(bright upbeat music) - Welcome to "A Shot Of AG."

My name is Rob Sharkey.

I'm a fifth generation farmer from just outside of Bradford, Illinois.

I started a podcast which led into a XM radio show, which led into a national television show, which led into me here today.

But today, today is not about me, today is about Stephanie.

Stephanie Porter.

How are you doing?

- Hi.

I'm doing good today.

- Are you?

- Yeah.

It's good to be here.

- Okay.

You look happy.

- I am.

- Okay.

- I am.

- That generally confuses me.

(Stephanie chuckles) Taylorville.

- Yes.

- Where is that?

- So Taylorville is just a half hour south of Springfield.

- Half hour.

So you drove a little ways?

- Yeah.

- How long?

- Hour and a half.

- It takes longer than that?

- No, it's not that.

It's not that far.

- How fast were you going?

- Well, close to the speed limit.

My mom's watching.

- Oh, no.

Believe me.

Nobody watches us.

(both laughing) I truly, truly wish they did, but here we are.

So there's no pressure.

(laughs) I've known you for quite a while.

I think we originally met on social media.

Isn't that weird how we say that now?

Oh, we met on social, we didn't meet.

- Right.

- Yeah.

But you are the product manager at... Now, what do you say?

Are you the product manager at Golden Harvest or Syngenta?

- I am the Soybean product manager at Golden Harvest.

- Oh, you know what?

It did say that here.

I just figured that you pretty much, when you walk into building, they all go what's up boss.

- I wish.

- No?

- No, that doesn't happen.

- Okay.

So Golden Harvest is also owned by Syngenta.

- That's right.

- Yeah.

So the seed industry in the United States, it's fairly...

I mean, there's a ton of outlier companies, but who are the big ones?

- So the big ones of course would be Syngenta along with Bayer, and also Corteva as well.

- Okay.

Get her to say Bayer and Corteva.

Check.

(both laughing) That makes me happy.

So what does a soybean product manager do?

- So I, you got me on this one last time.

So I... (both laughing) - Asking you what you do?

- I am in charge of all the soybean products across our footprint in the U.S.

So that would be really early soybeans from North Dakota down to Southern Illinois, Kansas.

So later maturities.

And then I also, my main job would be pricing.

- Oh, so you're the one?

This interview just took a change.

- Yeah.

And then I do...

I'm technically in marketing.

So I do a lot of marketing things.

- But your background is in agronomy, right?

- That's correct.

- You went to U of I?

What'd you get your degree in?

- Plant pathology.

- Plant pathology?

- Yes.

- That sounds like you're investigating plants that were murdered.

- I actually was the diagnostician at the U of I plant clinic.

So I like- - What'd you diag?

- Diagnostician.

So I like to call it plant CSI.

- You cannot say that.

- Yeah, plant CSI.

- So you were?

- Yes, I really like to do that.

- Okay.

You know, it's always the person you least suspect.

It's generally my neighbor.

(both laughing) So people watching might not understand the difference in soybeans from like say Montana to Illinois.

Huge difference in varieties and maturities and all that.

- Right.

Yes, so I go west as well as east.

- Okay.

- And so we have to make sure we have certain varieties that perform in those conditions.

And so think of the Red River Valley, we sell a lot of soybeans in North Dakota and South Dakota.

So maybe a bigger, rougher, tougher type of plant for South Dakota, rather than total opposite, when you come to central Illinois.

You would want something that, good standability, always great yield, right?

- Yeah.

Well the Golden Harvest is.

- Yes.

- It is a superior company.

- It is.

(both laughing) - I grow it.

I grow Golden Harvest.

- Good.

- Yeah.

And I grow what works on my farm.

So there you go.

- Do you have a favorite soybean?

- No.

(both laughing) I promise you I've never had a favorite soybean.

The thing is, you guys you're constantly improving.

So back when I was a little kid, my dad would talk about numbers.

Oh, we gotta have like a 22, 22.

I don't made up number.

Because it's done so well for us on the past five years.

We wouldn't do that because you guys are improving so fast that you maybe get how many years out of a good number?

- Well, just recently we almost flipped the whole portfolio.

So we do offer trait choice.

- Yeah.

- So we have both Enlist E3 as well as XtendFlex.

So in order to offer those traits, that meant all new products.

- Yeah, you're talking about- - So that's when... Yeah.

- By the way.

