In this episode, Scott Zehr, Regional Business Development Manager at Agrarian Solutions, sits down with Mark Carpenter, the company’s Chief Executive Officer to discuss Agrarian’s overarching goals and mission in supporting nutritionists, veterinarians, and cattle owners in combating mycotoxins.
Drawing on over 25 years of expertise in the feed industry, Agrarian focuses its lens on mycotoxin solutions, addressing critical issues in cattle nutrition and the profound impact of mycotoxins on livestock health and performance.
Through engaging interviews and thought-provoking discussions on Ruminate This, we aim to arm industry stakeholders with invaluable insights, knowledge and innovation in the global arena of livestock health and performance.
🎧 Listen now to set your herd up for lifelong success!
Scott
All right. Hey everybody. Welcome to Agrarian Solutions’ podcast Ruminate This. I am your host, Scott Zehr. And welcome to episode number one. Today, we’re going to be answering the question, who is Agrarian?
And I’m going to be visiting with Mark Carpenter. He is the CEO of Agrarian Solutions. And I guess you could say my boss. But we’re going to you know, kind of give you guys an overview of why we’re doing a podcast, what the podcast is going to be about, and a little bit about who Agrarian is and where we think we kind of play in the nutrition world and our vision for the future.
So without diving in too much into the weeds before we get into it. I just want to kind of give everybody an overview of what the podcast is going to be about, So you know what you’re signing up for when you hit subscribe, when you download our podcast. You’re going to be able to catch it on all the major podcast platforms as well as YouTube.
And it’s going to be great. We’re going to drop episodes the first, third, and fifth Monday of every single month. Starting today, April 1st, and we look forward to serving you guys and gals on this platform. So this podcast is really meant to be a resource for nutritionist, veterinaries, herd managers, owners of dairy and beef cattle in the United States and anybody that has an interest in cattle nutrition or learning about how mycotoxins can affect their livestock.
But also we’re not limited to just talking about mycotoxins as you’ll see in coming episodes, we have a varying degree of guests. They’re going to come on and we’re going to talk anything from, what’s in your TMR to financial impact, of certain things, and look at things from a 10,000 foot view as well.
So Ruminate This with Agrarian Solutions we feel is the best resource really for all things mycotoxins. What they are, how they affect livestock and the impact they have on producers. So within each episode, we’re going to discuss cause and effect. We’re going to discuss strategies that you can implement till you get the most from your livestock feed stuff.
And as I mentioned, we’re going to be on here bi weekly on Mondays starting April 1. We’re going to discuss the latest research and speak with some of the best, minds, the best experts in the industry about how mycotoxins impact the health and performance of your livestock. We’re going to have a mixture of interviews, conversations, special guests, co hosts, and it’s going to be a great time.
I’m really looking forward to getting to know each one of you. And like I said, hit that subscribe button and make sure you’re tuning in each and every Monday we drop episodes. With that why did we decide to do this podcast? A little bit more into that. We at Agrarian have been in this mycotoxin space.
This feed additive space probiotic space for over 20 years. 20, over 25 years, actually. And you know, we really felt like it was the right time to I guess, let the world know who Agrarian is. I joke that we are the best kept secret and the feed additive space. And I see Mark’s chuckling over that.
I take it. You agree, Mark. And really, you know, I’m going to let Mark dive into why I feel that way. Cause I think he knows exactly what I mean. So with that, I’m going to ask Mark Carpenter to jump in here. Mark Carpenter again, is the CEO of Agrarian Solutions. Mark, I know how much you love being on camera on this platform.
So I really appreciate you coming on and joining me. Mark why are we the best kept secret in the feed additive space?
Mark
Well, thank you, Scott. Well, first I said, so glad to participate here for episode number one of Ruminate This really excited about this and to continue to push our message outward and you are so right for over a quarter of a century.
Agrarian has been, certainly a trusted partner with with high quality products and approaches to provide solutions to producers. And the observations have, been very, very, consistent over and stood the test of time.
Our products work, right? And when you can say that over 25 years consistently, it’s really an awesome feat, right? So one of the things that, as you were saying about, why we’re the best kept secret and as an organization, we really were in that space where relied heavily on our strategic partners for the point of sale, right?
Over time and really we’re, you know, behind the scenes, the research, the technical aspects of it being there to support whether it be producers directly or our strategic partners that are bringing our point of sale products to the farms and being there to consult with the professional nutritionists and consultants and veterinarians that are, helping those producers along the way.
And certainly while that’s done very, very well for us as an organization with those strategic partnerships and being able to serve that role over time, we really have developed a lot of expertise and a lot of knowledge and a lot of talent as we we helped everybody work through a lot of these solutions, particularly in the toxin side, and it’s really a unique opportunity.
