When we think about the effects of climate change on the ag sector, we tend to focus on the impacts to the farm– particularly those events will have an impact on farmer livelihoods. The reality is, unpredictable weather during the growing season is only one part of the challenge. Generalized climatic uncertainty from season to season is proving to be just as crippling, and not just for farm operators, but for the whole value chain.

Ag retailers, and other upstream ag businesses, are seeing their own climate-related disruptions, which often means that as farmers are working on contingency plans to adjust to unpredictable conditions, the companies they rely on are doing the same. And sometimes, these dueling alternative plans don't align.

To dig into these challenges, we're returning this week to the ag retail space with another perspective, from another continent. Today we're joined by Rob Dawes of Rob Dawes Consulting, who’s career has given him unique insight to both the farmer and the retailer perspective.

In this episode, Rob speaks about:

• Changing farmer perspectives on ag retail’s service (vs. product) offering
• Shifting priorities in ag retail around training, especially when it comes to fee-for-service professionals like agronomists
• Why farmers should be thinking seriously about improving their capacity for forecasting, and sharing more information with their retail partners

Useful Links:

• Our last episode on ag retail: Race to Define the Future of Ag Retail with Shane Thomas of Upstream Ag Insights
• Additional reading on the subject of ag retail’s future: 6 Skills Required for Ag Retailers of the Future and CropLife: Looking ahead to the future of ag retail
• We’re fundraising for Tenacious Ventures Fund II, out loud To learn more about investing in Fund II, click here

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