The Scoop Podcast: The Future of Ag Sales - Why Tools Built FOR Agriculture Matter

Speaker A: Welcome to the Scoop Podcast with Margie Ecklekamp. The Scoop podcast is a connection point for leaders across the ag retail industry to talk trends, challenges and business and is a trusted advisor to the farmer. Join the conversation on the Scoop podcast.

Speaker B: The Scoop podcast is brought to you by Koch Agronomic Services. Solve 4N with Sentoro Nitrogen stabilizer from Koch Agronomic Services. Discover efficient below ground protection that defends against leaching and denitrification. And by Corteva Agriscience, protect your acres once and for all with Ridgeback Insecticide from Corteva agriscience. Visit Ridgeback Corteva us to learn more and welcome to the Scoop Podcast. Today we're going to have a conversation with Corbett Cull. He is the founder, the leader of Camo Ag. Hey Corbett, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker C: Uh, thanks for having me on Margie. I really appreciate it.

Speaker B: Okay, so last time you and I caught up, you were leading the team over at Tillable and since then, and you correct my verb here, okay? You pivoted, you transformed, you morphed into Camo Ag. So maybe catch me. But also our audience up on Tillable and how it became Camoag.

Speaker C: Sure, sure. So Tillable was a farmland rental, uh, marketplace. And all along the way as we were building uh, out that company, we had some other companies that were using our core software platform. And it just got to the point where uh, our software business and uh, the work that we were doing just supporting other agriculture, uh, companies had gotten uh, bigger and it was growing faster than uh, what the Tillable business was growing. So we pivoted, rebranded and really remade uh, the company. But what's interesting is even in the very early, uh, days of the company, we're always investing very heavily in the software and tech platform. And uh, we've just kind of uh, really built on top of that. What really started out as a land platform. Right. In agriculture, unless you're a fish farmer. Right. Everything comes back to the land. Right. So, uh, it started with understanding land ownership. And now for the work that we're doing and selling to agribusiness, it's just been layering uh, uh, data layers on top of that. And for the benefit of people who are selling things to farmers, uh, can leverage the Camel Ag platform to do a better job of uh, targeting farmers.

Speaker B: So let's dive in to that platform that you guys have developed. Now again, you say your audience are folks who sell to farmers. So ag sales, manufacturers, retailers, I think even ag lenders. So what are they able to do with camo ag.

Speaker C: Sure. Yeah. So we really got started out, uh, working uh, pretty closely within the farm credit system. So ag lenders. Right. And if you're an ag lender, what are you selling? You're selling money, right? You're lending money to farmers, uh, so that they can buy farms, buy equipment and uh, uh, to finance uh, their operations. And what we have done is started, uh, with uh, initially for the ag lending use cases, uh, use case bringing in information on, um, farmland mortgages, equipment financing, uh, operating loans, etc. And then really extended that to literally any data set that we can get our hands on that might be related to, uh, farmers identifying farmers, etc. So M. Uh, we're now bringing in crop, uh, history data from Cropscape, uh, additional data sets from uh, the usda just run USDA subsidy payments, uh, trucking information, information on livestock, et cetera, and really trying to develop a complete view of a farmer's operation so that somebody that's selling to a farmer can just do a better job of idea identifying, uh, the best farmers to be selling and marketing to really. So starting with, uh, ag lending and then we've been expanding over the course of the last 24 months, uh, into ag retail and. And the input manufacturers, as you mentioned, again, helping them identify the right farmers that they should be selling to, um, knowing who aren't they selling to. So one of the things that we're hearing from our customers is really needing assistance in prospecting. Right. So, you know, how do we help those sales teams identify the people they're not selling to and who are the right people they're not selling to that they should be selling to? Right. So it's. It's really uh, pulling all this data together and then identifying those producers that would be best, uh, best served by their products.

Speaker B: So how does your platform integrate with some other systems that ag retailers might already be using?