And I feel like it’s, it’s not so much even Agrarian pushing forward to say, “Hey, here we are and what we do.” This is more of a poll that really has been and we’ve been pulled in more and more as an organization because of our approach and the way we conduct business. And our knowledge and our technologies to be more part of that conversation looking outward.
So it’s really an evolution of who we are as an organization. And certainly, our absolutely excited about continuing our strategic partnerships as they are today. Particularly across the U.S. But also putting ourselves in a position by demand really to come out around that more and support it directly with our highly talented expertise and technical experiences to really come to support the market around us.
So really excited about, you know, that evolution of Agrarian, if you will. And it’s so important too, to really say is, it is a privately held organization. We strive on our principles and our philosophies of just being the right type of company and doing things for the right reasons.
And I really feel very, very good that confident to say that, you know, you’ll never see any of our Agrarian folks, trying to force a round peg into a square hole. You know, we’re truly there to be partners with, to try to solve problems. And I think that’s a testament of our why we’ve been so successful for over 25 years.
Scott
Oh, I think that’s spot on. And I mean, my experience in the last three plus years with the company I mean, it’s really a culmination of a lot of stuff you just said of going about it the right way every day. And I think that’s something that some companies say they want to do. And my experience with Agrarian so far after three and a half years, is we do it. And it’s waking up going about it the right way every day.
So Mark speaking of the right way every day, what does that actually mean? So we have an acronym.
Mark
We do Scott. rise. We do. You’re right. Yeah. So arise, whether it in our, as a business or as individuals, right, you got to figure out your why and, and figure out why, not just why you do things, but how you want to do things, how you want to be viewed.
I mean, what type of person, what type of organization you want to be. And through a lot of effort and a lot of history and a lot of forward thinking and certainly developing an acronym, if you will, that kind of encompasses who we are and who we desire to be and want to be in the space.
And so, RISE. You see that, that RISE, R I S E on a lot of our content. And really what it stands for is Relational, Integrity, Strategic, and Excellence. There’s a lot that can go into all four of those things, but yeah, RISE. RISE is the acronym.
Scott
So let’s start with the first one quickly. Relational. So just give us a 30 seconds of what does that mean and how do we live that?
Mark
Well, we encompass that because at the end of the day, we do business with people, right? And we need to be absolutely relational in that. When we look at widgets come and go, right.
But solid trusted, reliable, consistent service and approach is never goes out of style, Scott. And so the relational approach of why, the R and RISE for relational is so important because it really encompasses what we do every day when we get up.
We aren’t selling, if you will. We’re supporting, we’re consulting, we’re trying to provide solutions make sure that at the end of the day, Scott, let’s boil it down and to be blessed to be in a space in agriculture like this. It doesn’t matter what you do as your organization or your approach to what you bring to that. We’re at the end of the day trying to help producers be very successful in creating high quality protein that feeds the world.
I mean, it is so important and fulfilling what we all get to do. But the relational aspect is key. First and foremost, we don’t want to transactional. We want to be absolutely relational and very deliberate in that approach to be a partner and an advisor to our clients and our customers and really stay focused on being a good steward of the relationship.
That’s where everything needs to start, Scott.
Scott
Mark, you’ve been in business a lot longer than I have. But I do have two businesses that I own and operate outside of agrarian small businesses here in New York. And what I’ve learned being an entrepreneur, going back to my first very business when I was 21 years old, I started my first business.
I have learned to loathe the term business to business sales. Show me a business that’s ever sold anything or supported anything to another business, and I will show you the wonderful men and women behind the scenes that actually make it happen. And that’s what we mean by Relational. It’s not business to business sales.
Yeah, awesome. So integrity. Again, it’s like I’m repeating myself. A lot of people say, “Hey, you can trust us.mYou know, we’re a great company. We have high standards and, we strive for integrity.” Mark, I feel like striving for integrity is almost a way of saying when nobody’s looking, this is what we do.
But when somebody’s looking, this is what we do. Because really that’s the definition of integrity, right? Is what do you do when nobody’s looking? And if I have to try to tell you how high our integrity is, does it really mean that much? And so, you know, from a company level, how do we go about demonstrating that integrity?
Mark
You’re so right on that, Scott. You know, is what do you do when nobody’s looking, right? And that is so paramount to building our structure and our organization and how we want to do. It’s not something that we say, it’s something that we live, right?
And we set those expectations every minute of every day. And that’s everything from top down. We view our success and the success of our teams, based on the successes that our producers have and our partners and the folks that we’re helping consult with.
And to just always do the right thing. And I’m the first one to say is sometimes Scott, as you well know, we might be asked to consult and work on trying to come up with a solution that a particular producer or area have. And, we’ll be the first to say that, “Hey, you know, we’re not sure that we’re the exact right fit for this.”
And depending on, you know, the assessment of the whole situation. But at the end of the day, I think we’re the first ones to say is again back to the transactional relational thing. So as you can see this, this RISE wall build. Having the utmost integrity is to be able to admit when we don’t know.
