna make me fulfilled? Um, which is is interesting too, because that changes the job market as well. It is.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

I I've got to tell you a funny story. It's funny you brought up Indian Westland and it just reminded me. Um I'll make it quick. So when when I was going through the application process and and got accepted to go to Indian Wesland, I was the fourth generation to go there. That was a big determining factor for me. Um legacy means a lot to me and the family and all that. And uh so when you go that summer beforehand, they're they're trying to get you ready for the new student orientation week and all that stuff. And so they have you take, I think it was like 90 questions or a hundred question personality quiz. Okay, so it it was pretty intensive. You had to block out like an hour to two hours, but you you had to have it done before you showed up.

unknown 10:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

And it spits out your uh like you know, a couple different personality traits, like your top five biggest strengths, but then it also spits out your number one career path that like fits you.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

And so I had been working for a farmer at the time in high school. The only thing I had done that previous summer, like on the farm, was literally like help clear woods, and then I was given a weed hook and walked the fields and pulled weeds.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

So fun.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Yeah, amazing. I I thought I was just gonna love, you know, the this is exactly what I want to do. Absolutely not at that point in time. But agriculture was the number one career path that showed up on that quiz. And I I thought I was like, there's no chance. Nope. Like, no way. I was going to school to be a history teacher at the time. That's what I wanted. And yeah, ended up it was right.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Yeah. Well, that worked out for you.

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Yeah, it did. I I it's just something you just reminded me of that I thought was hilarious as we sit here and talk about that.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

So interesting. See, you were always meant to be here.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

I yeah, yeah. I was always meant to be here.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

Well, both of us, uh, I know we've had a lot of conversations about this, but both of us are very like business and operational mindset people. Um, I came here from an operations director role. You're currently in one. Um, so I know especially when it comes to how the business functions and the development of it, you and I are constantly like forward thinking and trying to figure out like how can we create better processes or a more stable environment or better systems so that we can, you know, continue moving things forward. Um, but when it comes to ag, my observation is that a very large group of people are just doing what they've always done because that's seemingly what's worked for them. So how have you watched that kind of play out?

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Um, well, you you're spot on, and I can't remember who said it. I know Kyle or Brad would know kind of where this comes from, but a lot of people will say that AG is uh much slower to adopt what the rest of the world is adopting. And I I don't know exactly why that is. Um but I've definitely seen it to be apparent. Um there's a lot of things like you know, when I when I came here, we didn't use any kind of technology in the tractors besides just like uh, you know, the 2630 touchscreen that's there now.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

And so Which was just five years ago, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Yeah, just five years ago. And now we I mean you can get on your cell phone and make changes to whatever machine is running. Like, you know, you could have somebody in the cab who doesn't know how to go or do anything besides forward in reverse and know how to manage the field or maneuver around the field, and and you could do all the changes for them. Which is cool, um, that we've come that far. But again, it's a very slow process of adoption. And I think as we've started to do a lot of research and stuff on the on the biological side, on the nutritional side, we've as a staff, as a as a company in in our culture, we've become more comfortable with change. Where if we say, okay, we're gonna have a different, you know, set of SOPs that we're gonna do this year and how we're we're prepping everything, how we're how we're doing everything, I think the staff has become a little more comfortable with that. Yeah. But I also understand that we have a lot more moving parts to our business and a lot more exposure than a lot of farms do. Yes. Right. And so not every operation or farm, actually, most are probably gonna think counterintuitive to that. And they're gonna be like, I'm I'm gonna do what I know works. If I do it a different way, I'm scared that I'm not gonna get the same outcome.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

And ultimately that could be an advantage, that could be a disservice. I mean the one thing I can tell you is you'll never know if you don't try.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

And so I yeah, I I think that's probably like what I would say about that. It's my two cents. I I think we're more comfortable with change and and we feel like our job is change, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

