Combating climate change. Creating a sustainable future.

Carbon markets are everywhere these days — it feels like every organization is shouting about “saving the planet” while sipping their lattes. But Land O’Lakes, through its Truterra business, is putting action behind the buzz.

In this episode of Rooted In Tomorrow, host Kim Olson sits down with Truterra President Jason Weller and Nebraska farmer Lukas Fricke to talk about how Midwestern farmers are turning sustainable practices into real-world impact — for the environment, their families, and their communities. From Nebraska cornfields to Iowa soybean farms, these farmers are not just talking the talk about carbon credits and regenerative agriculture — they’re walking the walk, all while keeping their fields productive and profitable.

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Transcript

 This sounds like some new, you know, hippie magic or something like that, um, when you start hearing it, but because if we didn't have conservation at the root of our cause, then we wouldn't have a job. I know it's always funny, but it's like you're doing what with the butter company, everyone always thinks, oh, it's the butter company, that butter.

Has power, real change in the agricultural space.


Carbon, atomic element number six. See on the table of elements if you want to be transported back to your high school chemistry class. Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere from both natural and human activities. You drive your car, that's the output. You plow the fields. That's the same thing, but here's the deal.

Doing nothing to reduce our carbon footprint is not an option. And it certainly isn't the way we're thinking. At Land O'Lakes. Farmers own US local co-ops and ag retailers and towns across the country, they own us too. So as a cooperative, we're in a unique spot to combat climate change and create brand new opportunities for farmers to lead.

One quick example. We gave back almost $4 million to farmers in 2021 who are offsetting their carbon footprint, and that's just year one on the pod. Today I have Jason Weller, president of ter, our sustainability business, and Lucas Frickey and Nebraska Farmer and early adopter of sustainability farming practices.

Well, welcome Jason Weller and Lucas Fricke. I'm so excited that you guys took the time to, uh, join us here on something greater, especially for our, um, inaugural, uh, return. And, uh, we know, um, we're all kind of going into the, the holidays here and, um, I really appreciate you taking the, uh, time to, to talk to me about everything.

Um, you're doing. Uh. For Tru and um, and out on the farm. Um, just to kind of ground, uh, everybody, we had some exciting news, um, at Tru Jason, uh, toward the end of, uh, 2021, um, with Tru announcing it had returned $4 million in cash payments to farmers who participated in the carbon program. Um. I mean, that's a lot of money.

I, I am, uh, I am happy to, um, hear how how well that went, uh, as someone who followed the, um, followed the launch and, um, was keeping a close eye on it, obviously. Um, now the carbon space itself is sort of seeing this, uh, really significant uptick. Um, can you, Jason, can you just kind of help us understand what makes this unique?

Well, thanks Kim, and it's great to join you today and I really appreciate you investing the time along with Lucas and Lucas. It's great to connect with you again as always. Um, and it's most importantly, I think it's great for the listeners to hear from you as a, as a Tru Terra customer user partner, but also the, the leadership that you provide in your farming community for your family, but also in Nebraska.

Um, so Kim, to your question, I mean this is a pretty seminal moment for Tru, but really I think more broadly for agriculture. And for your listeners that may not know the history of of Tru Tera here at Land O'Lakes, this really the genesis, the beginning for Tru Tera really goes back over six years ago and where the board and the leadership of Land O'Lakes had an intuition that there was change coming and that Land O'Lakes is a former cooperative needed to not just be riding the wave, but we actually need to be leading.

And the, the board and the executive leadership of the company, the cooperative system, decided to begin investing and building out a team, always with this idea that farmers can not only be, um, assisted and helped with identifying opportunities on their operations to advance their stewardship and to apply more conservation, but also by helping them improve their management of natural resources.

It was always the vision that they'd also be compensated. And, you know, simplistically, farmers of course produce, feed and fuel and fiber, uh, for the world. But beyond those, those commodities, those traditional agricultural commodities, farmers also provide other services, in this case, environmental services.

And, yeah. Say that again, Jason. Farmers provide environmental services. I, I love the way you, you talk about that. Yeah. And so when farmers are producing a crop or managing their livestock. They're, they're always, I guess, tussling and, and working in partnership with Mother Nature and in that dynamic, uh, connection to their soils and their water and their air resources.

There are others that depend upon the quality of those resources. People live in town, um, and supply chains or other sectors, the economy, and they also want clean water, uh, and, and healthy ecosystems. And so I, what this ultimately culminates into and we'll be talking about today on this episode is now for the first time we at Tru Tera, but really in the agricultural community, farmers can be actually compensated for their management of their natural resources and as they improve the health of their soils and protect water.

