From the Ground Up: Agriculture industry looking for leaders, visionaries

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Agriculture and the agriculture industry are constantly changing, and what was the norm 50 years ago is not guaranteed to be how the industry operates today.

“There’s been a lot of change already that agriculture has been part of,” said Jay Debertin, President and CEO of CHS.

CHS is a global agri-business cooperative that works to connect growers to consumers. A main part of Debertin’s job is to make sure farmers can adapt to and create new ways of thinking.

“I’m not the least bit kind of unsure about agriculture’s ability to work in that new world,” said Debertin. “We will, we will, we will, and the US farmers’ ability to compete around the world is not going to be a problem.”

But as the changes come about, the agriculture industry is looking for visionaries. Adapting to a changing world is at the forefront of great agriculture minds.

“Figuring it all out. And how we do it more sustainably? How do we do it with less water and less fertilizer? How do we do that,” Debertin said of the questions the industry is facing.

The changing and evolving within the industry is one of the top-selling points, according to Debertin, that entices new people in.

“We were in products and services at one time that we are no longer today and probably a decade from now we’ll be into things that today we’re not into. I think that’s some of the things that make agriculture so exciting.”

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