Um, one of our core values, we we use it a million different ways when we're talking about things, but disruptive by design, right? And so almost feel like we're doing a disservice, uh disservice and fellowship if we're not telling guys throughout the season, like, hey, this is what we're doing different, this is what we're doing new, you know, even if it's just like to share and and say, hey, you know, and this is kind of like what we got going on. I think it's important that we keep doing that because if we don't do that, nobody probably will for them and their people that they're, you know, having a relationship with or talking to on a on a normal basis. I mean, it's it's us who they're whether they're buying product from us or they're a neighbor or a friend, or it's maybe a newspaper or an article or something like that that they read. And chances are they're gonna be a lot more apt to it if there's a human side to that interaction than if they just read it on a screen.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Yeah, we talk all the time about how like relationship is king. Like, yeah, I'm not going to go somewhere new or necessarily try something new if I don't know a person that's connected to it or has not tried it and told me that they loved it. 100%. Um, and all people are kind of like that. Like whether you're trying new coffee or you're in farming, like you want to know that it has good reviews before you try it. You don't want to waste your time. You also don't want to waste your money. And in ag everybody's really conscious of that. So I think I would 100% agree.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

I think it's true. I mean, I and I think that's almost like true. Maybe that's part of that generational thing, right? Like I think um there's even a difference, like when my parents or my grandparents are like, hey, can you, you know, it well, let's talk about Amazon for a second. Like, hey, can you order this for me? Yeah. And I'm like, okay. Well, I I found it cheaper here. Like, what's the what's the purpose of it? And they're like, Oh, I just I trust it. Whereas like you or me would probably go on there and order it or or look to order something, and we're like, uh, we're gonna look at the reviews real quick.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

And you're like scrolling and you're like, uh, okay. Yeah, yeah, it's got four point two stars, but like uh I pull up the reviews and the first five are terrible. Yeah, I'm not gonna buy it. Yeah, right. So I maybe that's part of the generational difference. I don't know what you would classify that behavior as, but it it's just interesting to think about how it bleeds into agriculture, but it's it's prevalent throughout the entire society.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

Oh, yeah. Well, and it's so interesting too because I feel like the same is true, not just for um like good products or things that people should be buying, like they will listen to bad advice just because everybody else always has. And so I've noticed there are a lot of people as we come in contact with different customers or maybe potential customers who are just very resistant to um especially bio-nutritional products because they're like, I don't know, Uncle Bob from three counties over, you know, he told me he didn't like it, and maybe it was user error, or maybe it was that he never actually used it, or maybe he didn't see the results he wanted because of weather or other external factors he couldn't control. But it's so interesting how quickly I mean, that relationship means everything to people.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Yeah. And that's I mean, that's like a regular, you know, I'm not in sales, but obviously I I touch all the sales that are coming through this place. And so I get a I get kind of the luxury of being in that seat of like seeing, hearing, listening, you know, all the problems that are involved, all the hurdles, challenges, or successes. But I I think when biologicals and nutritionals, and I don't want to get caught up on biologicals because it's not a lot of what like is currently our lineup, right? It's not all biology. There's a large majority of it that's not. Um when those kind of products first came on the scene, there was a lot of things that did not work, or guys just didn't know how to use them right because they are a little more temperamental and things like that. And so it did give a bad rap for that space for a long time. And that's that's still a battle that we fight sometimes, right? And our our counter that is a lot of the data and a lot of having those conversations about look, this is different than the way you do it, but this is the way we do it, and it works for us.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

So if you want to use it or you have an interest in using it, why don't you use it the way that we've done it because we know we've found success this way. Yeah. So it it's just an interesting, you know, complete process that's totally different.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

But well, and uh like side rabbit trail, that was one of the things that was like most attractive to me about Cross Creek was the fact that like we're not selling products, and I'm gonna hate myself because we've talked several times about how this podcast is not for selling products.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

No, it's not.

