Rooted in Resilience
Feb 03, 2025
Education and camaraderie were key for row-crop farmers and industry personnel as they met for the recent 2025 Southern Agronomy Summit in Nashville. Hosted by GreenPoint Ag for the fourth consecutive year, the January 7-9 conference was chock full of leading industry experts and break-out sessions on all sorts of topics relevant to growing crops successfully. More than 200 growers attended.
The event, themed “Rooted in Resilience,” began with GreenPoint Ag Vice President of Retail Sales and Operations Amy Winstead welcoming participants. General session began with the video inspired by Paul Harvey’s familiar 1978 speech, So God Made a Farmer. The video was accompanied by Winstead reading a portion of a 1940 article in The Farmer-Stockman magazine describing a dirt farmer, written by Boston B. Blackwood.
In his opening remarks, GreenPoint Ag President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Blair spoke about the importance of ag techs and agronomy teams and the potential role they can play in a farmer’s success.
“We are focused on helping farmers,” Blair said. “This summit brings the entire supply chain together to have deep agronomic discussions around agronomy in the South. Farming down here is different — it’s tougher. There are different soil types, a wide variety of geography, and a lot of different crops. Here, we can have everyone together — from our manufacturers and sponsors to WinField United, to GreenPoint, to our Co-ops and our retail store personnel, to our farmers and growers. We are all united in one role … and that is to help our growers succeed.”
Blair also pointed out that “trust is the very foundation of the Co-op system.”
“I encourage you to lean in, get to know each other, and depend on others,” Blair advised participants. “It’s hard to be successful on your own without trusting and relying on others for their agronomy expertise and guidance.”
Other highlights included a pep-talk from Walter Bond, a former NBA (National Basketball Association) player, as well as a group panel discussion with Leah Anderson (President of WinField United and Senior Vice President of Land O’Lakes), Shannon Huff (CEO of Tennessee Farmers Cooperative), Rivers Myers (President and CEO of Alabama Farmers Cooperative), and Blair who shared their perspectives and insight on current topics.
Jim Wiesemeyer, the Washington Bureau Chief for the United States’ leading agricultural farm journal Pro Farmer, was on hand to offer his expertise and insight on Washington politics and farm and trade policy. He brought attendees up to date on potential happenings with the new administration and what it might mean in terms of agricultural policies, procedures, and players.
Conference speakers offered many insights on additional current agricultural issues. Sessions covered topics like biologicals in the field, artificial intelligence, soil fertility, and the Endangered Species Act.
“During the conference, I learned about some options that we can pass along to our customers for better weed control, specifically those who are now having to find another option besides Dicamba,” said Kevin Martin with Knox Farmers Cooperative. “There are several practical remedies for pigweed and other weeds that present a challenge for East Tennessee farmers. Hopefully, [our customers] can apply these methods we learned about during the conference and be successful.”
Planting strategies were discussed for various crops like rice, sugarcane, peanuts, wheat, cotton, corn, and soybeans, along with fertilizer applications and what works best in different situations.
“I learned about the ideal fertilizer ratio that’s needed to produce a 300-bushel acre of corn, and the fertilizer ratio needed for different harvest rates,” said Ryan Anderson, a management trainee at Hawkins Farmers Cooperative.
Sessions also included tools for risk mitigation, driving planter technology, managing equipment costs, spray drone updates, weed management in ryegrass, Johnsongrass, barnyardgrass, and goosegrass, as well as a slew of other topics.
“I enjoyed learning more about weed management and the different modes of action taken by various chemicals,” added Hawkins Farmers Co-op General Manager Matthew Ball. “I also liked finding out about the different herbicides used to control weeds in corn and soybeans. We are here to learn so we can help our customers make better decisions and hopefully help them be more profitable.”
Producers, retail sellers and operations, and industry professionals totaled 184 representatives from GreenPoint Ag, 104 from Alabama Farmers Cooperative, 186 from Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, and 172 vendors and manufacturers. Nearly 40 speakers also took part in the conference.
GreenPoint Ag was formed in 2020 to better serve agronomy farmers and rural communities in the Southern United States. It is a joint venture of Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, WinField United, Tipton Farmers Cooperative, Farmers, Inc., and Tri-County Farmers Association.
