Inside Marketing with MarketSurge

Welcome to Inside Marketing
With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed: Hello and welcome back to
Inside Marketing with Market Surge.

Today's guest is Todd Steiner.

An award-winning agronomist and
founder of Acre Crop and Land.

Todd's journey began on his
family farm in rural Illinois,

leading him to earn top accolades.

In fact, the 2021 International Certified
Crop Advisor of the Year through

dedication to agronomy excellence.

After a Global Impact project in
Zambia and a distinguished career at

Agri Gold and Growmark Todd launched
his agronomic coaching business

to help farmers and advisors boost
profitability while gaining flexibility.

As a dad.

Today we'll dig into how he became
a coach and what it takes to run

a business in agronomics blending
science service and systems.

Welcome Todd.

Todd Steinacher CCA: Yeah.

Afternoon.

Thanks for having me.

Reed: Yeah, my pleasure.

Well, Todd, uh, this, uh, podcast,
I've had a lot of guests in the

digital marketing and, um, a lot
of, uh, industries that, you know,

do business primarily in, in the
city or, you know, um, very, uh.

Uh, you know, businesses that have
a lot of, um, you know, face-to-face

components and so I was really
fascinated when we connected.

I wanted to learn more.

Um, can you tell us a little bit
about what an agronomist does

and how you got into this field?

Todd Steinacher CCA: Absolutely.

So most of the time when I
talk to somebody and, and

they ask me what do I do?

I say, I'm an agronomist.

Their first question is like, what of
have the, the deer in the headlight look?

And, and so if you think of.

A biologist is somebody
who studies biology.

A chemist is somebody
who studies chemistry.

Agronomy overall is, is, um, the, the
plant's, science soils and the fertility

that's on the production agriculture side.

So an agronomist is somebody
who, who basically studies that.

so I, I kind of tell people I get to
play, you know, in, in the science

world, I get to play in the, the
business world because I kind of

sit everywhere that the farmer does.

I.

So it, it's our responsibility to
understand, uh, soil fertility.

It's our job to understand the chemistry
in the soils, water nutrient management,

uh, the genetics that we're planting,
you know, across really all crops.

I, I primarily focus in on corn bean and
wheat, but there's a whole host of crops

around the world that all agronomist,
uh, kind of, kind of play with.

Now I, I would consider myself more
of a, I'll call it a broad agronomist.

Uh, very specifically looking from a
business and high yield standpoint,

because there can be some that
are very focused on fertility.

There can be some that are very focused
on, uh, weed management, crop protection.

So, so really just, you know,
agronomy and agronomist has a

very overarching arching umbrella.

Now.

So I, I've, uh, I always knew
I wanted to be an agronomist.

I knew there wasn't an opportunity
to go home and farm, and I said,

what's the next best option that I
can still stay engaged in agriculture

and, and it's to be an agronomist.

And so literally from the time I, I
started my freshman year of college,

and, and I'll be honest, I didn't, I
didn't think I could excel in college.

But, but actually I did, 'cause I, I
really wasn't that good in high school

academics, but once I started, uh,
in, in the college level, it, it just

clicked, you know, the science clicked
with me, the math, all the, all the

business classes and it was just amazing.

And, and so I, I really can't
see myself doing anything else.

I, I love what I do and, and I always
have, I call 'em goofy projects.

I'm always trying to understand
something in the soil or.

With the plants or, uh, doing
something and people are always

like, Todd, you're always working.

I'm like, yeah, but it's fun.

I'm like, I, I don't, I don't go golfing.

I don't go fishing.

I don't, I don't have
all these other hobbies.

You know, me nerding out on corn and
beans and, and soil is, is my hobby.

So again, I, I get to do
what I love every day.

Reed: That's awesome.

And you know, I think we'd all wish
to be so fortunate that we get to do

what we love and get paid doing it.

That's, that's really cool.

Um, you, so you touched on one thing,
um, just in your comment, but previously

when we talked earlier, uh, you cover
a lot of the business aspects of Agros.

You know, when you are working with
the, the farms that you work with,

tell us what the, those kinds of
projects look like when you're working

with the business side of agronomics.

Todd Steinacher CCA: Yeah.

