♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag".

I'm your host, Rob Sharkey.

I am a farmer, but I also understand the importance of leadership.

I've been through a lot of leadership training, and I have gotten a lot of good out of it.

Today, we're gonna talk to someone who's done the same.

Matt Heberling from Owaneco, Illinois.

How you doing, Matt?

- I'm doing well.

- Where in the great state of Illinois is Owaneco?

- So, it's really in the center of Christian County, so it'd be southeast of Springfield and southwest of Decatur.

- Okay.

So how long of a drive to Peoria?

- A little over an hour and a half.

- [Rob] Okay.

Did you make it okay?

- Yep, everything was fine this morning.

- Is that straight up 55?

- Yes.

- Okay, gotcha.

- 55, and then 155, so.

- You are a senior research manager for the Illinois Answer Plot.

Kidding.

Is that your title?

- Senior research manager is the title.

So, within the division Illinois Answer Plot, so we've got different teams, so I'm the crew lead for the Illinois Answer Plot team.

- [Rob] What is that?

The Answer plot?

- It's the research arm of Land O'Lakes, like, the butter company.

So WinField United's agronomy, so we are the research arm of WinField United, doing a lot of corn, soybean performance trials, as well as some agronomy research.

- Like, just difference in fertilizer, difference in like, what?

What are you studying?

- So, you know, the true customer facing arm, the data gets turned around real quick for traditional hybrid and variety testing, so, you know, head-to-head comparisons on genetics, but then we're also doing a lot of work on corn characterization, you know, learning what genetic families are responding to nitrogen rates, and also fungicide applications, so trying to just help make the farmer more efficient.

- Yeah.

So it's like, different companies.

You're doing their corn?

- Yep.

So, WinField's a distribution partner for Bayer, Syngenta, BASF, and Brevont, so we're actually testing all their brands, along with our own proprietary brand.

- And do they bribe you?

So like, you know, when you're weighing my stuff, put the thumb on a scale?

- They do not.

I can honestly say, you know, our data's very unbiased.

We don't actually know the hybrid going through the combine, what's going through.

- [Rob] I mean, have you asked them?

Maybe, "Hey, maybe throw a little love my way and we'll see what happens?"

- We have not.

We're very proud of our data quality, and, you know, the unbiased approach of it.

- [Rob] Why are you winking at me right now?

- Just can't resist, you know?

(both laugh) - Okay, so, but you grew up on a farm, correct?

- Yes, I did.

- And you still help with the farm?

- Yep, still help on the farm.

So farming with my dad and my younger sister.

- Fourth generation farmer.

What all you growing?

- Corn, soybeans, wheat, hay, and cattle.

Beef cattle.

- Oh, you got a little bit of everything, don't you?

- Yep.

Never a dull moment.

(Rob chuckles) - Did you go to school somewhere?

- I did.

Started out at Joliet Junior College, Associates, and then got my bachelor's of ag science from Western Illinois University.

- Oh, okay.

And then, I mean, what was the goal?

I mean, what did you wanna do?

- So, I started out as an ag ed major.

That's why I ultimately transferred WIU, just 'cause I liked their ag ed program, and as I was kind of rolling around between junior and senior year, decided to switch things up and went to the agronomy major and ag science, so really didn't know what path exactly I wanted to take.

I talking with some people that were in the fraternity with me, really admire the ag teachers and where they got me.

Just kind of was looking at job opportunities, and, true potential, just realized there was a lot more opportunities out there in the agronomy side.

- Yeah.

I absolutely love ag teachers, but I think, per hour, they're probably some of the lowest paid 'cause those people put in so much time.

- By far, overworked, underpaid.

And I mean, it's a lifestyle for 'em.

I mean, they do it for the love of the students and we really need 'em to make the next generation successful.

- So, your family farm.

Like, how much time do you get to go back and help the old man?

- So, you know, at this point, we're only row cropping around a hundred acres, so, you know, nothing super major, kind of nights and weekends.

That's when we kind of helped dad, semi-retired now.

- [Rob] Okay, that's nice.

And then, how long have you been there at WinField?