- So that's when I first got on, and two years ago that happened.

- Okay, so let's go back and explain what you just confused most of the audience on.

- (laughs) Okay.

- So soybeans in the mid 90s, they genetically modified 'em to where you could spray glyphosate Roundup on it.

- Right.

- And believe me, it's safe.

It's fine.

You can email me all you want, I'll argue that all day.

It got to the point where, and it's probably the farmer's fault because, and I can say this, that we used it too much and now the weeds don't die because of it.

So now you have created, not you, the industry has created different varieties, ones that you can spray 2,4-D on, and ones that you can spray Dicamba on.

Both used to be products that would kill a soybean, but now you can spray it on there.

- Right.

- Is that a good history?

- Yes, that is a very good history.

- Did you all get that?

(laughs) - So what it comes down to is, farmers really, really wanna get rid of their weeds.

- Yes.

- It's a big deal.

I don't think people understand how big of a deal it is really.

- Yeah.

Because if you did nothing to a field, I mean, literally it would just be- - A big mess.

- Solid green weeds.

- Right.

- And some of those weeds are very prolific and very hard to kill.

- Right.

- And that's what someone like yourself and those seed industries, you're trying to figure out, what soybeans are put on what field in order to control all that.

- Right.

So we like to listen to the customer, which would be the farmer.

And what we heard was they want great weed control.

- Yeah.

- And they want good soybean varieties.

So that's what we offer.

- At cheap prices.

I noticed that didn't get put in there by the person- - We do have some... We can talk later.

We have some good programs coming up here.

We just launched.

- Again, I grow Golden Harvest.

So, I must agree with it.

Okay, about you personally, you're a CCA.

What is that?

- So, certified crop advisor.

So it's actually an organization that you have to actually test to get into this organization.

So every state has a test that you have to pass.

- Yeah.

- And in order to be a certified, to become certified at what I do, so certified agronomist.

- [Rob] Is there an initiation?

- Not that I know of, but no.

- Yet.

- Not that I know of yet.

I've been in for a while.

I must have missed that on that.

- How long have you been a CCA?

- Oh, I don't even know.

A long time.

- 50 Years?

I don't know.

- No.

(both laughing) Wrong.

I don't know.

10 years.

- Since your early- - 12, 10, 12 years.

- Okay.

- I don't know.

- I mean, that's amazing for someone that looks like she's 23.

- Oh, thank you.

- You're welcome.

- You have- (both laughing) - It was a previous show.

All right.

Well, okay, on a more serious note, you are a melanoma survivor.

- Yes.

- Okay, so what happened there?

- So I had a spot.

Found out, kind of probably waited a little too long.

I went into the doctor and they said, "Wow, you need to get that checked out."

- [Rob] Your doctor literally said, wow!

- Yeah, it was kind of bad.

- That's not good.

- The dermatologist, when I finally got in, 'cause it can take a while nowadays.

I probably should have tried to move it along quickly.

But immediately when I went in, they did a surgery right then and there.

- [Rob] Like that day?

- Yeah.

- [Rob] You're kidding me.

- No.

- Did they put you under?

- No.

Well, I mean they localize you.

- Still.

And you can feel tugging.

- I've had it done several times.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- In, so- - So if you would go in and have a spot.

I mean you could possibly, they'll localize a spot, but they wanna get it and test it.

- [Rob] Okay, and that's what they did?

- They wanna get some spot to test it.

Yes.

- So, and then they found out that it was melanoma?

- Yes.

So then I had another surgery after that, actually on my mom's birthday in 2018, is whenever we found it.

And so that would've been October 22nd.

And they went in and they found that it was cancer.

And then they kept going in further and the surgery became an hour to two hours and they start pulling out some lymph nodes as well.

So I had one lymph node that it had spread to.

- Okay.

So you get those taken out.

Do you have to go through like, I don't know, treatment, radiation?

I don't know.

- Yeah, so I had a non normal treatment that basically it was immunotherapy.

- [Rob] Amino?

- Immunotherapy.

- I don't know what that is.

- Yeah, I didn't either at the time.

So it was brand new.

My doctor had some experience with it.

He's in Springfield clinic.

He had been in Nevada.

Previously to me having it, this was only probably for a stage four patient and six months before I was diagnosed, they had approved it for stage three patient.

So maybe a healthier patient, hopefully.

- [Rob] This therapy?

- Yes.

- What is it?