So, you know, over the, the, the last
20 years, you know, kind of, it's kind

of hard to believe it's been 20 years,
but, you know, I, I've seen a lot of

times good agronomy decisions don't get
implemented of the financing and, and,

and the profitability on that acre.

so if we're not managing business side,
buying our inputs, right, making sure

we're, we're minimizing our risk and all
these other pieces and growing our yields.

It's not gonna allow for
opportunities to, to go purchase

these things and make good decisions.

So say for an example, you know,
we, we, uh, you know, put, together

on, on, on nitrogen management
programs or to go apply a fungicide.

I, I love spreadsheets.

You know, we could nerd out in
spreadsheets all day long, putting

business proposals together.

And it's basically roadmap for
a grower because a grower's

got a lot on their plate.

You know, they're, they're wearing
the hat of, the agronomist, the, the

chemist, the, the financing, the, the
legalities, the, the liabilities from the

insurance standpoint, selling their grain.

A lot of times folks just want,
gimme a plan, gimme a business

plan makes sense financially,
and, and I'll, I'll follow it.

And so that's where I gravitate
towards understanding that because

I, I, I got a lot less objections.

So early on in my career when I was
in agronomy, I was still in sales.

So if I could put a proposal together
for a grower to understand fertility

costs are gonna be, what their seed costs
are gonna be, what it costs them to, to

prepay versus waiting till end season,
and just help them understand where

they can, they can make more bushels.

And so, you know, at the end of the day,
you have your total cost of production.

If you divide it by how many bushels you
get, that's, that's really what you have

to sell your grain for, to break even.

a lot of cases, a lot of growers
don't know what that, that value is.

And so I was able to, to come outta
the gate and share that with a

lot of growers, Hey, here's your
plan off your average production.

This is really where you need
to start selling your grain.

So you know, if it's north of
that, let, let's start playing

because you can be profitable.

But then take this to your crop, uh,
crop advisor on, on the grain side,

grain advisor, and start letting
'em know this is really the ballpark

where we need to be playing at.

So it, it's really a team effort.

Reed: That's, that's awesome.

So Mo, would you say most growers
employ an agronomist like yourself,

um, on a regular basis, or, or is
it more of like a kind of a, when

they have a custom question, um,
how, how does that typically work?

Todd Steinacher CCA: yeah,

Reed: I.

Todd Steinacher CCA: it really depends,
you know, there, there's some very

progressive, uh, and aggressive, farming
operations across the country that,

that just have an agronomist on staff.

Reed: Hmm.

Todd Steinacher CCA: there's gonna be a
ma you know, I'll call it the, the, the

most mass of growers across the country,
very specifically in Illinois, where

I cover seed companies, uh, retailers.

they have their own agronomist and
basically it's, Hey, as long as

you're doing business business with
us, you get access to our agronomist.

So that's where, uh, the agronomist
usually is on board to, to help test

products, go out and see things,
visit with growers, you know, handle

the objections, handle challenges,
but, you know, they, it, it allows,

you know, medium and small size
growers to have access to that

agronomist, but not have 'em on staff.

You know, Hey, I'm already buying.

crop protection, my nutrient
management, my, my seed from the

co-op or, or such and such company.

Well then in turn I get, I get some
access to this particular agronomist.

So now from like my standpoint, since I
don't sell any of those things, um, I,

and, and I'm not knocking the agronomists
that, that work for those companies.

Uh, but at the end of the day, I,
I don't, the grower pays my bills.

You know, when, when I'm out consulting
with them, giving, giving them

advice, it's not because I'm getting.

You know, lock folks in ag get paid
by acres, tons and gallons, and,

and I'm not, I'm not selling that.

So it allows me to be very,
open-minded and can just really

give my opinion on what, what is
gonna be best for that grower.

Because in my mind, I.

You know, I, it's not like I have
a fiduciary responsibility to these

growers, but really, I, I, in my, in
my gut and my soul, I do because I

want them to be successful because
my grandfather farmed, I, I really

hoped he had very strong advisor
that that helped him over the years.

And, and so I, I just want to, I want
to be that champion and that's coaching,

you know, my, my job is to coach folks
and to, uh, to make them be successful.

Reed: You know, as you mentioned, the
agronomists that work for the, the seed

and grain companies, um, reminds me
of kind of the equivalent in my world.

Um, periodically the, the Facebook ads
and the Google ads, uh, uh, employees

will reach out and they'll say, Hey, you
know, we could do a free consult call.

And, um, ultimately the.