SPEAKER_02 19:25

But we we test everything that we do, and so that you know, we're not going out, especially being in marketing. Like, my whole job is to sell the company and the people here and what we do. And it's hard to do that if you don't believe in like what you're doing. And so to be able to say, like, no, like what we're doing is legit and it's tested, and I'm standing side by side with people who are seeing the results and who are putting in the work to see the results every single day, like that is meaningful.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

100% that's meaningful. And I think like that would be I I didn't know it at the time, and I was also pretty young when I I mean it was still young, but I was young when I made the switch. But I did know I was going through a lot of like formational, you know, um years, a lot of formational experiences, and and one of the things that I wanted to have was a place that was going to not only, you know, reward me for the work that I was doing, um, but something that I could see the physical value of my work pan out, right? And I'm not saying I didn't see that at the dealership, I 100% did, but I just wasn't close enough to what I was truly passionate about. But um the biggest thing, like at the end of the day, was I wanted somewhere that at the end of all of it, I could say, yeah, I gave a perfect effort and I could go sleep in my bed at night and not feel bad about anything. And even today I I struggle with that, right? Like, you know, Brad did that whole episode about uh Brad and Kyle, about like farmer health and and the stresses and everything. There's always stresses, and there's always something, you know, you get a phone call, seven, eight o'clock at night, and there's something you've got to deal with. But at the end of the day, this place makes me feel like I've done enough at the end of the day when I go to sleep. And yeah, and that's something that I feel very proud of. I think as a company we can feel very proud of that. And um, whether it's because we're, you know, we're we're putting our heart into change and change for others and change for ourselves, or whether it's just us being on our kind of fact finder mission of whatever this turns into, you know. Um that is what it does for me, and that's what attracts me and keeps me keeps me here, makes me want to stay, right?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

You know, this is the part of the episode where Brad is gonna be like tearing up while he's listening. And I kind of hate that we're giving him that satisfaction. But it's fine, it's fine. It'll be great. That was no, that was really good. Um I know like we kind of touched on this a little bit, um, but Both of us like tech. Um you are way more tech savvy than I am.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

I am not I am not.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

I think you are.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

You can't tell people that.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

But you are. Uh you are very into tech uh and very good at learning it. Like I think that I'm starting to hit the phase of life, which I also have kids, like lots of kids. So I'm hitting the phase of life where my mental capacity is like starting to reach a limit of what I'm willing to learn.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

I get that.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

But at the same time, I'd like to learn new things. Um, but you are so much more willing to like push the limits on what you're learning in technology, which is very cool.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Thank you. It's an asset. Yeah, it no, that's like um it does take effort. There's a lot of times I don't feel like doing it, and there's a lot of times that I I just won't do it right. Um, but it's it's kind of interesting. So like uh I used to I used to play a lot of video games, and and you know, I like what got me into tech a couple of years ago was um I decided I was gonna go on the venture of building my own computer from scratch, right? So if you're gonna build a computer from scratch, you have to learn quite a bit. And ultimately that is like a a gateway drug. You start learning a lot about a lot of different things that computers and stuff are capable of. And so with the new computer, I was like, yeah, this is gonna kind of be my new hobby instead of video games and stuff. And so since then, I I've just kind of kept it rolling and kind of learned, you know, how to code, how to do some more advanced um like analytics and software and stuff. And now um I'm building apps and all that kind of stuff. So it's cool, but like I would say there is a good two to four hours a day of work that is unseen from this place that usually happens for me. Um and a lot of that I understand is on my own time. It's for me, it's to learn skills that, like you said, I've I've developed passions about. But it does positively influence the business, and the business does get a lot of the uh we reap the benefits of it. Yeah, you reap the benefits of it just because I'm a nerd and that's part of what I like to do now and and what my hobbies are because it's easiest for me to build something constructive for the business to test out my new skills. And that's that's kind of the fun part for me. Um, and it's it's cool to see it come to life and then be used. So it's good.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah. Uh well, I mean, you've touched on that a little bit, but how do you kind of see this tech transforming the ag industry in the next few years? I know that like we're working on technology, and I I would say that we're like pretty progressive in the kinds of technology that we're willing to like work with and test out. Um, but the industry as a whole, as you said, can be slow to adapt. But how do you see um, you know, technology, AI, some of these other things um really having a heavy influence on ag in the next couple of years?