And what I love about Agrarian and being so nimble and focused on our purpose is will be the first ones to say is, “you know what? We don’t know.” But we can draw on this long history that we have. And these observations that we have across the whole, well, the globe really but in particularly in our discussion here, beef and dairy and in the U.S., and say, “let’s work together to find the right solution.”
And we can call on our technologies and in our formulations and our protocols to really create that right solution rather than finding something off the shelf and saying, “Oh, yes, we’ve got the product for you.”
So I think that integrity there for us as an organization that allows us to the expectation that we set right from every minute when we start our day is to find the right solution and a lot of times we need to develop that solution as we work with our partners together to discover it.
Scott
Absolutely. So next on the list is Strategic. What does that mean as an acronym or as part of our acronym. For us to be strategic?
Mark
Hey, well, it’s deliberate and intentional, Scott. I mean, is how I like to say it is, again, as we build, it’s relational, it’s not transactional. It’s doing the right thing when nobody’s looking and to be very strategic in our approach, because, we’ve got so much…
So much history of success and observation. And as we build around that, we understand that there’s a lot of products out there in the marketplace that claim to do things. And you see, products come and go and pop up and get marketed really heavily, and then they disappear and it makes you wonder.
The strategic approach, for us, particularly on the toxin side, is with our long history proven trust and observation and in the success of our products is we’ve invested pretty heavily in independent research. And we didn’t have any doubt, Scott, I’ll be honest with you, but you hire an independent group to do trials and do, really detailed structured research and you hope the outcome is what you believe it is.
And certainly in our case, it was, and we’ve probably not shouted from the top of the hill, how good our product really is and how consistent it works. But the research has proved that and so proud of the independence of that and then the results that came out of it.
The strategic aspect of that particular piece to don’t just listen to us. Here’s a completely independent research trial that substantiates the claims that we’ve made. And has proven it to be very successful in both, reproductive improvement and production improvement.
And it’s a really good ROI for our customers and clients. As an organization, as we talked about, kind of being I guess the..
Scott
The best kept secret.
Mark
The best kept secret, right? So, you know, the strategic side of that is to really, still embrace our long history of our approach to market and our approach to being a supportive resource and technical aspect.
But also as we continue to do what we’re doing right here and put ourselves out there and introduce ourselves to the world. About who we are and what we do and what we have. And the strategy on that side is to really align ourselves in a professional lane as well that puts Agrarian sometimes out front.
Rather than being, you know, kind of behind the scenes supporting and consulting is there. The strategic aspect of that is we’re very, very comfortable, very confident with who we are and what we do and why we do it. And it’s time to share that outward and develop those channels as well.
Scott
Yeah. Part of why we’re doing this, Ruminate This podcast right now.
Mark
Exactly. Exactly.
Scott
And look at you, the old pro. For talking like this and podcasting dropping teasers for the next episode. I love it. So the research he referenced, you’re going to see that in the next episode, episode two, part one and two. Part two, we’re going to be talking about production research and reproduction research.
Man, I wanted to give another teaser there, but I’m going to stop right there. So RISE. Last letter of the word, Excellence.
Mark
Yes.
Scott
I feel like that should be self explanatory, but what does that mean to us as a company?
Mark
Well, you know nothing but is not acceptable. Right. And again, it goes back to is every minute of every day.
You know, just being excellent. What you do doing the right thing all the time with integrity. And being very deliberate and intentional in what we do and why we do it. And just being the very best version of ourselves as we can be as an organization and that expectation on anybody that where’s the brand that’s representing the company.
And that is just plain and simple, you know, the expectation that we have every one of us. As I talked to our teammates, Scott, we live it it’s really exciting. And that goes back to the testament of developing the RISE, rise for over a period of time.
And really just continuing to reflect on that as an organization and as individuals. And it’s full buy in. It really is. And you know, and people say this all the time. I mean, these aren’t cliches. This is how we live. And I’m pleased to say that this is kind of how we’re all wired, Scott, that are involved with the Agrarian Solutions company.
It’s not what we turn on when we start our day going to work for Agrarian. It’s who we are as people and as company. And that’s really just built such a really special culture. And I’m excited to continue to share.
Scott
I like to sum up the excellence part of it and I would agree with you, Mark, it’s company wide. And granted we’re a small company in the grand scheme of things.
What do we have 12 people working for us? 13 somewhere in there. But there’s a culture at Agrarian that says if you have the ability to basically be excellent, is how I interpret it, why would you settle for anything less than that? And it’s not just excellent when you’re in front of a nutritionist, or a veterinary, or a herd owner, herd manager, when you’re on the farm with a client.
It’s the personal life too. It’s everything. You know really challenging yourself to elevate to that next level in every way. So Mark you know, we covered RISE and what that means.