- It's basically affects your immune system.

And so I would have an infusion once a month.

I actually went to twice a month so I could still work.

And twice a month they would put it in my body for- - It doesn't sound real.

- A whole year.

- I mean, does your doctor have slot machines in the lobby?

- (laughs) No.

- I mean, he's a real doctor, right?

- Yeah.

So basically it's just trying to help your body protect itself against cancer.

Because when you have melanoma, it's basically could be anywhere in my body.

It could pop up at any time now.

- That's scary.

- Yeah.

It's a little scary.

I'm kind of past it now, but yeah, it's scary.

- But I mean, can have they given you like a... You see online, right?

- No.

- Because they say, all right, I'm cancer free.

- Right.

No, I get checked.

I actually have to go in August.

So I'm on a six month schedule right now.

- Okay.

But what they found they've got under control?

- Yes, it's never come back.

Knock on wood.

- I don't know if that's real wood.

Here down, you can.

- Yeah.

I think my therapy worked.

- Okay.

- It actually worked too well.

You don't know me.

I'm usually a little different, but you know, so they...

I have side effects that no one else in the whole world had from this.

- Oh really?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So it works so good.

I'm now allergic to like most foods.

- What kind of foods?

- Wheat, dairy and eggs.

- Good night.

- (laughs) Yeah.

- And do you think it's from this treatment?

- That's when it started.

- He's not a real doctor.

(Stephanie laughs) Telling you right now.

(both laughing) Well, that was... Did you get COVID?

- I did finally get COVID on my birthday this year.

- Was it a happy birthday?

I don't know.

(laughs) Was there any complications with that?

- No.

- Okay.

- No.

- It's a just a flu.

Oh, well I'm glad you're doing okay.

- Oh, thanks.

- 'Cause that can be really scary.

- Yeah.

It's a big deal.

- Yeah.

- It really is.

- Definitely.

- Yeah.

- I don't know what we got here.

- Okay, this is a gold brick.

- It's not.

This is not real wood.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So this symbolizes Golden Harvest new Gold Series.

- Oh!

- Soybeans.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- It's very shiny.

- And we like to wear gold jackets as well with our Gold Series.

- I mean, you wear that on purpose?

- Yes, so I get paid.

(both laughing) But I like to wear the gold jacket.

- That's definitely fabric.

That's not found in nature.

I will say that.

Did you make that?

- I did not.

- Where does one find that?

The Walmart?

- I ordered it off of Amazon.

- You've ordered it off of Amazon?

- Yes.

I was in between meetings and traveling and someone told me...

It started because our agronomist started wearing gold jackets.

I can't take credit for the idea.

- [Rob] You stole the idea?

- Yes.

- That's fine.

- So when we- - I steal ideas all the time.

Where do you think... Hi, I'm David Letterman.

(both laughing) - So when we launched the Gold Series Soybeans in 2022, all the agronomists, it was fun.

They started coming out and they'd do launch meetings and they'd come out in their gold jackets and- - Kinda like the golfers and the green jackets.

- Yes, yes.

So then I kept getting told that I needed to get one.

So in between, luckily it came.

Amazon, you don't know about the shipping out in the country all the time.

- Yeah, no kidding.

- Yeah.

- I'm guessing that did not come from America.

- Probably.

(laughs) - No, I don't think that's legal in America.

Does it breathe?

- No.

(both laughing) So, yeah.

So, one of our big field days that we like to do... Steve Wilkins, agronomy manager for the east does a big, good show in Pontiac.

- Yeah.

- With precision seed.

And we were wearing this gold jacket.

It wasn't this one.

And it was pretty hot.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

It does not breathe at all.

- Okay.

- Sequins don't breathe.

- I did not know that before this very moment.

(both laughing) - And you probably...

It's hard to get these clean.

So then you just order a new one.

That's what I did.

- How much?

Okay.

I don't wanna get too personal, but if for some unearthly reason I would ever want to buy this, how much would this run me?

- I think it was like $30.

I don't know.

I can get you one.

We'll get you one.

- No, you know what?

I'm I think I'm good.

- This was a lady's one.

We'll get you a man's jacket though.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- Thank you.

(laughs) Okay, you say I am a Mimi.

Mimi?

- Mimi.

- What is a Mimi?

- It's a grandma.

- I thought I was a meemaw.

- I'm a Mimi.

- A Mimi?

- Yeah.

I had a Mimi.