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Okay, I'm gonna take the cop out answer and say it depends.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

I will I will explain. I will explain my thoughts, my opinions on this. So um I was having a conversation with one of our dealers uh in Iowa um a couple months ago. And if he listens to this, he'll know exactly who he is. But um so I think you know, we were having a conversation very similar to this. I think that the landscape of technology will allow so many things to happen in five years. I think it will be almost unrecognizable in agriculture. Um, I think we're getting ready to go through a revolution that was very similar to a lot of things that happened in the 1900s where farming, you know, 10, 15 years ago just no longer looks the same.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

And I think it will be um very hard to get into farming from a capital acquisition standpoint, right? There's just so much you have to get, right? But I think more people will be able to enter into farming just because they are good at tech and and maybe not enter as a an owner or, you know, a full-blown entrepreneur, but as somebody who has a position on a farmer, on a team that is focused on farmers because they are good at those set of skills. I think where I see the drawdown or the slowdown is more on people not adopting it. Like we said, there's a lot of people that are very slow to change. There is kind of that age gap. And I don't I don't want to like label it and put it a hard label, but I would say like most people above like 51 to 55 or maybe even lower, high 40s. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot harder for them to adopt at a pace than like it is for me or you. Yeah. Right. And and so to to keep playing catch up, like like it's when I come in your office and I'm like, hey, I got something new I gotta tell you about, right? Like, and then I just nerd out for like 15 minutes and you just look at me with that blank stare.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I'm just like, I'm so proud of you. I will not smile, but I have no idea what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

I know, but I I have to tell somebody and my wife's not gonna care. So I'm like, I get Kyle and I get the get stuck lose. You guys are my paid friends in that aspect, but um, I think that slow adoption pace is what's gonna be like holding it down, right? Because you got to think about farmers. Like farmers are very tactile in their learning structure, okay. Hands-on, very hands-on, and that's the part of tech that is not like it's so many concepts, yes, it's so many concepts, and so for me to like go through and do like a learning module or just hop on a new program. I've never been there. I'm like, okay, yeah, this is over here, this makes sense, this is over here, this makes sense. So I'm like piecing it together, but and it's it's nothing against other people. Some people are just wired completely different. They are tactile learners, right? Like you think about when dad taught them how to mow side ditches or when when dad rode with them their planting their first field, right? Like it's a hands-on touch it, feel it, see it, smell it, experience. Yep, and you cannot do that with technology. That's the very hard part right now, is it is uh a very visual and just visually like aesthetic learning experience, and that's that's pretty much it, right? Like, yeah, you might punch a few keys on the keyboard, you might press a mouse, whatever, but other than that, there's nothing tactile about it.

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Nope. Your whole playground's online, yeah, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

And so when you have an industry where like I would say a strong 80 to 5 to 90 percent of them are like heavily tactile learners, yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see how like the tech companies that are coming in designing something new create that learning experience. Because I think if they created a good learning experience, if they send a lot of people out to go on farms and and talk to them and work like work with them through that first-time process and be available for the phone calls when they come, I think they would find success. Yeah. I I think the tools are there. And after you get a couple uses, you're like, oh yeah, this is way easier. Like, why like why haven't we been tracking stuff like this? Why haven't we been doing stuff like this? And that's like what we've seen over the past like three or four years. You know, we talked about when we came here, we just had the you know, the screen, the tractor. I mean, we are on year four of using Operation Center, and I think we're just now getting Brad to that point where like he's comfortable not just asking somebody to look it up on their phone, like he can go look it up himself, and it's nothing against him, he's just wired different, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Well, and it's so different because like I'd never seen it before, but I downloaded it and I'm like, I know where to find things in here. Oh yeah, I can pull this up for you. And it's just a a generational thing, really. I mean, a difference. And I think about my own kids, like Mia will figure new stuff out on her iPad all the time that I'm like, I don't even know how you did that, but I should know how you did that. And I don't, and so like as these generations, you know, as people kind of phase out and younger generations kind of come up, it'll be interesting to see like how much faster that adoption takes place.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

It really will. I think there'll be a lot of uh a lot of the older generation that really had to go through the tactile years or like, you know, kind of do their role for so long before, you know, dad or whoever would show them, okay, this is the next step. This is what you get to do next. You've you've earned enough of my trust that I I now trust you to do the next part. I think the the next generations are just gonna catch up in a hurry.

