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• APRIL 9, 2021 • Midlands Business Journal
Ag Trends A section prepared by the staff of the Midlands Business Journal
April 9, 2021
Decision agriculture drives investments in smart solutions by Michelle Leach
Today’s ag is certainly not your grandparents’ ag. The onslaught of needs and demands in the current environment have simply put those movements toward the likes of increasingly sophisticated “smart” solutions in overdrive. RealmFive’s very name embodies these disruptions in agriculture over the past 120-plus years; from the first and second (mechanization and hybridization), to the third and fourth stages (GMOs and precision ag). The present fifth phase is decision agriculture — data and automation. “RealmFive provides world-class, fullstack connectivity for automating repetitive tasks in production agriculture,” said CEO Steve Tippery. Its status as a tech partner was timely, given how Tippery said the pandemic exacerbated existing challenges in the market. “Whether a farmer or agri-business professional is located in rural Nebraska, rural Saskatchewan, or the rural Outback in Australia, long distances between fields and sites make managing an agricultural operation especially challenging,” he said. “Over 2020, RealmFive adopted a number of new tools to assist its customers, including virtual product training and new virtual methods for customer support.” Furthermore, he indicated there has been an acceleration in adoption of its monitoring, connectivity, preventative failure and automa-
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department Head of Agricultural Economics Dr. Larry W. Van Tassel speaks at the open house of UNL’s Agricultural Economics Commodity Trading Room. (Courtesy of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Agricultural Economics Department) tion solutions. When asked about the effect of the pandem“The company continues to provide solu- ic on established trends or in driving new ones, tions across five industry verticals: agronomy, Tippery referred to industry “megatrends;” for irrigation, livestock, inventory and machinery,” instance, availability of reliable labor, increased he said. regulation, a focus on sustainability, and consumer-driven desires for food traceability and agri-business-driven desires to outsource to reduce capital expenditures. “The agricultural industry has the need for improved infrastructure for reliably gathering data from remote operations and proven tools that provide trusted decision-recommendations,” he said. “All of these megatrends have been accelerated over the last year’s pandemic.” The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is investing in a new Center for Agricultural Profitability, which will reportedly facilitate faculty research, conduct outreach related to agricultural profitability, and train undergraduate and graduate students to support “informed decision-making” in ag via applied research and education. “The agricultural operating environment has changed dramatically over the past 20 years and will continue to evolve in the next 20 years,” said Dr. Larry W. Van Tassell, UNL department head, agricultural economics. “Farms have increased in scale to capture the economies of size. There also has been restructuring in the agricultural input, marketing, and processing sectors.
“Price volatility for agricultural commodities has increased dramatically over the past decade, substantially increasing the need for price and production risk management.” As these trends continue, Van Tassell noted the impacts of each economic decision at the farm production level become “more pronounced.” “There is less flexibility for a wrong business decision,” he said. “It is critical that producers have economic decision-making information that Sandeen is current, factual, specific and holistic, and that they have appropriate tools and procedures to analyze that information.” Farmers and ranchers can no longer aim for max yields or output, while ignoring financial considerations. CAP, which is slated to officially operate by June, will include the likes of its weekly Farm and Ranch Management Webinar Series and new daily articles and podcasts, and Van Tassell said they are beta-testing the Agriculture Budgeting Calculator (ABC). “That will be a foundational decision-making tool,” he said, noting programming will be built around ABC. Research may include interdisciplinary projects on soil health, and the value of carbon sequestration and carbon markets to producers and the environment. “The complex problems faced by agriculture today cannot be solved by isolated disciplines,” Van Tassell said. “A holistic, systems approach is needed to address the profitability of agriculture. While feasibility and profitability of agricultural innovations have always been important, the increasing complexity of the agribusiness environment necessitates a holistic approach to problems.” He said the center provides a uniting locale for faculty from various disciplines (i.e. social science to engineering) to engage with his department’s faculty. “We are also developing a multi-phase farm and ranch management executive training program to increase the management capacity of producers in Nebraska and throughout the region,” Van Tassell added. AGP’s communications management directed us toward a recent Q&A featuring Continued on next page.
Ag Trends — inside APRIL 9, 2021
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF GREATER OMAHA, LINCOLN AND COUNCIL BLUFFS
THIS WEEK ’S ISSUE:
$2.00
VOL. 47 NO. 15
Analytical approach builds Fremont Contract Carriers reach by Richard D. Brown
Anvil Ready guides professionals through communication planning process. – Page 2
40 er d Un 40 Commitment to community service drives, inspires BKD’s Colby Jensen. – Page 3
a‘s ah cts m O istri D
Metro districts have plethora of development projects underway. – Page 4
Sixteen years at Fremont Contract Carriers — the past three as President and CEO — has enabled Tim McCormick to hone his management skills, which he said marries a sense of calm and professionalism. That approach is working in guiding the nationwide transportation specialty firm with 465 late model tractors and a variety of products to haul through pandemic issues and continual initiatives to update technology and to strengthen its arsenal of drivers. “It’s causing me to be more analytical and to look at the numbers rather than just using a gut feeling,” McCormick said. McCormick, who started his work career at 14 as a member of the cleanup crew at Hy-Vee’s Chariton, Iowa warehouse, said one of the highest compliments he hears from employees at FCC’s 15-year-old corporate headquarters in 20,002 square feet at 865 S. Bud Blvd. in Fremont are the echos of, “It’s so quiet here!” Near the S. Bud Blvd. headContinued on page 7.
President and CEO Tim McCormick … With emphasis on updating technology, the logistics company (Photo by Roger Humphries) is expanding its fleet of trucks.
AmeriSphere Companies transforms downtown landscape, looks to affordable housing projects by Becky McCarville
Four years ago, when Rodrigo and Mary López bought land at 9th Street and Capitol Avenue for Capitol Place, a new apartment complex adjacent to what is now CHI Health Center, none of the major downtown redevelopments had been announced yet — from the revamp of the Gene Leahy Mall and the RiverFront to the Kiewit Luminarium to the Omaha
Performing Arts’ new live music venue. From the Capitol Place vantage point, they’re right in the middle of it all. Rodrigo López, chairman of AmeriSphere Companies, started AmeriSphere Financial in 1997 brokering commercial loans. After 2000, McCarthy Capital became a partner, and the company moved to strictly Continued on page 7.
Owner Omar Garrido … Keeping employees busy during the COVID-19 pandemic by bottling and selling homemade horchata in local Hy-Vee grocery stores.
Commitment to staff, authentic flavors drives ingenuity for The Churro Truck by Savannah Behrends
Chairman Rodrigo López and President Mary López at their Capitol Place development … Longtime Omaha-based company evolves over its 25-year history from brokering commercial loans to multifamily financing to development company.
The Churro Truck owner Omar Garrido has one piece of advice for any entrepreneur thinking about starting a food truck: be passionate. “A lot of people think that having a food truck means that you get a truck, park it somewhere, open your window, and the money comes flying in, but
it’s hard work,” he said. Just getting started means getting proper permits, finding a reliable truck, and an appropriate spot, which usually means renting space in a parking lot from a landlord. When Garrido decided to open his food truck in 2016 he wasn’t without experience in the Continued on page 8.