Solution to every problem of your
ads performance is like, oh, you

know, why don't you try raising
your daily budget a little bit?

You know?

And, and, uh, it's like, yeah.

Okay.

All right.

Uh, just remind myself who you
work for and, and, uh, you know,

there's some advantage in having
a, an independent, uh, looking at,

Todd Steinacher CCA: Right.

Reed: uh.

Todd Steinacher CCA: so, so, so
several years ago, um, you know,

fungicides for, for health, plant
health came, came very popular in corn.

and I can remember having this
conversation with the grower and

I was kind of, you know, early in
career and the growers like, you

know, Todd, every time I, spray this.

The manufacturer made money.

the transportation company that
got it to your company makes money.

I'm sure you're making money off of
it, but how often do I make money?

And, and so I, I can still
remember that conversation.

That was 19, 20 years ago.

Um, that grower has since passed away.

But that conversation has
stuck with me my whole career.

And, and, and that's where I, I
really try to help folks understand,

Hey, let's test products.

Let's see where they
work, where they don't.

So, so we can make these decisions
instead of either saying, Nope, we're

gonna opt out, not do it, and then get
hurt financially from lack of yield or

standability issues at harvest, uh, or we
have to spread across all of our acres and

we just increase our cost of production
and maybe only work 80% of the time.

So, so how can we find a,
a nice balance in there?

And so really that's where I've.

Always come from, from
an agronomist standpoint.

can't sit here today and tell
you, yes, this will or will not

work X percent of the time, but I
wanna partner with you to test it.

you're, if you're willing to go
put it out there, split fields, you

know, across a lot of acres, I, I
will be there to partner with you

to collect the data, evaluate it.

I, I do what I call audits.

Let's go to the field, let's audit fields.

Let's figure out where
yield was gained and lost.

And then I can let you know, did we see.

You know, because a lot of times you
can get, I call it biological yield,

Reed: Okay.

Todd Steinacher CCA: greener plant,
taller plant, bigger leaf, bigger roots.

that equate to, to yield?

Sometimes it does or doesn't.

And then was it economical yield?

And, and so every, everybody wants the,
the profitable economical yield, but it

might've just been a factor of the year.

But if for some reason, hey, I
did see a biological response,

but it might've been the season.

Okay, now we know how to go tweak it.

So, so a lot of times what we're doing,
it's trial and error and, and that's where

I, I kind of referenced, you know, farming
is kind of the old school of like nascar.

Uh, you know, he who wins is who tweaked
the car the best, you know, and, and

tried to figure something out and got
ahead of somebody because they, you

know, rigged something up and it worked.

And that's really what production ag is.

It, it is trying to get ahead
and, and finding what works.

But again, if, if the folks
in the countryside are, are.

You know, are, they're just to sell stuff.

You know, not there to actually be a, a
true partner with the, with the grower.

Um, you know, you, you can go
broke, spend tons of money.

'cause every every company's out
there says, well, buy my stuff.

It'll increase five bushels.

Well, you know, growers jokingly say,
well, hey, if I just do that 50 times

across all these, these items, well,
you know, I got, I got high yields

now, but then you can't afford it.

So it, it, it's kind of funny,
you know, everybody's wanting to,

know, grow to buy something and.

And, uh, but, but nobody
wants to test stuff.

You know?

It's, oh, don't, don't split your field.

Just do the whole field.

Well, that's not a wise decision,
you know, it's not wise business

unless you're sold on it.

You know, we know nitrogen
corn plant needs nitrogen.

Yeah.

Let's split, you know, let's
put across the whole field.

Now we might adjust our rates and see
what works best or adjust something else

within it to see if we can improve it,
but we're, we're already sold a nitrogen.

It's an essential nutrient.

We know, we know the corn plant needs it.

Reed: Yeah.

Yeah.

No, that, no, that's good.

That's, that's a good example.

Um, do, now let's zoom out a
little bit and, uh, in addition

to working as an agronomist, you
also coach other agronomists.

Now what, what does that look like?

You know, what, what, what are
those services like, and, and

what kinds of education do, do
agronomists need on a regular basis?

Todd Steinacher CCA: Well, so if you
ever heard the, the expression we're

building the ship as we're floating,
that's exactly what we're doing.

I, I, I had the vision of what I wanted.

I had some very good, um.

Coaches, you know, leaders that
I looked up to in my career.