- Just finished season number 16.

- [Rob] 16 years, huh?

- Yep.

So I was fortunate, got hired as an intern right when I graduated.

At that time, they were expanding the crews and got a full-time position on the Illinois team at that point, and I've watched my career progress up through into the manager role, and I'm now a senior manager.

- Okay.

That's very impressive.

Did you have like, a desire in agronomy?

I mean, is that something you just got there and kind of embraced, or have you always had that desire to like, understand plants?

- I've always liked the plant aspect in the agronomy.

I think where I really found that I liked with this job, you know, starting out as an ag ed major within the plots, you know, we're actually trying to learn something, and then, as we're working with growers and our retail sellers, you know, we're actually teaching 'em some of those findings, so it's really nice.

I'm getting a little bit of the ag ed touch, you know, we're able to share our findings, share what we're doing, why we're doing what we're doing, and kind of some of the end of the season measurables, so it's a good kind of melding of the different passions.

- So, people that aren't involved in agriculture, they see the corn fields, they see the bean fields.

What they probably don't realize is that there's so many different genetics and varieties that a farmer like myself has to choose between.

You've got different maturities, some that are ready in like, 95 days, some that are ready in 114, and you've got some that are really good, healthy, but some that'll, All these different choices.

- Yep.

- We don't know what to do, so we rely on someone like you.

- Exactly.

- [Rob] So don't screw it up.

- I'll try not to, and that's, you know, our average location will have around 120 different hybrids out there.

- [Rob] That's crazy - Corn.

'Cause each of our maturity sets usually have 30 entries in 'em, and usually, most of our locations have three to four look maturities.

- [Rob] Well if you said, what?

Bayer, Syngenta, and what was the other one?

- Brevont.

- Okay.

- Help out that company.

- Yeah, I mean, you've got the big boys.

- Yep, and then we've got Pioneer thrown in there as a competitive check as well, so.

- [Rob] Oh they snuck their way in one way or another, doesn't it?

- Yep.

(Rob chuckles) And that's interesting, too.

Explain what a check is in a plot.

- So, as you look as an industry, you know, you always, kinda like you started out, with the bias of the data.

So we wanna have something in there to compare and have a measurable against just ourselves, how we're comparing.

So, the check's out there, just showing kind of where somebody else in the industry's at.

- So you obviously are a busy individual.

But yet, you take a lot of time outta your schedule to develop your leadership.

Why do you do that?

- So, a lot of it is just, you know, if you're familiar with the seven habits, so, you know, the last habit's sharpening the saw.

- [Rob] Seven habits?

- So, Dr. Stephen Covey's got the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People", and a lot of people have kind of leveraged that and throughout, and the last habit is actually sharpening the saw, so.

To be the best version of ourself, we've gotta keep pushing ourselves to be better.

So, you know, part of that, sharpening the saw.

If you've got an hour to cut down a tree, I'm gonna take the first 45 minutes to sharpen the saw.

- [Rob] You can just pay someone to do it.

- You could do that, too, I guess.

- I like that whole cruise control.

Just never really worry about the future.

- You know, that works for some.

- [Rob] Generally not.

(chuckles) So, the first one we're gonna talk about is ALOT, Agriculture Leaders of Tomorrow.

I've been through that.

- Yep.

- That's a Farm Bureau one.

- Yep, that's a Farm Bureau one.

So that was, I believe it was eight weeks.

Like you said, sponsored by Illinois Farm Bureau.

My county Farm Bureau was kind enough to sponsor me through it.

A lot of just, you know, entry level, learn how state government works.

Also learn a lot about the different resources in Farm Bureau and just how we can leverage the connections.

Some time in communications.

You know, just how we can help convey the message and advocacy.

- They also, I thought was interesting.

They taught me how to eat.

- The good old etiquette dinner.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, it's funny, but you don't realize that you're eating wrong sometimes.

Like, the wrong fork.

It's not just that, but like, the little, subtle things that now, I notice.

- Right.

- But I had no clue before.