Talk to us a little bit about the mission statement of Agrarian and a little bit more about who we are, and where we’re headed.
Mark
Well, sure, Scott. One of the things, and I certainly remember there was a time you had these little, poker chips too.
And so I’ll kind of go around about here, you know, all in and I remember you had, I actually still have some laying around.
Scott
I keep one in my computer laptop bag. It travels with me everywhere we go. I have one stuck to the dash of my truck. You know, we might get into that in one of these episodes as to what all in really means, but yeah.
Mark
So really that’s, you know, really the framework around that and certainly continues to build on, on everything we’ve talked about so far is, being with the RASE, the rise and certainly All In and who we are as an organization. And we don’t need to be or want to be or desire to be everything to everybody.
Scott
So Mark talk to us a little bit about our vision as a company and where we stand maybe globally and domestically.
Mark
Sure, Scott. To kind of neck it down, the vision really is to really, continue on our proven track of being a global leader in livestock health and performance.
Certainly mycotoxin. Our core technology is an excellent solution. Yeah, at Agrarian Solutions, our mission is to empower others to succeed. And that’s certainly builds on everything that we’ve talked about previously in this podcast about our why and our purpose and what we do.
And really we gauge ourselves and our success and our ability to make our clients, our customers, our producers other professionals that we’re helping to consult with to identify, solutions to problems that the herds that they’re working with or are having to be successful.
That is really the core of our mission is to really empower others to be successful and how we go about as a company and as resources and technical experts. You become part of that process. May look different depending on the client or the situation. But at the end of the day is we absolutely exist to empower others to succeed.
Scott
I mean, that’s mic drop right there for me, Mark.
Know, Mark, for me, when I think about our mission and vision statement, I get pretty fired up because I had a chance, this is my second stop in my professional career since leaving the farm. And I had a chance to work for premier Select Sires prior to that.
Never thought I’d leave premier. I had a great career at premier for seven years. And I always admired Agrarian from afar. And, I’ve been with this company now three and a half years. And I know I said, I’d never thought I’d leave premier. But, man, I hope there’s always a spot for me here at Agrarian because it’s a great company culture.
And what matters when you’re in business and you know, as somebody who’s been in business for a long time, it really does come back to rise, Mark. It comes back to this mindset of we’re talking with people, we’re working with people, we’re serving people. And, it’s the old parable, right? If you treat people the way you wish to be treated, and it’s not that hard. It’s not that hard.
Mark
No, it’s not.
Scott
Yeah, I don’t know why we have to laugh about that.
Mark
Well, Scott, I laugh too because I said I’m always talking to employees and stuff. And certainly my daughters are, one’s coming out of high school, one’s at college right now.
Want the secret, right? And I’m like, there is no secret. You just be a good human, right? Show up, work hard. One of the biggest things, Scott, is if you don’t know, say, you don’t know, right? That’s the one thing that drives me absolutely nuts.
I mean, you see folks so hungry for that sale or that, whatever that is. And that certainly drives people for sure. But, I’m like, that is a metric. That’s the transaction part of it. That is what comes and goes, right? That’s the widget that I talk about.
Be a good person, show up, work hard, be honest, be consistent and know when you don’t know. But also provide that solution, Scott, right? So, we all have vast resources that like Dr. Roth, right?
I mean, a lot of times I’ll end up in some conversations that I’m like, “yeah, yeah, you know what? This is a little too much for me, technically. Give me a day. Let me get the right answer and we’re going to work through this.” And that whole team thing, but you’re right, it comes down to just show up and show up and do the right thing every day.
Scott
I’m not a psychologist, but I love learning about the human mind and how we all work. And I read something here in a book that I was going through. I’ll have to dig up the book. I remember the quote more than anything. But the first step in developing imposter syndrome is taking the first step to be an imposter.
Mark
Okay.
Scott
Just admit, “Hey, I don’t know.” You don’t come up with something off the cuff. Don’t be the imposter because then you feel like it and it’s a real thing. And when you just go about it the right way every day, treat people the way you want to be treated you know, live and work to be excellent it all just goes so much easier. Mark, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time with me today.
I look forward to more conversations like this. I know you’re probably jacked up to be on another episode soon. So we’ll keep that in mind. With that, everybody tune in for our next episode, Mark dropped the teaser. We’re going to be talking about our production research and independent study that was done with our flagship product select DTX.
And we’re going to dive into more and more of that as we move forward. And serve you cause that’s what we’re here for. So if you liked what you’re hearing today, hit that subscribe button on your podcast channel that you prefer, but also YouTube. You can follow us there Ruminate This podcast and anywhere where you listen to podcasts.
So Mark, I hope you have a great week. Thanks again for your time. And we’ll be talking again soon.
Mark
Thanks Scott. And thanks everyone. See you again soon.