And, and you know, they, they
taught me a lot about how, how to

be an agronomist, how to present,
uh, how to think logically.

And, and I'll be honest, I, I feel like
our industry has lost a lot of that.

Um, folks coming outta college.

I, I don't think they're prepared
to, uh, to handle the needs

of growers moving forward.

And, there's a lot of risk associated with
these companies based off the decision.

A lot of these.

You know, sales agronomists are
making, so one, you know, becoming

a CCA certified crop advisor and,
and I've been a CCA for many years.

Um, you, you'd referenced early on
I was the, the 2021 International

CCA and I was also the, the
2020 Illinois CCA of the year.

And, and so Illinois actually only
had three, three folks go on to become

the international CC of the year.

So, so I, I feel very honored to,
to be in that, that small club.

But within that.

there's a big test involved.

You know, it, A-A-C-P-A
has to go take a test.

Um, you know, a lawyer has to go
take a test, A doctor has to go take

a test to get their, their board
certification and, and really crossed ag.

There is no, you know, um,
mandate, federal mandate,

it, it, it's self-serviced.

It's, Hey, we're gonna
go take this, this exam.

It's been, I think it's been about 30
years since the CCA program started.

But you have to have so many continuing
eds in soil and water nutrient management,

integrated pest management, crop
development, and, and you gotta have,

I think like five in each category.

Then you can do professional development.

And so that helps.

And, and that's every two years, sorry,
40 CEUs, but that's designed to, yes.

Let's go take the test.

We, we know that, hey, you
understand basic agronomics that,

that most growers are gonna face.

Now we want you to stay sharp and,
and so we want make sure you're going

to these meetings, you're going to
these educational to learn the newest

and greatest, and you're applying
that back with, with our, with our

customers that we're we're servicing.

So what I built in with this one, I have
classes that, that sits with the, the

junior college that folks can, uh, go
and prepare themselves to take that exam.

Uh, it's about 15 hours, uh, of content,
but it, but it, it's broken down to

where it's digestible, but it's also not
taught, taught from a PhD standpoint.

It's taught from.

Todd Steiner boots on the ground for
the last 20 years, and, and let's sift

through some of, I'll call it some of
the BS that you might not want to hear

about, but it's the stuff that's gonna
impact not only you to understand and

take this test, but how to be a, a
great agronomist at the end of the day.

Because I could care less if somebody
just went, took the test, check

the box past it, but they weren't
a good agronomist after that.

I've got one opportunity to
try to influence these folks.

Um, so, so I, I gotta
take my time where I can.

So, so that's, that's primary one.

I wanna help folks become
CCAs, understand the content.

So when they're out working with
growers, they're making good, good

advice to, to put that grower in that,
that land, uh, first and foremost,

number two, it, it's having the CEUs.

So I, I've created, uh,
courses that I have, um.

I, I'll call, I, I follow
the crop, you know, uh, from,

from, you know, fall till fall.

And, and I have short videos lined up
because each season's gonna be different.

And so these videos are all designed
how they interact with those five

categories, nutrient management, crop
development, and, and it's applied to how.

How a salesman or agronomist can
learn, oh, that's how that's impacting

us right now based off this season.

So the amount of the heat we've gotten,
the amount of rainfall we've gotten,

the temperatures, and, and all these
other factors that play into it.

So I, I'm metering this information
throughout the year to them as a coach

to say, Hey, this is what our problem is.

This is why, and this is
how you interact with it.

These are the questions you
need to be asking your growers.

A lot of times it's what, what do I
have a conversation with the grower?

Because a lot of times you don't, you
don't wanna go out and sell 'em something.

It's the wrong time of
year to be selling stuff.

So, and, and as long as we're, we're,
uh, watching the videos, we're taking

the quizzes, I, I'm able to offer those
continuing eds to those, those, uh, CCAs.

Now they can still go to, to
meetings anywhere else and get 'em,

but a lot of times, you know what?

They're boring, they're not
topics that you could apply.

You have to drive three or
four hours, stay overnight.

A lot of cost.

And, and from a sales manager standpoint,
need my people out in the field.

And, and so if they're at a conference for
three or four days, what value is that?

So the systems I have set up.

Is it's metered out to, to these guys,
uh, and gals throughout the year.

And, and so it's coming right to them.

They don't have to log in.

I, I try to take all these handcuffs off.