- It's amazing how we kinda get stuck in our routines and, you know, what we think is normal and right really isn't - [Rob] 'Cause they're like, "If you're gonna get a burrito from the gas station, you should take it out of the package before you eat it.

Just don't open the end and then eat it.

Take it outta the package like a civilized human being.

- Right.

(both laugh) - A lot of time ALOT spent on like, communication.

Are you a natural communicator, or did you learn that?

- I learned a lot of it.

So, I kind of joke that, to a certain extent, I've always felt like I was really an introvert.

Don't like to talk, do interviews and stuff, but I think, through ALOT, and then ultimately ILF, I've kind of become an extroverted-introvert, but you know, at this point, I'm not so afraid to have the communication and, you know, have the conversations.

- [Rob] Mmhm.

Okay, so you went through ALOT, and then, Okay, I'm just gonna say it.

It seems like the next step.

I know it's not planned out this way 'cause different organizations, but you go through ALOT, then you go through Illinois AG Leadership Program.

That is not a Farm Bureau program.

- That is not a Farm Bureau program.

So it is hosted by the Illinois Ag Leadership Foundation.

You know, started in the eighties 'cause I felt like there was a need to develop the next generation of leaders for Illinois agriculture, so, you know, Illinois Farm Bureau's a sponsor, along with John Deere case, Illinois Corn, Illinois Soil.

- [Rob] Pretty much everybody in agriculture.

- Exactly.

- [Rob] Yeah.

They all put in.

And when you say the sponsor, I mean, how many people were in your class?

- My class was the COVID class.

We only had 19.

- [Rob] Oh, you got dinked.

- We got dinked, and we got an extra year in the program, so we kinda joke we were a little slow on the leadership.

- [Rob] You were in there for three years?

- We were in there for three years 'cause my class should have started in August of 2020, and they actually delayed our launch, so we did a year virtually before we actually kicked off with the tree program.

- Well, I'm glad they did an extra, 'cause that wouldn't work.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- The way everything is locked down, you know, a lot of the stuff that they do in that program, the rooms we get into, it would not have been as impactful, virtually.

- [Rob] Yeah.

So, why do something?

Because that is a major time commitment.

I've gone through it, and I remember having the discussions with my wife.

I'm like, "This is all the time that I'm gonna be gone," and it was a lot.

- Yep.

I think a lot of it is, you know, putting yourself out there.

My class of '19, lifelong friends out of it.

The other beautiful thing about it is, as an industry, such a diverse background within the class, we'd have a lot of hard conversations and get some differing opposing opinions and really hash it out as a class.

They're kind of in a safe area that you didn't have to worry about somebody calling you an idiot, but just, you know, how can we talk through this, how can we attack the issue head on and figure out a path forward?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Which classmate did you like the least?

- I'm not gonna say that, so.

- That's leadership right there.

Do you see how he handled that question?

That's leadership.

Somebody came to mind, though.

- Absolutely not.

So, I highly value all my fellow classmates, so, you know, there's something to learn from everybody.

- [Rob] That program, there's two big trips.

I don't know if you did 'em because of COVID, but the first one, you go to DC.

- Yep.

- Do you do that?

- We did go to DC.

We were actually one of the first.

Kind of, every office we went into, we were told, "You're really the first big group we've had in since everything's opened back up."

- [Rob] So you have to wear masks?

- We did in DC, yes.

- [Rob] Yeah.

I mean, great.

(both laugh) - Yeah.

- Well, you can't see the politician, because honestly, you're telling them about what you're farming at, and you could probably see their eyes roll, but you couldn't see their facial.

- Right.

You can't read, you know, facial expressions, and it was just hard.

The other thing that I really struggled with in the mask and the conversations is, a lot of times, you kinda watch facial expressions to pick up if somebody's getting ready to chime in, or, - [Rob] Especially a politician.

- Right.

- Okay.

Did you do the monuments at night?

- We did do that, yes.

- [Rob] That is the coolest.

If you've ever been to Washington DC, you definitely have to do the monuments, I suggest, at night 'cause they're lit up and there's not quite as many people.

- Right.

Crowds are a lot down.

A lot more down.

And just, a lot more beautiful experience.