For more information about the 2026 Southern Agronomy Summit or for information about GreenPoint Ag’s wide array of products and services, contact your local Co-op.
The event, themed “Rooted in Resilience,” began with GreenPoint Ag Vice President of Retail Sales and Operations Amy Winstead welcoming participants. General session began with the video inspired by Paul Harvey’s familiar 1978 speech, So God Made a Farmer. The video was accompanied by Winstead reading a portion of a 1940 article in The Farmer-Stockman magazine describing a dirt farmer, written by Boston B. Blackwood.
In his opening remarks, GreenPoint Ag President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Blair spoke about the importance of ag techs and agronomy teams and the potential role they can play in a farmer’s success.
“We are focused on helping farmers,” Blair said. “This summit brings the entire supply chain together to have deep agronomic discussions around agronomy in the South. Farming down here is different — it’s tougher. There are different soil types, a wide variety of geography, and a lot of different crops. Here, we can have everyone together — from our manufacturers and sponsors to WinField United, to GreenPoint, to our Co-ops and our retail store personnel, to our farmers and growers. We are all united in one role … and that is to help our growers succeed.”
Blair also pointed out that “trust is the very foundation of the Co-op system.”
“I encourage you to lean in, get to know each other, and depend on others,” Blair advised participants. “It’s hard to be successful on your own without trusting and relying on others for their agronomy expertise and guidance.”
Other highlights included a pep-talk from Walter Bond, a former NBA (National Basketball Association) player, as well as a group panel discussion with Leah Anderson (President of WinField United and Senior Vice President of Land O’Lakes), Shannon Huff (CEO of Tennessee Farmers Cooperative), Rivers Myers (President and CEO of Alabama Farmers Cooperative), and Blair who shared their perspectives and insight on current topics.
Jim Wiesemeyer, the Washington Bureau Chief for the United States’ leading agricultural farm journal Pro Farmer, was on hand to offer his expertise and insight on Washington politics and farm and trade policy. He brought attendees up to date on potential happenings with the new administration and what it might mean in terms of agricultural policies, procedures, and players.
Conference speakers offered many insights on additional current agricultural issues. Sessions covered topics like biologicals in the field, artificial intelligence, soil fertility, and the Endangered Species Act.
“During the conference, I learned about some options that we can pass along to our customers for better weed control, specifically those who are now having to find another option besides Dicamba,” said Kevin Martin with Knox Farmers Cooperative. “There are several practical remedies for pigweed and other weeds that present a challenge for East Tennessee farmers. Hopefully, [our customers] can apply these methods we learned about during the conference and be successful.”
Planting strategies were discussed for various crops like rice, sugarcane, peanuts, wheat, cotton, corn, and soybeans, along with fertilizer applications and what works best in different situations.
“I learned about the ideal fertilizer ratio that’s needed to produce a 300-bushel acre of corn, and the fertilizer ratio needed for different harvest rates,” said Ryan Anderson, a management trainee at Hawkins Farmers Cooperative.
Sessions also included tools for risk mitigation, driving planter technology, managing equipment costs, spray drone updates, weed management in ryegrass, Johnsongrass, barnyardgrass, and goosegrass, as well as a slew of other topics.
“I enjoyed learning more about weed management and the different modes of action taken by various chemicals,” added Hawkins Farmers Co-op General Manager Matthew Ball. “I also liked finding out about the different herbicides used to control weeds in corn and soybeans. We are here to learn so we can help our customers make better decisions and hopefully help them be more profitable.”
Producers, retail sellers and operations, and industry professionals totaled 184 representatives from GreenPoint Ag, 104 from Alabama Farmers Cooperative, 186 from Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, and 172 vendors and manufacturers. Nearly 40 speakers also took part in the conference.
GreenPoint Ag was formed in 2020 to better serve agronomy farmers and rural communities in the Southern United States. It is a joint venture of Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, WinField United, Tipton Farmers Cooperative, Farmers, Inc., and Tri-County Farmers Association.
For more information about the 2026 Southern Agronomy Summit or for information about GreenPoint Ag’s wide array of products and services, contact your local Co-op.