That's usually a, a pain in the butt
for me, but how can we streamline

this thing and get it right to them?

So with that, they,
they have those videos.

They.

I interview other industry professionals,
kinda like we're doing right now on

topics that are of interest to them.

Instead of me coming up
with the core topics, core

information, let's bring some in.

I'm, I'm trying to start getting,
uh, university grad students and,

and one, so how can we help them be
successful once they get into industry?

Hey, come practice with me.

Come, come do just like this right here.

You know, I'm not saying put it
into a lecture form, but let's just

have a conversation of your project.

You know, educate me.

You know, I, I, I still need
to be educated and learn so

I can help recommend things.

So, it, it's all about becoming
certified and keeping our,

our skills very, very sharp.

So I always kind of go back to a quote I
always liked, uh, from Abraham Lincoln.

You know, if you have two hours
to, to chop down a tree with

an ax, spend the first hour
sharpening, sharpening the blade.

And so.

The folks that I tend to work with,
um, largely are the ones either

right outta college to to year five.

So, so how can I have
a strong impact there?

Don't get me wrong, I still work with,
know, the, the folks that are, that

have been longer in career, they,
they need, they want some tweaking.

But man, if we don't help those folks
early in career, you know, to where they

have a good successful year one, year two.

They're gonna get out, they're
gonna go do something else.

Uh, they're not gonna be successful,
and they're gonna get burnout,

and they're gonna get discouraged.

They're gonna get bad recommendations.

So again, how, how can
we, we help do that?

And you know, it's just.

it's part of leadership, know, uh,
leadership with, within my industry.

You know, uh, at, at some point we, we
all gotta step up and, and so I, I've

always tried to take folks under my wings.

I, I go to junior colleges,
I go to high schools.

I go to FFA contest.

I.

Um, and, and always try to, to intertwine
inter intertwine, um, nutrient management.

The things that we're doing here
in every conversation I do to,

to have an education opportunity
visit with folks to, to help them.

Uh.

Because one, they, they may reach.

I've had folks reach out to me
five years down the road say, Hey

Steiner, I remember you did this,
this, and this at at a meeting.

Uh, C can you re-explain it to me?

Absolutely.

But then there's a large group of
people I'll never see again, but

if I can have a positive impact on
them, hopefully they went out in the

industry and did something great.

Reed: Um, just at a high level,
would you say that, uh, in your

field, um, you need to do a little
bit of like re recruiting work?

Like, um, as opposed to like,
are there enough agronomists out

there for, for example, like.

Todd Steinacher CCA: So, so
there's a lot of agronomy majors,

Reed: Okay.

Todd Steinacher CCA: business majors.

Um, there's, there's probably
gonna be a, a time where good sales

agronomists are, are deficient.

Um, you know, just because.

Cycling out, you know, folks retiring
and, and you know, companies are always

higher agronomists than they down, you
know, I'll be honest, u usually the first

role that gets cut is the agronomist.

Reed: Oh, interesting.

Okay.

Todd Steinacher CCA: we're not directly
related, uh, involved in sales,

but yet we protect a lot of sales.

So companies that, that
retain their agronomists.

I, I, I tend to.

Have a lot of respect for those
companies, and you can kind of see

that they're the ones that have very
good, long term stable, success.

Reed: Hmm.

Todd Steinacher CCA: the ones that
are always moving the agronomist

around, they're, they're the ones
that go up and down and, and have

some challenges to be successful.

Uh, I, I think there's always gonna
be demand for a good agronomist.

there's folks going into the sciences,
so, so there's a good supply.

It's just pulling, pulling those ones
out and, and giving just little extra.

Attention, you know, Hey, c, come out,
come, maybe come outta the sales world.

Come, come on this side a little bit.

Let's polish you a little bit from
a, uh, an agronomist standpoint.

I think you'll be very successful.

our industry does a very good job
of, you know, recruiting folks,

you know, through FFA four H and,
and grade school to high school.

Get 'em into junior colleges.

Junior colleges are, are very focused.

Uh, I, I've been working with them
for years trying to get 'em to, um.

Incorporate the CCA
exam into their program.

So when they come outta junior
college, they've already got their

CCA, they're ready to go to work
and, and they're more employable.

so right now, I, I think we have
a lot of folks in the pipeline.

it, it's just getting them some
experiences and getting them up and going.