- What all did you do in DC?

- So, you know, visited the FSA office, spent some time with AFBF, American Farm Bureau Federation, was at CropLife's building, met with our legislators, got in with the senators.

Just generally got in with most agencies in DC that impact ag.

- [Rob] Okay.

Then it ends in like, is it two-week?

- Yep, a two week international is the capstone of the program.

- [Rob] Where'd you go?

- We went to western Europe.

So, started out in the UK, went to France and then Belgium, and ended in the Netherlands.

- And what was going on at the time?

- So, it was really interesting 'cause if you remember the farm protests going on when the farmers were storming the streets of Brussels and stuff.

- [Rob] Still are, yeah.

- Yep.

So we were actually there.

We were in Brussels the day before one of the big tractor brigades came into town.

- [Rob] Really?

You shouldn't.

- We were kinda lucked out.

- No, you should've hung out.

- We should've waited maybe another day, but had a pretty tight schedule we had to keep, so.

But it was interesting because, you know, as leadership of the organization was looking, they wanted us to go to Western Europe 'cause there's a lot of stuff that Europe's on the cutting edge, as far as renewable energies, and also some of the fertility regulations and stuff, so they wanted us to go hear from the farmers and how some of that was impacting their operations.

- [Rob] Gotcha.

With this leadership, I mean, you've done some things.

You're a county president, right?

Christian County Farm Bureau President.

- Yep.

- [Rob] How long have you been doing that?

- Just started year number seven.

- [Rob] Seven?

- Yep.

- [Rob] How long are you gonna go?

- Our board term limit's set at 10 years, so I guess I don't know if I'll make it to 10 or not, but, - [Rob] I've heard things.

- Have ya?

- [Rob] Yeah.

- Is there a coup coming after me?

- It ain't looking good.

No, it's a county level, not the state.

We'll let that go.

(both laugh) - New topics.

- What have you found with that?

Have you enjoyed it?

- I've enjoyed it as a whole.

So, actually, my county board, when I was elected, we had term limits of four years.

Kind of conversations would come, you know, it takes you a couple years to kinda get your feet wet.

- [Rob] Four years is not quite enough.

- It's short, and so, my board actually changed our bylaws to go to 10, just, you know, they felt like I was finally finding my voice and was able to stand up and help convey the message of the men there.

- [Rob] Oh, you were the reason they changed it?

- I don't know if it was that they couldn't find a new sucker to step into the role or if they liked the job I was doing, so.

- Yeah.

(chuckles) How big of a board do you have?

- We've got a sliding scale, currently.

We've got 14 directors.

- [Rob] Ooh, that's a lot of opinions to corral.

- It is, but as we're looking at what's doing best with the membership, but having a bigger board is good to really hash some stuff out, and we can really vet some ideas, and you've always got somebody in the room who wanted to play devil's advocate.

- Which board member do you like the least?

- Once again, not giving you that answer.

- Once again, somebody popped right into your damn mind.

- Absolutely not!

I love my board.

- Have you had to use the gavel to tell 'em to shut up?

- I have gotten to the point now the gavel is coming to my seat with me.

First year I was here, I did not bring the gavel, and now the gavel has definitely needed to keep the train on the track.

- [Rob] Put the hammer down.

- Occasionally.

- Thor is in charge now, people.

- Yes.

- I'm gonna assume that, on your board, there are several members that are your senior.

Is it hard to try to corral people that have much more experience than you do?

- At times, it's a little intimidating.

So, but at the same time, it's also important to value their opinions and, you know, make sure that they can speak their piece or speak what's on their mind because they've been there and done that and they can actually provide some pretty valuable insights.

- [Rob] Yeah.

You should run for office.

You're good at this stuff.

- Let's not.

- Maybe we should test you some more.

Again, who is the least one you liked?

- Not going there.

- Okay.

What's his name rhyme with?

- Sharkey.

- (laughs) Okay.

Alright.

All right, you wanna be that way.

So, that puts you, when you're a Farm Bureau president at the county, I mean, that puts you doing a lot of stuff on the state level, too, or a chance.

Have you done that?

