MORAN — Success in the agriculture industry comes down to the people, according to Dennis Cooper. That includes both customers and employees.
Cooper is the manager of AgChoice in Moran, which applies fertilizer and sprays chemicals for area farmers. He is retiring this month after 40 years with the company.
He’s a lifelong Allen Countian who lives just a half-mile from where he grew up south of LaHarpe.
“I probably know 99% of the farmers around here,” he said. “There’s not too many fields in Allen County I haven’t been to.”
Cooper takes a lot of pride in building relationships with his customers.
“The most rewarding part is the satisfaction I get from a job well-done,” he said.
It also takes a team to go into a field and apply fertilizer, he said. Most of the time, he’ll work with two or three others who make sure the applicator has everything it needs while in the field.
“You can’t do it alone. So it really comes down to finding the right people who you can trust.”
That isn’t always easy. In fact, hiring employees is one of the most challenging aspects of the business, particularly in the past 10 years or so. For example, technology has made it easier for employees to simply send a text message to say “I quit,” rather than meeting with Cooper to see if there is something he can do to improve the situation.
Granted, Cooper acknowledged, working as an application operator isn’t for everyone. He describes the right employee as someone who is “a jack of all trades.”
“You’ve got to be self-motivated and able to change. The agriculture industry is changing day-by-day.”
Many of those who apply for a job don’t have much experience. Perhaps that can be attributed to a general decline in the number of family farms. Young people who grow up with an agricultural background often seek their fortune elsewhere.
The start-up costs required in modern farming techniques also deter many young farmers. It can be difficult to purchase expensive equipment such as combines. “You can’t do it without help,” Cooper said.
On the other side of the equation, large-scale farming corporations are more likely these days to “cut out the middleman” by supplying and applying their own chemicals. That hurts businesses like AgChoice.
And like most businesses that rely on agriculture, the weather plays a big part. Cooper and his crew can’t get out to the fields when it rains or snows. They’ll spend those days making repairs or working around the shop.