So from my standpoint, I, I
don't really have to go recruit.

Reed: Okay.

Todd Steinacher CCA: the, the, the
industry does a very good job of it.

Now I have to recruit.

Clients to come wanna work with me.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Todd Steinacher CCA: uh, my, my
goal is going into the next year,

I want 26 people because I wanna be
able to have number of people that

have more impactful conversations
with them and, and to where it is.

Yes, we have digital, but yet we're
gonna have these one-on-one conversations

and we can work through the challenges.

Because I've learned a lot of times
the, these guys and gals, they're

scared to go tell their boss they're
having problems and challenges and

they just kind of wait till it kind of.

You know, all, all comes together,
but I've always found the agronomist

is kind of the, guidance counselor
or, you know, grandma with cookies

and, and they come and want to have
a conversation with, you know, they,

they've always spilled the beans to me.

And, and, and I've always been able to
help coach salesmen over, over the years.

I, I've never been in a situation where.

I've been a sales manager or, you know,
had direct reports to me, but I've,

I've helped coach a lot of folks and
train them to be successful and kind of

work through a lot of these challenges.

Um, so, so, yeah.

You know, there, there, there is a
need for, for good agronomy folks in

the future and there always will be.

Reed: Now as you've been talking,
I've been taking some mental notes

of some universal truths that are,
uh, that you've mentioned that would

apply to just about any business.

And, um, you know, if.

If you will, I just wanna take a moment
and highlight a few points you mentioned.

One was having a deep expertise
in your subject area and

the value that that brings.

And you know, you, you've
mentioned the, the certification

that you can get, you know, some
industries have that, some don't.

But, um, to.

Have the level of expertise such
that you could pass a certification,

um, I think is pretty critical.

And then two, you mentioned, you
know, kind of a consultative approach.

Now, a lot of service businesses, uh, you
know, I, I have a lot of clients in the

service businesses, um, do need to, uh,
establish some credibility and connection

and trust with a client before they.

Are selected.

And, uh, you know, I I I, I
love how you mentioned that.

Um, so say you were talking to a,
uh, you know, a potential agronomist,

uh, you know, and say like, here,
give me a project and let's,

let's work through it together.

You know, and that's like exactly the
kind of exercise that just about any

service professional, uh, uh, could, you
know, could benefit from that approach.

Um, you know, and, and I think overall,
like the way you described is making your.

Teaching and coaching
content, really engaging.

Um, you know, like in it, it's a lot of
deep science and, you know, a lot of,

um, you know, and, and maybe when taught
by certain eco uh, academics that are

a little bit dry in approach, you know,
just like could really push people away.

So, um, you know, being really engaging
I think is, is super important.

Um, but also maybe like even
just the principle of like.

Are you, do you have a mentor?

Do you have a coach?

You know, like, and you know, like
you should always be learning.

And it sounds like that, like all these
things you, you embody in your practice.

Um, but, but yeah, I think that,
I think you've covered a lot of

things that we can take away.

Um, you know, and I don't know if
you have anything to add to that,

but I, I mean, I think you've covered
a, a lot of really good ground.

Todd Steinacher CCA: The mentor.

So a year ago is when I, I, I had the, uh,
the fork in the road to, to go on my own.

Uh, I was part of North America layoff
with a particular company it was either

jump back in the industry where it's
kind of chaotic or on my own that I

wanted, I wanted to do anyway to allow
me to have more time with my family

and didn't have to travel as much.

And so it, it was, it was, it was a,
a weird time, you know, and I actually

reached back out to, to one of my old
employers, my boss, my boss's boss.

He was the, the g of
the company, liked him.

he had a very methodical way of life.

He always, um, you know, shared like
military books with us and strategies

and all these other type deals.

So I reached out to him.

And, and I told him, I said, this
is what I'm thinking I wanna do.

He's like, Todd, before we can talk,
you need to read this particular book.

I'll be honest, I hate reading.

It is not my favorite thing to do.

So when my wife seen me reading this book
for a week, she's like, whatcha doing?

You never read?

I'm like, I can't go talk to this
guy and, and launch Acre until I read

this book and can go talk to this guy.

And it was basically, um.

It, it, I think it was called
burn, burn, burn the, burn

the bridge or burn the boat.

Or burn the boat.

Reed: Mm-hmm.

Todd Steinacher CCA:
Tori, don't look back.