- Yep, so, you know, as a county president, the resolutions is all member-driven, so county presidents rotate through to serve on resolutions committee, and then actually, currently, I'm serving on the OMS or Organizational Membership Strategy Advisory Committee for Illinois Farm Bureau.

- [Rob] What is that?

- So, as we're looking at, you know, changing demographics, we're not getting to have any more farmers in the state of Illinois, so we recognize, as an organization, we're gonna have to evolve and do things maybe to change what we've been historically to what we're going to be tomorrow to make sure that we're so a relevant organization moving forward, so OMS is looking on just helping, how do we drive all that roadmap to keep us relevant?

- [Rob] So you're trying to keep the hippies out.

Is that what it is?

- No.

We're not trying to keep the hippies out.

We're trying to make sure we've got a place for all the farmers in the state of Illinois.

- It is a fine line, because, you know, a lot of people coming into agriculture are not what you and I might think of as traditional farmers.

These people are doing it in a different way, and they're crushing it, and their voice and their vote is just as important and valuable as yours and mine, which might mean that what we think as a traditional farm group might be changing.

- Yes, and I think that's one of the big, I don't know if I'd say a fear in the organization, but just, as you listen to some, maybe that's been a concern, historically.

I know they talked, you know, probably 10 years ago plus when they added the professional membership class, they were afraid the professional members were going to overrule the voice of the farmer member.

And, you know, now as we're looking as an organization, we're having a lot more of the small, niche markets and, you know, especially the growers coming in, you know, they deserve a seat at the table.

- I don't like change.

- Who does?

- Literally, you're on this committee.

Just go in there next time, say, "Let's stop changing."

You have a gavel.

- Not in that meeting I don't.

- You can take one with you.

A farmer is a farmer and we have to work together to ensure the consumer is comfortable with our practices.

(sighs) Do we really?

- We do.

You know, as an industry, we've got an image.

I won't say an image to protect, but we definitely got a message to convey.

So, at the end of the day, we wanna make sure that our land is safe to the next generation.

We wanna make sure that the products, the food, fuel, and fiber that we're raising is safe.

So, and at the end of the day, you know, whether you're raising corn and soybeans in central Illinois or you're raising vegetables in a old brown field plot in the city of Chicago, you're still producing, and a farmer is a farmer.

- What's this?

- That's actually a picture of my dog, Birdie.

and the old combine at home.

- Dog what?

What's this?

- Her name's Birdie.

- Birdie.

- Yep.

- Is she a bird dog?

- She's not.

She's an Australian shepherd.

- Oh, okay.

I don't understand.

That combine is red.

- It is.

So, I come from a long line of Red Iron.

- Honestly, I don't know what to say right now.

I felt bad for you.

- Why would that be?

- Anyway, (Mathew laughs) It's a cool picture.

How old's your dog now?

- She's three.

- Oh, she's a puppy.

- She's out of the puppy stage, finally, so.

- [Rob] I don't know, three's pretty young.

- At least she's mellowed out.

- [Rob] Okay, well that's, (laughs) - Yeah, we've made it through the shredding stage, and now she's just, you know, loyal by the side and do what she's supposed to do most days.

- What is "Roots Apart"?

- So, "Fields Apart: Rooted Together" was actually a docu-series that Illinois Farm Bureau put out a year ago highlighting the similarities between urban agriculture and traditional, you know, rural ag.

So kind of like I mentioned there earlier, a farmer is a farmer, and as an industry, we decided, as an organization, too, we decided to start actually looking at the message.

You know, it's easy to always say why downstate Illinois, and, you know, Chicago are different, but the docu-series is actually really striving to show why we're similar and the similarities in agriculture, whether you're in Cook County or Christian County, or anywhere in the state.

- [Rob] Who do you think gets that the least?

Do you think farmers don't understand that, or do you think our city friends don't understand that?

- I honestly think it's the true traditional farmers that don't understand the similarities as much.

Kinda like you mentioned, it's hard to change, so when we look at our, you know, traditional farmer member, yes, they've always thought of, to be a farmer, you gotta raise corn, soybeans, cattle, and hogs, but they're not looking at the challenges faced, you know, in the city of Chicago.