Speaker C: Sure. So it could be, uh, it could be an ERP system or one of their agronomic systems where they're uh, keeping track of their uh, customers, their farms, etc. And what we do is we take the existing customer information that they have and then we match it up to this publicly available information, uh, that we have on producers in the United States. And then uh, from that, what we're able to do is to give them m. Uh, really a more complete view of that farmer's operation. So they obviously know how much they're selling to that farmer. And from that they might be able to determine how big they might think a farmer is, but because we're coming at it from m another perspective, we're able to say, well, from the publicly available data, we think this farmer's X and you have them at Y. So there's a difference between the two. There, there may be more opportunity with that farmer. Uh, and then obviously, uh, for the uh, producers they're not selling to. Right, um, uh, we can tell them who the best producers are potentially for them to, uh, uh, target. So that matching process, uh, is everything from uh, the um, shipping address, the billing address that that farmer might have on record. Uh, with that, let's say that ag retailer, we'll match up the data that we have to that along with uh, all the other geospatial information that we're able to pull together on, uh, farming operations.

Speaker B: So this is a question I've asked you before, and you already started to answer it with camoag2, which is where does your data come from? You say it's publicly available sources. How often are you guys adding to the data that you're pulling in?

Speaker C: It really comes down to the frequency of the data source that we're pulling it from. Margie. So, uh, in some cases, uh, we have some data that's updated almost daily. Uh, some is weekly or monthly. And then a lot of the USDA data is typically only going to be updated, uh, like once a year. Uh, so for example, uh, like the crop history data, that's typically once per year, um, the servo soil data, I think that's typically updated about once, um, per year. But, uh, in terms of, let's say land transactions, we're bringing in land transaction data literally, uh, daily. So it really depends on the data set. Whatever the frequency is of the data source, that's how often we're bringing it in. So it's, uh, honestly constantly changing.

Speaker B: Okay. All right. We are talking to Corbett Cole. He is the leader of Camo Ag. And Corbett, I'm going to ask you about the future of ag sales, but I'm going to do that after this message from our sponsor. For today's industry spotlight, we have Cody Hornaday, technical agronomist with Koch Agronomic Services. Cody, innovation continues to be a big focus in nitrogen management. What's coming down the pipeline from Koch Agronomic Services?

Speaker D: Yeah, it's actually already here. So we have officially launched Senturo A Pro, which is a higher concentration of our already known, uh, product Centuro, which is a nitrification inhibitor. We're still utilizing that exact same proven, uh, active ingredient within the original Centuro, all we've done is concentrated this product, uh, to a pretty serious degree to lessen the amount of product that you need, uh, per ton. So we have a higher concentration and then, uh, we also have a lower use rate, uh, which means lower application rates that help retailers and growers handle a lot less product. And you're still getting that same reliable protection below ground.

Speaker B: And what does a higher concentration nitrogen stabilizer mean for ag retailers?

Speaker D: It's all revolving around operational efficiencies. Uh, so with Centuro A pro, it's the three times is three times more concentrated than the original Centuro formulation. And so a retailer really needs less product volume to treat the same amount of nitrogen. That means less storage space, fewer totes, uh, and less product to move during a really busy application window. It really helps streamline logistics while still providing that nitrification inhibition growers rely on year in and year out.

Speaker B: How does Centuro apro continue. Continue to support strong nitrogen stewardship?

Speaker D: Yeah, at the end of the day, the goal is still to protect that nitrogen so more of it remains available for crop uptake. Senturo, uh, a pro is slowing that conversion from ammonium to nitrate, which then helps reduce the risk of, uh, leaching. Excuse me. And denitrification. Uh, by keeping nitrogen in that more stable form longer, growers can better align their application to uh, window with crop uptake. Centuro AQO simply delivers that protection in a more efficient, concentrated formulation that fits today's retail and farm operations.

Speaker B: And to learn more, folks can go to growwithcenturo.com that is Cody Hornaday, technical agronomist with Koch Agronomic Services.

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Speaker B: And we're back talking with Corbett Cull from Camo Ag. All right, so you say that you guys have been out in the market partnering with those in the ag retail space for a couple of years now. What have you helped those customers unearth about sales opportunities? What trends have you been able to pull forward?