Just, just keep

Reed: Right,

Todd Steinacher CCA: And, and, and a
lot of, a lot of fundamentals from it.

But, so I, I still reach back out to that,
that gentleman who's since retired and,

uh, you know, so you meet these people
in life that can help you and coach you.

So, so I've always seen huge value in
building relationships, uh, not only

with customers, but employees or.

You know, even somebody that ha I has, I
have nothing to gain from them in life.

You know, I, I, I still want to have tho
those good relationships and, and so,

so just having somebody you can reach
out to and, and bounce things off of.

So I, I have folks across the, in
industry from other seed brands,

other industries, and we all, we
all communicate back and forth.

And so a lot of times folks reach out
to me and says, Hey, Steiner, what

do you think about this particular
issue in nitrogen right now?

have the conversation and then I, I call
certain people on those particular things.

So always staying engaged.

'cause we can read an article, we can
go hear publication, hear something on,

on tv, but maybe sometimes that's what
you know, that they want us to know,

not necessarily what we need to know.

Reed: Right.

Todd Steinacher CCA: you can, you have
all these people across your industries,

uh, and then you can, you can really just
go have a conversation, Hey, I seen this.

This is coming.

Tell me what I really
need to know about this.

And, and so it, it's just so impactful
having those, those relationships

through, uh, through your career.

Reed: Yeah, no, that's great advice.

And I think I've been the beneficiary of.

Uh, you connecting with somebody that
doesn't necessarily offer value, but

I, I get a lot of value out of, uh,
you know, hearing from your journey.

And, and, you know, I'm so glad that
you were willing to come on the podcast.

Let me ask you one closing question.

You mentioned the virtue of sharpening
your ax and, um, you know, the

importance of, you know, like
sharpen that axe and it'll make the,

the, uh, chopping job much faster.

Where, what's, what, what's your go-to
to sharpen your own acts, whether it's

perf personally or professionally?

Um, do you, do you have like a, do you
have other mentors or do you have, um,

something you go to, to, to keep sharp?

Todd Steinacher CCA: So for
the most part, I, uh, I'll be

honest, I use YouTube a lot.

Reed: Hmm.

Todd Steinacher CCA: I go there and I.

Research topics that, that I,
that I wanna learn more about.

Very a subset specific piece of a topic.

And a lot of times we can go do that.

It, it takes out all the,
the sales and marketing.

'cause you can literally find other
agronomists that I can learn from, or,

you know, a PhD that, you know, made a
little short video on a particular topic.

So I, I want to go learn.

And kind of sharpened myself there.

But, uh, I, I'll be honest, I, I went
and grabbed another certification here

recently in, in another, field kind
of, and, and just so I can kind of land

management and so just so one, I can
start network with this whole other

group, but they also offer all their
hosts of CEOs, how can I start learning.

These other pieces and, and
maybe what I learned there can be

applied to what I do every day.

And, and so, you know, I, I'm
always trying to stay, stay

sharp, to be quite honest.

I, I'm looking at, um, going and, uh,
completing my doctorate at this point

and, and, uh, I found some online
programs and, and so, you know, if

you're gonna be keep learning, I can
use those educations for my CEUs.

So I'm double dipping it.

I'm learning to share
that back with growers.

Shoot, might as just take a class
and, and, and have a, you know,

another degree at the end of the day.

And, and not that I'm trying to
degrees or, you know, elitist or

anything like that, but you, you
know, uh, if I come this far in my

journey, I might as well finish it off.

Reed: Well, that's awesome, Todd.

You know, the, um, I, I mean, I think
you really do embody a lot of the, the

things you talk about, you know, your, uh,
pursuit of learning and, and continuously

developing new skills, uh, which I think
is, uh, something we all should be doing.

So I.

Um, Todd, I really appreciate
you joining me today.

And if people are interested in
your services or learning more

or just wanna network, what's the
best place for them to find you?

Todd Steinacher CCA: So I, I would
direct them to, uh, to my website every

acre, acre, being A-C-H-E-R matters.com.

that's gonna be the, the easiest way
to, uh, to send me a message or get

in contact with me for any follow ups.

Reed: Awesome.

Well, I'll include that in the show notes
and, uh, look forward to publishing this

and, hopefully we can stay in touch.

Todd,

Todd Steinacher CCA: Absolutely.

Thanks for your time.

Reed: thank you.

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