Good business is about more than the products sold — it’s also about the service provided. Headquartered in Fort Dodge, Iowa, NEW Cooperative makes service a top priority for its farmer-members.
“Every time we pull onto the farm, we want the grower to see the value we’re bringing. We’re not just there to sell them something,” said Shan Jaeschke, Agronomy Manager at NEW Cooperative. “The farmers who own our company are not only members but also partners with us in the field. We’ve worked with many of them for a long time.”
The team at NEW Cooperative always works to exceed expectations by building long-lasting, trusting relationships with the farmers in their territories. That helps them make informed, field-specific recommendations.
“We’ve got a lot of people who’ve been here many years,” Jaeschke said. “We have a positive culture thanks to our co-workers who become our friends over time. We build relationships and bring good recommendations for each field. We try to overdeliver for our farmer-members.”
Jaeschke himself is a great example of that long-term commitment. NEW Cooperative has a history of supporting future agriculture leaders through scholarships for students to help with school and encourage them to return to their rural roots. Jaeschke received one of those scholarships.
The “NEW” in NEW Cooperative stands for Northeast Webster County, Iowa, where Jaeschke was born and raised. Jaeschke’s ag roots run deep, and his family continues to farm in the county today.
“Our growers get used to working with the same individuals helping their farming operations year in, year out,” Jaeschke said. “We know where the fields are at. We talk with them about what they need. Working with them over several years helps us have a good idea of what’s expected from us.”
With change comes challenges and opportunities
The agriculture industry doesn’t stand still. New technologies, products and ideas keep the NEW Cooperative team looking for better ways to serve growers during changing times. That includes participating in summer trainings to learn about emerging tools and practices that could benefit its farmer-members.
“We prepare so we can make good recommendations,” Jaeschke said. “We have to be ready for change and help our customers through it. We want them to understand why we’re making changes, such as to improve the return on investment (ROI) or increase yield potential.”
To support those recommendations, Jaeschke and his team learn from in-field trials and plot data. They analyze soil samples in-house to help farmers make informed decisions about seed, soil fertility, weed control and more for individual fields. Helping growers with those first decisions of the season makes it easier to determine what to do later for the crops.
“We have to be willing to adapt every year,” Jaeschke said. “We must make time to meet with growers and build trust and a relationship with them. If our farmer-members are successful, then we’re successful.”
The outcome of decisions — made now and through the spring — is realized next fall at harvest. Throughout the season, the NEW Cooperative team evaluates how crops look and what may need to happen next. This year, for example, fungicide applications were critical as southern rust swept through the fields.
“It’s a yearlong process to see how well we did with the recommendations,” Jaeschke said. “But in those 12 months, we are talking with the grower 30 to 40 times.”
Industry support builds business
Building trust also extends beyond the farmgate. Strong relationships with crop protection companies provide another layer of confidence for both the cooperative and its members.
Jaeschke appreciates having the same long-time Corteva Agriscience representative who understands the cooperative and helps bring new technologies to the NEW Cooperative team and its farmer-members. That relationship was especially valuable when rolling out the Enlist® weed control system to area farmers. Jaeschke appreciated knowing he had the company’s product support.
“We run a full-service business. We don’t market a lot of generics that have no warranty,” Jaeschke explained. “We bring quality products, quality people, quality equipment — quality all the way through. And if there’s an issue, it’s nice to know we have a representative who will be there to help.”
Just as Jaeschke can rely on his Corteva rep, farmer-members know they can depend on NEW Cooperative. Jaeschke said farmers know the co-op is ready to serve their needs.
To read more about NEW Cooperative, visit Corteva.us/TurnrowTalk.