They face the same regulations.

They actually face tougher regulations than we face.

They've still gotta have the consumer buy-in, lack of rain or too much rain ruins their crop just like it ruins ours.

- You know, every year, Illinois Farm Bureau has their meeting up there in Chicago.

- Yep.

- When I was in Farm Bureau, we had a lot of complaints.

You know, it's like, "Why are we doing this?"

I mean, you could have it Springfield, Bloomington, probably for, I don't know what percentage of the cost.

I always defended going up to Chicago for the main reason is, sometimes, our farmer members, it was the only time they would go to Chicago.

To understand Chicago, you have to go there, and I understand, you're only going to the downtown.

You're not really, you know, getting embraced in it, but at least it's something.

- Right, and the other nice part about it is, you know, as we look at Illinois and the levels, a lot of our legislators come from Chicago, so it's amazing how many legislators drop in and actually have conversations with our farmer members while we're in Chicago.

- [Rob] Yeah.

Out of all those legislators, which one do you like the least?

- Not going there again.

- I could name several.

(chuckles) But it's even the little nuances that I remember.

You know, there would be farmers that were on the local county Farm Bureau, and we convinced 'em to come up to Chicago, and it was just like, you know, they're always looking up and they're talking about their cab ride over, they're talking about the person that served them or whatever.

It's just such an experience that I think, the more we do that as farmers, the more we get outside our own fence post, the better we're gonna understand the people that are trying to buy what we produce.

- Exactly.

And, you know, it's kind of funny you mentioned that 'cause last year, one of our delegates, we had to joke about Uber safety 'cause we actually had a member got into a car that was not actually an Uber.

They were pretending to be an Uber and they got at the destination, and the guy wanted cash for the ride, and had to hurry up and improvise.

We had a real good talk about safety.

- [Rob] Well, it was illegal.

You could've just left.

What you gonna do?

Call the cops?

- So, - Probably packin' now.

You know how those city people are.

(laughs) Well, what do you hope for the future of agriculture?

- I think, at the end of the day, the future of ag, you know, we just need to learn how to continue to work together.

So, I think, whether you're raising corn, whether you're raising organic, whether you're raising some vegetables, we're all in the industry together, wanting to make sure that we're doing right by the consumer and continue to make sure that we protect Illinois' number one industry.

- Yeah.

And do you think we'll be able to?

- I think that's a very real possibility and opportunity.

- It's gonna take people like yourself that, you know, not only have the ability to communicate, but have been helped, trained.

I hate that word, trained.

- It's kinda a weird word.

- I know.

But, you know, you've had people help you along the way, kinda know it.

You know, when you say this, it doesn't necessarily sound good, but when you say this, that really conveys the message.

We gotta be open for that as people in agriculture.

- Right, and really, we can't be afraid to have the hard conversations, either.

So, you know, you can't always just be comfortable.

Sometimes, you need to have that hard conversation and kind of get to the root of the matter and find the common ground to move forward.

- Yeah.

Maybe we should get a vegan on this show.

- That sounds like a good opportunity for a future episode.

- And then maybe we could actually listen to what they say instead of trying to convert them.

- That would be a really good idea.

- I don't think so, 'cause I don't like change.

But that's the type of mindset we do need to work on.

I mean, obviously, everybody thinks that their mindset is the right mindset and that is not gonna win over any type of argument.

- No, and at the end of the day, it's finding that common ground that you can move forward with.

- [Rob] Okay.

Matt, Owaneco.

That's kind of fun.

Is there a school there?

- There is not.

It's consolidated in Taylorville.

- Where'd you go to high school?

- Taylorville.

- [Rob] What was the mascot?

- The Tornado.

- Well, on that note, (both laugh) Matt, I wanna thank you for not only coming on the show, but for all you do for agriculture.

I'm glad, as a farmer, that there's people out there like you that are trying to improve the way they're able to communicate.

It means a lot.

You doing what you are doing is actually helping me on my farm, so I want to thank you for that.

Matt, thank you very much.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

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