What now Tru Tera is connecting farmers to is the opportunity to also be rewarded for that stewardship and be compensated for their management. Well, that's fantastic. I can't believe it's been six years. Um, I, I feel like, um, the conversations have just gotten richer and richer and richer as, as time has sort of, um, marched on I Lucas, um.

It, it's interesting. I, I'm so glad that you've brought, uh, to, to us this, um, perspective, uh, like literally right out of the, um, the Nebraska farm. Um, when you think about Tru Tera, and even more specifically Carbon, uh, and, and heard about how this was evolving, what kind of opportunities did you see? What really got us excited?

On our farm, uh, people like, Hey, we can start benchmarking. We can start improving on, um, a fact-based situation. So that's what I think we're most excited about. And then when it's like, Hey, now you can participate, participate in these environmental markets, that was the next best part. So, um, putting the farmer in the driver's seat was something that was, uh, appealing, uh, to you and the, and the data too.

I, I love, um, the, the way you're referencing, uh, that piece of it. Um, Jason, Hey. Hey. Can you tell me, uh, Lucas talks about how we put the farmer in the, the driver's seat. Um. Was that something you considered as you looked at the carbon space specifically? It's, it's how, I mean, it's a reflection ultimately of, of, of where Tru Tera resides.

It's, we were built in design for farmer, cooperative system for farmers. And so I think having that, that magnetic north, that north Stars, we we're here to create value and return for the farmer. Is always, I think what has guided us, whether designing our technology tool that Lucas mentioned, or designing conservation program assistance or connecting farmers to the best in industry payment for carbon and giving the best experience on a carbon program.

We're always trying to put the farm and the farm family first and how we go to market. I, I so appreciate those sentiments and I, I know that, that Lucas does too. Um, I, listeners like me, are probably a little, um, confused when you think about carbon. So we've all been seeing, um, seeing and hearing media, uh, particularly in the last six months on, um.

Carbon and, um, how important it is. Uh, but it would be helpful. Um, Jason, if we could just like, let's walk it back just a little bit. Um, carbon markets themselves can be just a little confusing. Uh, can you just walk through, um, the basics of how carbon market markets work and why they're valuable? So I, I'll, I'll try and, and break it down.

I know Lucas is also a, has a graduate, uh, degree in this topic as well here. Love to get Oh, excellent. We'll, we'll have both of you do it then. Um, simplistically carbon is, is, is the vital element here on earth. We're carbon based life forms, so we're not here to, to discredit carbon. The challenge is, um, that when in, in certain forms, when carbon gets in the atmosphere as a carbon dioxide or in other, other forms like methane.

It is, it's a heat trapping gas. What it, it provides an insulating layer in our atmosphere, which captures a lot of the heat that would normally bounce back into space and now is actually being retained in our atmosphere. And so the more carbon as in different forms we get as a gas, the atmosphere, the, the hotter the earth is getting and the trend of trajectory we're on, we are on is not good.

And so what scientists are telling us is that we we're running out of time if we really wanna avoid the worst. Ecological disasters across the globe for heating planet. And so increasingly now global governments to states. Here in the United States, there are a number of states that are now taking action, but setting aside the public sector, now, what's really interesting, what's changed is in these private sector, global companies, national companies, local companies are all increasingly focusing on what are their contributions to that emissions of carbon in the atmosphere.

How do they become more proactive to reduce their risks, but also to be good stewards? And so now in this emerging carbon market, what you have are increasing demand from private sector companies that want to essentially purchase carbon removal services. So they wanna hire technology or service providers to remove carbon and put it back in the ground.

From our perspective, farmers. Offer the most cost competitive and best source of carbon removal services. And they use a technology that nature invented about three and a half billion years ago called photosynthesis. Hmm. So by harnessing photosynthesis, farmers can be cost competitive, grow food, restore natural resources, and put the carbon back into the ground, which by the way, when that carbon's back in their soils, it's a key.

It's the vital element in a crop production system without carbon. In your soils, you have desert. So as you improve organic matter and carbon content in your soils, you're improving crop productivity, crop field resilience, profitability in the acre. So it's a, a natural kind of virtuous circle. The more carbon we can re, uh, store back on our soils, that's good for long-term crop productivity and profitability in the farm.