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

And it's gonna be interesting to see what what is available to be accomplished or or how that whole dynamic looks on the farm, because there's gonna be some funny conversation. I can see it now, like somebody's grandpa's gonna be yelling at them because they're not playing a certain way. When in reality, you know, autops already set and everything's already ready to go. I mean, those are things that have been around for a long time, but some guys are still rocking ridge markers and doing their thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Well, and even I mean, like uh I was at Bechnology Days last year and took one of the tours around, which I had never done before. Um, but one of the things they talked about was just, you know, we used to plant our rows so far apart for corn, and now we plant closer together, which means higher yield because you're planting more, so you're gonna get more product out of it. And so just things like that that people never would have done before, and now they're like, Well, of course I do it this way, but you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago, they weren't interested in that because they'd never tried it. Like, why would we do that?

SPEAKER_00 31:44

And it's weird that, like, you know, we have uh we've like come to this age where a lot of people have some backlash on, you know, like the technology and the new stuff. Well like let's just break it down into like simple terms, right? In history, any civilization or any group of people who have had a better set of tools have always persevered past the generation or or just a group of people that did not have such advanced tools. Right. And so it's it's funny to me to hear a lot of people say like, oh, this isn't gonna work, or no, like we'll we'll still be doing it this way. And it's like I I don't I don't think so, man. Like I think you're wrong. And respectfully, I think you're wrong.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

And it's okay. I'm not I'm not like sitting here trying to change your mind. I just I just want you to be there in 10 years when you can tell me I'm right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 32:46

It's gonna be really interesting to see if we get to be a part of the generation. Like, will we fall into the trap of, you know, like, no, I don't think it's gonna work. No, I don't think we need newer technology as we get older, or are we going to watch like this generation kind of shift that mindset into like, no, we always want to be like progressively moving forward and innovating and trying new things. Um, it'll just it'll be interesting to see.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

Like childhood. I mean, like, you know, we we both kind of got to experience, we've had this conversation before, but like we both kind of got to experience a truly special time to be a child.

SPEAKER_02 33:28

Pre-technology.

SPEAKER_00 33:29

Yeah, yeah. Like we both I mean, I was right on the edge of it, but you were like full blown.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

I didn't have a cell phone until my senior year of high school. Yeah, I was pretty I was pretty close to that. I think I was not a smartphone anyway.

SPEAKER_00 33:42

I think I was a sophomore, maybe. But the I mean the only reason I got one was because like I was gonna start driving in a year or so, and I was riding my bike like 30 miles away from home every day, you know. So like we were just out cruising, hanging out, and mom and dad wanted me to finally have something I could call if there was an emergency. But yeah, I mean, I remember like you know, we only had scheduled TV and and all that stuff. You didn't have access to the internet, you didn't have iPhones, you didn't have iPads, all that kind of stuff. And so like I think that our generation will probably always want to keep adopt because we we knew what life was like beforehand, and even though we weren't, you know, grown people paying bills and doing all that stuff, like we got to see how it made our life better or more fun as we grew up.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

And that's just kind of bled over into our adult lives. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Were you were you post aim and like AOL Instant Messenger? Did you have dialogue?

SPEAKER_00 34:43

I actually I had an Instant Messenger.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Oh man, what was your handle?

SPEAKER_00 34:47

GTK socks 18 at AOL.com. That was my little league baseball. Like that was the abbreviations for for like the number, the team, the whole nine.

SPEAKER_02 34:58

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

And I actually had that, I think it was just me and my friend.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 35:04

Yeah, it was it was very like not, you know, but then I think I got I got a Facebook and and I I remember I had to you I had to have the AOL account to use Facebook, and that was when Facebook was very uh you know. You had to be 18 stuff. No, I think it was you had to be 13 at that point. But yeah, it was uh so I had it years before that, but that's hilarious. It was wild.