Speaker C: So a couple of trends, I would say, uh, that, that we're seeing today. Number one is just the general, um, professionalization of ag sales. You know, it's really, uh, it is a profession Right. Uh, there's a lot of people that are um, uh, ag salespeople for their entire career. Right. So it's uh, it's something that they're investing, uh, years and years, tens of years, decades you might say. So really a professionalization. As part of that, um, sales teams are investing more in the tools that they're giving to their folks, uh, in the truck to help them identify really who they should be selling to, giving them more real time information around prior year sales, uh, perhaps how much a producer has bought from them so far this year so that when they're driving down that driveway, they can be very well prepared for that next sales call, uh, with a producer. So, so number one is just professionalization, uh, giving, uh, giving them more real time information. Um, so, so that's uh, that's one example, uh, that we're seeing. Another example is investing in really understanding where they're allocating resources. Right? So I mean ag is very varied across the country, right? And you have different levels of density of producers throughout the country. So how many resources do you put in each state? How many resources do you put in each region? So they're using Camel Ag to do territory planning, understand their market share in the different territories, uh, obviously understanding the allocation of resources and then really trying to understand share of wallet. Okay, I have a producer who is a customer. How much do I think of his total spend am I getting each year? So that would be, that would be share of wallet. Right? So, uh, and if you're obviously, if you're not getting 100% share of wallet, well, what do I have to do to earn, uh, more of that business with that producer? So as you and I know, proper, uh, etiquette would not be to walk up to a farmer and say, hey, how big are you? How many, how many acres do you farm? Right. You just, you don't ask those questions, right? So obviously you have your sales data, but if Camoi can help provide that salesperson with just a little bit more information so that number one, he understands that producer he's selling to. Uh, but number two really, uh, do a better job of servicing, uh, and if you can provide a higher level of service, well, you're more likely to be able to keep that producer, uh, as a customer long term.

Speaker B: So really, you guys are a newer entrant into this space. Why is now the time for a solution like what CAMOAG is bringing forward?

Speaker C: Yeah, um, there's been a lot of, uh, use of other tools or other tools have been tried. Right? Like there's, I uh, would say CRMs are kind of a four letter word in agriculture. Right. You know it's uh, there have been many uh, failed attempts at taking generic tools and giving them to an ag sales team and say here, have a nice life, it'll make your life better. But those tools are kind of a blank slate, right? They don't really understand agriculture. They weren't really built, you know, from the ground up in agriculture like Camel Ag was. So whether it's you take a tool like you know, Salesforce or maybe some generic ERP system and a lot of times those tools struggle. Uh, but again if you go back to what I said earlier about really professionalizing ag sales today, there's really a need to build or to have tools that were tailor made for agriculture that work the way ag salespeople work. Um, and fundamentally one of the common things is uh, ag salespeople are on the go all the time, right? They're driving in their truck down a country road, right? And if you're doing that, well what's it, what's the first thing that comes to mind? It's like well you better be a map centric platform uh, to be able to help people sell to farmers. And fundamentally that's what is that, what is what Camel is. We're a map first platform that puts uh, producers on the map and it helps ag salespeople figure out who they should be ah, calling on. So that, that's one of the things that I think is um, uh, fundamentally different about Camoag and, and in terms of like why now? I think that we're at a point in time in history where everybody's talking about data and AI and how, how can we use all these tools to sell uh, more effectively. But really it's going to have to come from a place of deep knowledge of agriculture. Right? You can't just go into chat GPT or something and say hey, give me a list of farmers. That's just not the way it works.

Speaker D: Right?

Speaker C: So um, again that's what Camel Ag was built for, is really helping ag salespeople do a better job of selling to farmers.

Speaker B: So you mentioned Farm Credit as one of your partners. What are some other partnerships that you guys have been able to build upon?

Speaker C: Uh, uh, we typically don't disclose our customers, uh, but I can tell you that we're working with a number of uh, top five ag retailers, uh, in the United States and some of the largest uh, ag input companies, ag uh, input manufacturers. So think uh, seed and Crop protection, uh, and we've recently, uh, been very successful in the biological space. An area where we're just now getting into is uh, helping people in the um, machinery space. So, uh, the farm equipment space. We're now starting to work with some of the farm equipment, uh, companies. So, uh, at a high level, those are some of the companies that we're working with today.

Speaker B: Well, and if I could ask from your own personal side of things, you've been involved in ag technology in a couple of different iterations and building companies and bringing ideas forward. What gives you energy the most about camo ag?