But it's also, we can also now be an additional service provider to other parts of the economy to remove carbon on behalf of. Other, uh, parts of the global economy. I, I tell you, I'm sitting here just trying hard to remember what Mr. Nsbe in fifth grade taught me about photosynthesis. Everything that I can, uh, that I can think of it.

It's interesting because, so, um, much of the carbon discussion seems so complicated and when you think about it being, uh, revolving around something we all sort of learned in science when we were in elementary school, um. It shouldn't be that complicated. Um, right. Lucas, I, I mean you've, uh, as Jason said, you've done a lot of work in this area.

Anything to add there? Yeah, I mean, the cool part, um, talking a little bit about the soil science, and I'm not a soil scientist at all, but that's the cool part. There is a science behind all this, um, to create, create great crops and. I think the coolest part about what the True Carbon Program has shown us and the Tru Tier program is that conventional agriculture has a seat at the table, and we can take small steps of conservation on a farmer's perspective to make a large scale impact.

So it, it's super easy to get involved in these marketplaces. I changed one practice on our farm and I was able to, uh, sequester a couple metric tons of carbon on one field. And that led to creating real significant change in the environment. So tell me what those, uh, those small changes could be. Can you give me a few examples?

Maybe Lucas, you can gimme a few you're using and, and Jason maybe then you can gimme a few that you've seen other places. So the biggest one for us that we participated was changing our tillage practices. So usually. Farmers across the Midwest, across actually the entire United States, um, are gonna use something like a broad tillage.

So they're gonna go across the field, they're gonna till up that top layer of soil break, uh, kind of cut up the plant material with big disks. I mean, that's probably the simplest form. Or they're gonna use a plow and they're gonna flip that soil over. So you're, you're tilling up that entire top layer that, um, that, that soil bed.

Um, and sometimes we can lose that to wind erosion, water erosion, um, or simply the carbon is gonna, um, go out of the soil. So. The thought behind what we did, which we call strip tilling, is we go through the field and we're only tilling up about six inches of that field, six, eight inches depending on your equipment.

And what we're doing is we're reducing the surface area so carbon isn't leaching off. We're keeping a lot of that plant material on the top, but at the same time, we're still, um. Creating a great soil bed for a plant to grow in. Um, it warms up faster so we can plant seed earlier. We get better root development, um, but we're not tilling up everything, so we're reducing our wind erosion, reducing potential for water erosion.

Um, and from our perspective, what the true Terra Insights Engine helped us understand was, Hey, this is helping your soil and you're getting the productivity outta the plant. And that's where we see conventional ag winning. Again, because I have less tillage passes, I have less equipment passes that still makes a difference at the end of the day.

So we want to be very prescriptive with our farming practices because in the end, we're conserving natural resources, whether that be fossil fuels, whether that be, um, fossil fuel based fertilizers. So it, it all makes simple adjustments by just changing a couple practices. Um, other practices may include adding cover crops.

So again, we're, we're having those cover crops holding that soil surface together. Um, we're bringing up nutrients that are going through the soil profiles, so the next spring. They're right there in the top so those plants can start using it right away. And we're being, we have great efficacy of the products that we're putting out there.

Um, and, and it's simple technology. It's technology we've used for a lot of years in agriculture. But, you know, we are, for the longest time, and I think I'm gonna quote Jason, he'll tell the story way better. We're all about production, you know, after World War or during World War ii, was it, you know, we had to produce.

We had to produce, yeah. It's a different mindset now that I think, uh, modern agriculture needs to get into, uh, we need to conserve. We need to conserve is what we need to get into. Yeah. Save the, save the farm, save the planet. Yeah, exactly right. Okay. Jason, he put you on the, uh, on the spot. You're gonna tell the story better.

I thought that was pretty good. I, I thought Lucas was, uh, did a fine job there, so he set the bar high. Well, I, I. Lucas always has the bar high. I have, it's more of a limbo with Lucas. I need to go under his bar. But, um, I, what he had just outlined are really the four principles. And so to, to your question on, on, when we're talking about improving soil health, what Lucas is talking about is what's changing agriculture is beyond just thinking about soil as this inert substance and you can do anything to it and, and crops will just grow out of it.

And instead we're, we're starting through science, the learning that it's actually a living vital ecosystem. When you think about soil, it, it's really pretty, has some pretty basic components to it. First it's the parent materials, the minerals. So what's the parent rock type that it emerged from water, air, and then the magic elixir is organic matter.

