Forty under 40 perspectives: Overlap between the practical and the economic
Some of my friends in business might be surprised to learn that my path into the economics of agriculture began with a pursuit of medicine. As a college student interning at a South African wildlife rehabilitation center, I found myself at a crossroads. A farmer offered to trap a leopard that was killing his livestock if we could relocate it instead of killing it.
We wanted to save one leopard but the situation was far more complex than that. There were not enough places to relocate an animal where the cycle of livestock predation wouldn’t be repeated over and over. I realized that any solution we came up with would have to consider more than a single animal. It would have to factor in local livelihoods, ecosystems and developing infrastructure. The experience made me realize I wanted to be a part of broader conversations.
This story can be found all over the globe. Farmers, ranchers, wild animals, plants and growing numbers of people are vying for the same locations and resources. I decided in South Africa, the next step for me was to become part of figuring out how to grow and produce more food on less land. If we could accomplish that, and at the same time develop more efficient ways of moving the food where it’s needed, then the leopard might have a home and the plants, animals and people would also have more tools to thrive.
That decision has taken me all over the world and given me the opportunity to help a wide variety of companies understand their supply chains. When it comes to using the land to produce a product, every business has to discover where practicality intersects with smart economic decision-making.
Our food, environmental and transportation systems are complex, and every business is working to accomplish something a little bit different. I enjoy figuring out how your business interacts with systems and at what level you can make changes to get your desired result.
BRANCHING OUT IN AGRICULTURE
My company, Stratagerm Consulting, is the product of many years spent deep diving into nuanced supply chains. It was built from studying how we produce, transport, market and trade our agricultural products in sustainable ways. And, it’s the solution to a problem I recognized in the agriculture sector at large.
Within ag, we are very siloed and niched. We have our subsectors and our expertise, and while we need people to be specialized, I realized that lessons learned in one area are rarely shared with other sectors. There is probably something you know or built that would benefit another agricultural industry, but how do you deliver that information?
I love working across different parts of agriculture; understanding different crops and production systems, the geography of an area and the animals and horticulture that are impacted by those production systems. I love it all. My cross-ag approach lets me see what other groups are doing and bring that experience and expertise to my clients. The problems and challenges we face are complex and often rooted in long-standing methods. I like helping businesses take a step back to look at the entire chain of systems they use. Stratagerm allows me to be the connector and share information across the various industries.
I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all approach to anything in agriculture. I want to know what you aim to create and why it’s valuable to you so that we can find a feasible way to make those goals a reality. If we were face to face, I’d purposefully ask you a question to make you think outside of your existing systems.
MAKE YOUR WORLD BIGGER
Whether you are specialized or travel through many parts of agricultural systems, connection is its own form of currency in our industry. Having opinions and then actually sharing them might sound scary but most of the time the agriculture community is curious. Surprisingly, nobody has called my insights dumb or yelled at me in disagreement. The odds of that happening for you are pretty slim too. Most of the people pursuing interaction with others in agriculture realize that collaboration and innovation will help us solve complex agricultural challenges faster.
When people ask me what it took to build my skill sets and launch my own company, I always say it’s also good to step outside of what you are doing to take a look at what other people are doing. In fact, choosing to keep learning is exactly how you will grow your unique business to the next level.
For me, in South Africa, seeing a system in action was a catalyst for a perspective shift. Choosing to put myself in new experiences for the sake of seeing different perspectives has served me well. Ag people are pretty willing to take 30 minutes to share about what they do. Those conversations are not only fascinating, but also the most valuable resource I have as I continue to grow and evolve as a consultant.
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