It's just another name for nana, grandma, mama.

- Now we're talking about it.

So you're a grandma?

- I am.

- That's all you had to say.

(laughs) Okay.

How old?

- How old?

So the oldest is three and her name's Charlie.

And then the youngest is just turned one, and her name is Maya.

- I was actually asking how old you were.

- (laughs) How old do I think I am?

- 23.

It's amazing you're a Mimi at 23.

- Thank you.

- Is that, for I've heard that the whole point of having kids is to get to the grandkids?

- Yeah, it is 10 times better than I've ever thought of.

- Why?

- I don't know.

You can just kind of spoil 'em and send them home.

- That's right.

You don't have to, you can like sugar 'em up.

- Yeah.

- And then you don't... All right, time for you all to leave.

- Yeah.

And they're just now to that stage where they sleep at my house too, that's good.

- Okay.

- So we got them in the same room a couple weekends ago and they slept the whole night.

It was a big deal.

'Cause sometimes the baby will wake up the other one.

And so.

- Yeah, Nyquil helps.

- (laughs) We haven't gone there yet.

- Okay.

(laughs) - Trying to avoid that.

- You believe in a full moon?

- Yeah.

- What do you believe about it?

- Crazy stuff happens to me all the time.

- Really?

- I always know when there's a full moon.

Like crazy people come up to me and talk to me or just weird things happen.

- Like very hairy wolf like people.

- No.

(laughs) - You haven't had that?

- No, no.

But I just always, when just crazy things start happening, I immediately look at my phone.

Like I should probably just have it on the calendar, but I don't.

- Is it a full moon tonight?

- No, it's in a couple weeks.

It's like mid, mid.

I already looked it up.

- I like that waxing gibbous.

- What?

- I'm a fan of it.

- What's that?

- Yeah, a waxing gibbous moon.

You've never heard of that?

- No, I have not.

- That's one of the best moons there is.

- Oh, okay.

- Yeah.

Do you know what my grandmother used to say?

- What?

- She'd say it's a toenail moon tonight.

I was like, ewe, grandma, come on.

(Stephanie laughs) Oh Mimi, come on.

- I'll have to try that one.

See what my grandkids say.

- Okay, you're you are the soybean product manager.

Is there any truth to spraying on the solstice?

Or what's the deal with that?

- My mother-in-law believes in planting by the moon or certain times.

- [Rob] Planting soybeans on a solstice?

- No.

Garden gardening.

- 'Cause they should be.

What are you gardening?

What are you planting on?

- I'm just trying to switch topics.

But not soybeans.

- Oh, you don't wanna talk about it?

- No.

I mean, I'm not trying to avoid the con... You plant beans as early as you early.

- There's a lot of farmers that have a theory that you should be spraying spray that dings the beans on the solstice.

I'm not making this up.

- I have not heard that.

No.

- So that it dings them and then the sun gets in there and you won't get white mold on your beans.

Have you never heard this?

- Not by the solstice.

No, but yes.

- My neighbors are lying to me.

- (laughs) But yeah.

- I'm gonna tell 'em Mimi said.

- White mold can be a big deal, so I didn't... No, I'll have to try that or pass that along.

- Do they still do that, where they spray to try to ding the beans?

- Sometimes, yes.

Like Cobra or something like that.

- Yeah.

That's exactly.

But I don't see it so much anymore.

- No.

- Have you guys fixed it where white mold's not a problem.

- No.

Well, we're close.

Getting closer.

- Really?

- Yeah.

We have good agronomics.

- Back in the early 2000, it was the worst bean crop I ever had is 'cause a white mold moved in.

- I used to be an agronomist in your area.

- Yeah.

- And that's probably some of the worst white mold I've ever seen in my life besides.

I thought it was bad until I went to Wisconsin.

- [Rob] Oh really?

- Yeah, they have it way worse.

- Huh!

There was...

I called up...

I don't even know what beans they were.

I called up the agronomist.

I'm like, what is wrong with my beans?

Because they looked good and then you're picking 'em and they're not coming in.

He's like... - Was it like 2015 or something?

- No, it was like 2005.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

And he's like well, white mold's really bad this year.

I said, how do you tell?

He says, well, when you're unloading the wagon, does it look like a bunch of a rat poop there?

And that's what white mold looks like.

- Yep.

So that's in the stem.

- Yeah.

- And then that goes into the ground and that's how it's there forever.

