Boots, Manure, Wasps, and Persistence

Director’s Download

Boots, Manure, Wasps, and Persistence

By Jeremy Wilson, Executive Vice President/COO and North American Director

Well, I’ve got a little story to tell you about my rainy week here in central Illinois in late July. On the heels of a three-day period where no less than 6 inches of rain fell, my dad decided that we needed to patch a hole in the side of a barn that had been there the better part of two years. So at 5am I trod out to solve this problem that had pretty much become a 911 for my stubborn dad, and while walking through the pasture I successfully managed to stick a boot in mud so deep that I couldn’t extract it with said boot intact. After a good pull I was retracing my steps, now with one boot and one mud-soaked sock, back across the pasture to find myself another pair of boots.

Once again fully dressed I made my way back to the barn, nearly knee deep in manure, and managed to secure an old piece of gate to mend the barn. Unbeknownst to me, the ground beneath it was awash in wasp nests. So, it was back to the barn for me to get some wasp spray to knock out the nests, and some ointment for the stings I had already received. It certainly wasn’t the clearest path to victory, but I didn’t let the obstacles make me lose focus for completing the task.

All this activity got me to thinking about AgGateway and some of the things we go through in our work. Oftentimes we find ourselves getting stuck in ruts … maybe we can’t figure out how something applies to our businesses, or we’re find it difficult to think outside our box. But that’s not the time to hang up your boots and leave the pasture. Keep after existing work that will bring you, and the entire industry, big benefits. And I would also challenge you to bring ideas to us for making your business better so that we can work on them together. It’s what we are here for, and we’re always ready to help.