Speaker C: You know, there's just, uh, there's something to learn every day. And the market is changing. Uh, obviously, um, the uh, producers are changing the way that they're uh, they're growing and they're surviving. Obviously we're in a kind of a tough farm economy right now. I think it's tough on a couple of different levels, not only for the producers, but also for the folks that are selling to them. Right. There's prices are high and uh, grain prices are not super high. I guess the, the cattle, uh, market is pretty strong right now. But uh, uh, it's uh, it's an evolving market. Right? So for us, what that means is how do we, from the data that we're pulling together, how do we understand what's going on in the market and then distill that down for the person in the truck so that they can do a better job of uh, selling to, to the producers and, and just realizing the market is constantly changing. Right. It, it is getting quite a bit more sophisticated. You know, agriculture is getting more sophisticated, uh, but the tools that um, ag salespeople have access, uh, to today are also getting more sophisticated. So it's, it's an exciting time, uh, to be uh, in the market. And I'll be honest with you, Margie, I mean, it's like there's not a day that goes by that I just don't learn something new about agriculture. And it's, you know, you peel that onion back and you get deeper and deeper into it. Just like, wow, I learned something else new today. So that's what keeps me excited. I'm, I'm very hopeful. Uh, I think, um, AI and data, et cetera, uh, will increasingly become important for, uh, not only for farmers, but the people that are selling to farmers. But uh, the one thing that I have, I have learned is, uh, farmers buy from people. So I don't think those salespeople are going to be disintermediated anytime. If anything I think these uh, you know, these face to face interactions become more important and uh, if we can help uh, those salespeople uh, come forward more authentically and uh, deliver more value to their uh, producers, uh then uh, they have nothing to worry about. But it is an exciting time to be in the industry.

Speaker B: So if you could share what is your outlook for what ag sales will look like? For sure it sounds like continued development with professionalism, but what else should we expect in the future of ag sales?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean definitely uh the quote, robots should help do some work, uh some of the heavy lifting for those salespeople to help them identify the right people that they should be selling or marketing to. I think it's gone from a world of you know, science fiction to today we can look at the data and see um, how to do segmentation of farmers, figure out who's growing, maybe who's towards the end of their career and getting ready uh, to uh, to retire. So I'm just, I'm help, I'm hopeful that uh, the tools are able to uh, help those salespeople be more productive uh, with their time. Right. I mean they're um. I really feel for the salespeople right there, there's, there's long days, uh, driving down dusty roads, delivering product, uh, helping to service their customers and can the tools help surface information and insights to help them uh, do a better job of uh, serving their uh, customers. So I think you will see more automation in uh, in kind of the back office stuff that uh, salespeople uh, so they don't have to do it, you know for. I'll give you a good example. Uh, we're rolling out some tools to help uh, salespeople take quick notes after they wrap up a sales call with a farmer and instead of having to go back to their computer at the end of the day and type notes in to a CRM that they hate using. How do we just help them capture those nuggets of information when they talk to producer and, and make sure that they do a good job of hey, I said I would follow up with this person in two weeks that they actually follow up. Right? So just uh, again tools to help them do uh, their job a little bit easier and make uh, ag sales more enjoyable. I, I think it can be a lot of fun, right. Um, it's a, it's a calling, it's a profession. Right. And uh, but if we can make the job more fun and eliminate some of the tedium of the ag salespeople, then I think we're doing our job.

Speaker B: Well. If folks want to get in touch with you or the team at Camo Ag, where would you direct them to?

Speaker C: Well, obviously, you can go to our website, just Camo Ag. Uh, they can also reach me at. Ah, Corbett Coolamo. Uh, Amo Ag. Um, or if you want to give the, uh, our tools a try, uh, you can go on to the Apple App Store and search for Camo Ag and download the app and give it a shot. Uh, we are CarPlay, uh, enabled now, so as you're driving down those dusty roads, you can see, uh, maps of farms and producers on the screen of your trucks. So, um, I would encourage everybody to give it a shot, give it a try, and feel, uh, free to drop me a note. I would love to talk to people who might be interested in working with us.

Speaker B: Well, Corbett, wonderful to reconnect. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Speaker C: Uh, no problem. Margie enjoyed, uh, the conversation, and I, uh, look forward to talking in the future.

Speaker B: To all of our listeners today, thank you for joining us. And until we are back on the podcast, I wish you a safe and productive season.

Speaker A: Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again soon for another new episode of the Scoop podcast. Be sure to like and subscribe. And remember, all episodes are available on Farm Journal TV and anywhere where podcasts are found.