And actually in your area, somebody was growing soybeans for the first time in 10 years.

- Yeah.

- And still got the worst white mold they'd ever had in their lives.

(both laughing) So, I saw that as well.

- Do you like what you're doing?

- I do.

- Yeah?

- I've done a lot of different things though.

- Do you like what you're doing right now?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

(both laughing) Have you done other things in the past that you like better or worse?

- Yes.

Both.

Yes, I've had so many different...

I've had so many different jobs.

(laughs) - You've been in the game quite a while.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

And I would tell you what, don't take this the wrong way, but you're not a big deal now.

But back in the day you were like one of the first females that stood out as like someone that knew their agronomy.

Now, I mean it's almost like you paved the way for that.

- Yeah.

There's a lot now.

A lot of girls out there.

I mean a lot of agronomists now that are female.

- It's almost more than the guys.

- I think so.

- It seems like the new ones.

- Yeah.

- So, do you think you played a role in that?

- I hope I did.

- Because it wasn't just that you were good at what you were doing, you were also embracing social media so people know who you were in that.

I will say that you probably, most likely had something to play in a lot of these girls coming into agronomy.

- Yeah.

I think at the time I was kind of ticked off because I don't know if you've ever heard this, but people say that sometimes agronomists don't do much.

I had heard that.

- I mean, you can see why.

- And so I just started snapping a picture every day and posting it to Twitter.

- Yeah.

- And they're like, you're everywhere.

And I'm like, yeah, it's great.

- I should do that as a grain farmer, except it wouldn't work.

(both laughing) - I know.

Nowadays, they're like, why aren't you posting as much?

And I'm like, I can't post.

- 'Cause you're too busy.

- Like everything's top secret and I'm in my office all the time.

So yeah, I miss it.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'm joking, but I'm not.

I mean, you literally were like one of the first people that I looked at as a person that was like a leading female agronomist.

Because they're just... You came in and you dominated a very male dominated world.

- Oh, thanks.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, I did.

It's still male dominated.

I think.

- [Rob] Any advice to the young ladies coming in?

- Just keep kicking it.

I think that- - Kicking what?

- Kicking butt.

(both laughing) I think that there's a lot of females out there that have proved within the industry, especially agronomy.

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

- And I think we have a little more, not guys aren't caring, but we have that kind of nurturing type of response when something goes wrong and we wanna take care of the farmer.

- You know, it's interesting because if something gets messed up and it's our fault, we feel like it's the end of the world.

Like if, I don't know, if we plant something on the wrong day or whatever.

So the last thing we want is to call up an agronomist, an agronomist to say, well, it was stupid.

No, you guys have to be nice or we would literally never forgive you.

- (laughs) That's right.

We used to joke that it's almost like a therapist in a way.

And it's just like, sometimes guys or females, farmers just need somebody to talk to about it.

And a lot of 'em wanna make sure that they don't do it again is what it is.

- Yeah.

Well, and just simply say, well, it happens to everybody.

Right?

- Right.

- Eventually everybody has to spray the wrong thing or whatever.

- Or make sure they know you're not the only one.

Like a lot of times, one know- - 'Cause it feel like it.

- Yeah.

So they're like is a lot of people get in white mold?

Yes.

Here, here, and here or whatever.

We've seen it.

It's the right conditions and that type of thing.

- Okay.

That's good to know.

And as someone on the other side, I will definitely agree.

Because you feel like you were the only person to ever screw up in the history of agriculture.

- No one's perfect.

- If people wanna find you on social media or the old internet, where do they go?

- So you can follow me on Twitter.

- Yeah.

- At SKPorter.

- SKPorter?

- Yes.

- Okay.

What's the K stand for?

- It's my middle name, Kay.

K-A-Y.

- What's a K stand for though?

- It's just Kay.

It's my middle- - I know Stephanie K. What's your middle name?

- It's K-A-Y.

Kay.

- My middle name is Kay, K-A-Y.

- Kay.

(laughs) - I'm named after my aunt.

- SK Porter.

- She's Sandra Kay, I'm Stephanie Kay.

- Okay.

So go follow Stephanie on Twitter.

Stephanie, you're always fun to talk to.

Always.

- Thanks.

- No matter what.

- Thank you.

- And she whispered that she was gonna lower soybean prices.

So thank you very much.

- You're welcome.

- Stephanie, thank you very much.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.