SPEAKER_02 35:30

That's crazy. Um man, I uh I do have show notes, but it is it's hard to get past that AML AML name. That was really good, actually. I'm impressed. Um impressed that you also remembered that.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Well, it was my yeah, it well, it was my like sign in for everything until I went to college.

SPEAKER_01 35:51

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

I I didn't I didn't have another email address for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

And then and then I went to college and I made a Gmail because I was people did make fun of me for my AOL email that I I held on to, but nostalgia, like I'm big on yeah, nostalgia, which you know it's fine. Um, you know, one of the things as we kind of shift back to this tech conversation, um, one of the biggest hurdles that I see um just shifting the way people think about tech and tradition and processes and everything. And I love, I love tradition. I'm very nostalgic. I love um, you know, legacy farming is so much legacy. And I love that. I think it should be honored, I think it should be celebrated. Um, but we talked about, you know, people really dig their heels in when they're presented with change, and that's okay. Um, sometimes change can be terrifying or overwhelming. Um and that's hard for people. Um, but I think one of the things that people tend to forget is that if you always do what you've always done, you're always gonna get what you've always got. And so even here, there are times when you'll present an idea or an innovation. And even as, you know, like I said, I would say that we're pretty advanced and progressive as far as technology goes. Um, but you can still be met with some resistance. So are there things you think that younger people in the ag industry can do to help promote change or propel businesses forward, even if they're sitting kind of in our seats?

SPEAKER_00 37:26

Yeah, that's a pretty loaded question. Um I I would say the number one thing I would think probably would help them kind of um be more or get a more receptive spot to change would probably just be to leverage the technology to teach you as much about farming as possible. So like there's a lot of things that you know, I I kind of talked about on the last episode. Like I I asked Brad a lot of questions for a long time. Right. And I still do. Um if I if I don't understand something or if he's not busy and and you know, I'm like, explain this to me. This doesn't make sense. But I mean now, like being the one that has actually done all the research, it's kind of funny because I I built an LLM and I have all of our information, like our company, you know, our entire company.

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Explain that for people who don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Uh it's like a a large language model, so you you basically can ask it something and then it will filter through all that information and give you a response. So rather than like, hey, I have to read the encyclopedia on Cross Creek to find this one piece of information or something that's pertinent to that. Just right there. It's just right there. And so like I have it for my own internal use, and I will actually just go say, like, hey, you know, like what is the potassium deficiency gonna do to corn that year? Or like what is you know heavy rainfall gonna do to corn? And I trust that more because it's coming from the responses on our farm. So it's what has happened to our farm in the past, right? And I'm not saying you can't find good information on the internet or anything like that. I'm just saying that it's easier to have an internal answer when you have an internal source.

SPEAKER_02 39:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:18

And so I actually I I built that out, like we're getting ready to roll that out to a lot of our sales staff to use, and even for trainings as we bring more salespeople on, because I'm excited about hey, Kyle, you no longer have to have you know a ton of time with Brad and Kyle. Here's Brad and Kyle on a silver platter, and you can ask him anything you want, right? Makes it a huge internal training piece for us because we've got our key agronomist and we've got our number one sales guy.

SPEAKER_02 39:47

So And consistency and answers. Yeah, which is that's another thing that's a huge win.

SPEAKER_00 39:52

That's another thing too, right? Like it's the same thing that we talked about dad's focus on one thing, grandpa's focus on one thing. Like, if you ask us, any any of us, like you'll get a different answer about the same subject. And and none of it's wrong.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

Nope.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

But the the problem is is maybe we missed on a couple key points or or differences that you probably wanted to pay attention to.

