Matt McElroy, a field sales representative for Channel Seed, oversees dealers in ten counties in central Ohio, including Knox County.
Channel Seed operates under the Bayer umbrella, providing corn and soybean seeds to farmers in the region.
“Our goal is to feed an ever rising population and I think the importance of farmers is incredible…there’s so many people that don't realize that without farmers, you don't walk into Walmart and just pick up your food. There is a whole back side to that story. And, it's a necessity,” McElroy told Mount Vernon News.
McElroy has a territory covering approximately 500 customers across a ten-county radius.
“We grow corn and soybean seed, and then, of course, it's cleaned and bagged and tested and so forth, and then, it would be distributed down to dealers at the field level. And it's, in our operation, it's very similar to a franchise.”
McElroy emphasizes the importance of service after the sale.
He encourages seed representatives to visit fields multiple times during the growing season to track progress and address any issues that may arise, such as weed pressure.
“Service after the sale is a big thing,’ he said. “We encourage our seed men to get out and walk the fields with the customers. We encourage them to be out 3 to 4 times a year during the growing season and track the progress - good, bad or indifferent. I mean, obviously you want it to be good, but also if there's things that are going wrong, we may be able to correct some things during the growing season.”
McElroy highlights the personal connection farmers have with local seed representatives, providing a level of support and expertise often lacking in larger corporations.
“Bayer is big on bringing their entire portfolio to the market through our dealers, and it's a wide range of seed and chemicals,” he said. “We have computer software, some things like that. So it's a total package for a customer. It's not just selling them a bag of corn and walking away. We can offer a lot of things that a lot of seed companies don’t.”
Despite challenges such as fluctuating market prices and competition from industrial projects like solar farms, McElroy remains dedicated to supporting family farms in the region.
He acknowledges the vital role farmers play in feeding the population and hopes that through continued support and collaboration, the family farm can endure amidst a changing agricultural landscape.
“The Intel project for one over between Johnstown and New Albany is huge,” McElroy said. “It's demanding large land prices that farmers can't compete with. And the hot button here locally I'm in Mount Vernon is obviously solar farms. That's a pretty hot topic as well and it'll be interesting to see. Five, ten years how things shake out. I hope the family farm can survive.”