SPEAKER_01 40:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

So delivering a more uniform knowledge base and customer experience is going to be huge for us.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

But yeah, I love that. Um, I would only add to that, like just lead up. I think that's one of the biggest things that I've seen in every field that I've been in, is you can have so much influence no matter your age, no matter your passion, um, if you're willing to lead up. And that doesn't always look like being the loudest person in the room or the smartest person in the room. Um, but it looks like being the most attentive, um, showing up, working hard, and then being willing to speak up when it matters. 100%. Um, because you can have influence no matter where you're at in the work chart, which is really great. I think that's valued here, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_00 41:01

Yeah, it is definitely valued here. And and in farming in general, what I would say like to go along with that is you you just kind of made a good point, is like when you're leading up and when you're showing up, you're taking pride in your work. You are you're doing what it takes to get the job done.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

And from a farmer to a farmer, that's what everybody understands, right? Whether you're view yourselves as competitors or neighbors or just like-minded people in the same industry, you have that understanding when you talk to another farmer that they are going to do whatever it takes to get the job done. That is just an unspoken universal truth. And when you display those kind of characteristics to say, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get the job done, you instantly earn that farmer's respect after a good period of time.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

Yep. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 41:57

They understand that you you have grit, you have fight, you're willing to go through the difficult times, the long hours, whatever is gonna present its case. And that ultimately, I think, allows you a little bit of uh a little bit of push in your corner.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

Yeah. No, that's awesome. You you really respect goes a long way, and you do have to earn it.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

I'm big on respect. I'll give it to you. Um, you know, take you for face value, but you also gotta earn it.

SPEAKER_01 42:28

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 42:29

You gotta put in the work to earn it. So, no, that's all that's all good stuff. Um, well, tell me what we're up to this week. It's hotter than hell outside. It is hot. Uh, so what do we have going on here at Cross Creek?

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Um, well, this morning, uh you actually corralled me back into the office to do this podcast. But we were spraying beans. Um, so we're spraying some V3 uh beans. Nothing has come to flower yet, so we're just kind of spraying herbicide, um getting everything on. Uh we're trying to shut the sprayer off about one to two. It's getting pretty hot. Yeah. Um and honestly, it's like it's pretty unbearable outside if you feel like you're standing in a swimming pool.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

And so, you know, we've been starting about six in the morning with spray till one or two in the afternoon. Come home, get loaded up for the next day. Um, we're gonna go ahead and do that through probably the rest of the week. Uh we should be done by Wednesday afternoon, Thursday. We'll probably clean everything out and then get everything switched to go to corn next week. Um, spray corn around P10. Um come back in. And after that, we'll get a little bit of a break. Looking forward to it. Yeah, yeah, looking forward to it. Uh the weeks have just kind of rolled on. I mean, from the start, I think we started our first we planted our first stuff April 11th, April 12th, somewhere near. And since then it has been a marathon.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:59

So, you know, spring is usually a sprint, fall is usually a marathon, and it felt like we have just been back to back on the treadmill since, you know, since April. So it'll it'll be good. It'll be exciting to kind of roll into the holiday weekend and be able to take a breath, um, get back to working on the business a little bit and and not having to deal with every everything the farm needs. But it'll be good. Um, we're excited. We got Becnology Days coming up in August and um we've got a couple things else on the calendar. So it'll be fun to sit around, plan some of that, start getting some stuff done for all that. Um Yeah. So pretty much, I mean, we're keeping busy. Yeah, we're keeping busy, but it'll be it'll be nice to enter that season where hey, not everything is an emergency. We can kind of take a breath and and figure out, you know, when we want to do this, what's the best time to do this, you know, how do we want to do this, rather than just immediately be told and go do it. Yeah. So it'll be good. Yeah, it'll be really good.

SPEAKER_02 45:02

Good. Well, thanks for leading. Thanks for leading well. Thanks for just continually helping us get better here. Um, and thanks for taking some time to chat with me today.

SPEAKER_00 45:12

Absolutely. Thanks for everything you do.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

Yeah, thank you. Uh, and thanks to everybody listening today. Uh, we'd love to have you tune in next time. And hopefully, Brad and Kyle will be back, and uh, we'll catch you later.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

See ya.

SPEAKER_02 45:25

Thanks for joining us on this week's episode of the Turnrow Podcast. This episode is brought to you by Cross Creek Add Solutions. From precision ad technology to smarter data-driven decisions. Cross Creek helps farmers maximize every acre. Ready to grow more with flexibility experts? Visit crosscreekag.com and see what you're free to say. Cross Creek Eye Solutions.