And organic matter includes crop, biomass, carbon, but other living biomass, you know, microbiota and worms and gophers and all the other things that live vertebrates that live in the soil. So it, when we think about that living ecosystem. It, it, it needs things that we need. Um, it needs food, it needs energy, it needs air, it needs walks, oxygen, it needs to be cool and temperate, not over hot.

And so how you then treat that living ecosystem really then drives crop productivity. Profitability, but in this case, sequester carbon. And the four principles that Lucas already kinda outlined is first about minimizing disturbance. So it's not about never tilling, but it's also thinking about how do I minimize my equipment usage and not really disturb that soil?

Because when you turn that soil over what you're doing, you're, you're exposing all that, that living microbiota in the soil to the ox oxygen to the atmosphere. And that's what releases carbon as they eat. The, the organic matter releases carbon as a gas back on the atmosphere of CO2. The second is to keep your fields covered.

So like we need a blanket when we need to go to bed at night. The fields need a bed. They need a bed of biomass to protect those soils from erosion, from wind, from this hot summer of sun. Third is, uh, living roots, so maximizing your living roots. So photosynthesis is this magical process where plants convert sun energy into people food, but also into food for that, that living ecosystem below the surface of the soils.

So we wanted a maximum amount of time have photosynthesis occurring to, to feed the biomass, the, the critters, the microbiota, and the fungi and arachni. It's all the stuff that lives in the soil. And the fourth is diversity. And so if you go back to the great plains in, you know, you know, pre cultivation, if you looked at a a square foot of, of, of prairie grass, there's over 40 different species of Forbes and grasses and brass that live.

On that plot today, in a, in a conventional cropping system, you may have one or two crop types. And why diversity really matters is, again, that, that the living ecosystem below the earth, they, it wants diverse food sources and all those different plant types exude different types of nutrients and, and sugars.

Biomass that the critters below the earth need or below the surface need. And so it's, it's that rich system of keeping it covered, minimizing disturbance, maximizing living roots, and maximizing diversity that we have seen drives best crop health, soil health, and also carbon sequestration. So let me, that, that's so fascinating and, um, not as complicated, right?

I, I mean, uh. Virtual, um, circle, circle of life. You know, I'm going back to the, the Lion King as I'm listening to you guys talk. Um. I'm gonna go back to the carbon program and the, the 4 million, um, that we ended up, uh, returning back to farmers. Now, as you look at that, can you, um, help me understand how a farmer would participate?

And I know Lucas has done some of this too, so maybe you can both help me. Um, and, and what is it? Uh, the. The participation in the current kind of approaches? Or are we looking back a little bit at what they've done over time? Um, e explain the program to me a little bit. Well, I'll, I'll maybe start and then, you know, Lucas is actually as a, as a customer, so it'd be great to also kind of get his perspective on what it was like and what it took.

Um, we, we started first again, we're, we're talking earlier here about making it easy as possible for the farmer to participate. We want them to have a, a, a positive, really a turnkey experience in other carbon programs. It asks a lot of the farmer, it asks the farmer to collect all their data, enter all their data.

It asks the farmer to pay for soil sampling, soil testing, and ranging all that on their own. It asks the farmer to find a third party verifier to help audit, you know, what happened on their operation. And all those activities are out of the farmer's pocket, and it's up to the farmer to kind of coordinate and figure that out.

Tru Tera, working with our retailer owners. You know, we, we have an approach where we connect with farmers like, like Lucas, and we first wanna make that the data collection as easy as possible. I won't say it's painless yet, Lucas, but we at least tried to reduce some of that burden. Secondly, secondarily, we, we coordinated with our retailer members around soil testing, soil sampling, and it's a really specified soil test.

It's a unique soil carbon test, which requires kinda a specialized team and specialized equipment, and that's really important you get that done right, 'cause that's all about the data and the soil are about quantifying the carbon in the ground, and we're really passionate about doing that the best possible way.

The highest quality science, most rigorous. Because that's about maximizing the payment to the, to the farmer. We wanna ensure, really we're compensating them fairly and accurately and giving 'em the best possible payment. But it's also then really important for the buyer. 'cause they, they, they need to trust that what they're purchasing, they're, they're purchasing a service and asset for which they will never take delivery.

The buyer never sees it, touches, it, feels, it tastes, it never takes it into the warehouse or into their custody. So the buyer has to trust that the carbon is actually in the ground. Again, that's why we're rigorous and very focused on quantification rigorous science. So the buyer also has confidence, but is willing to pay, in our view, a premium.

So the, the higher quality, uh, experience we create for the buyer, the better return we can provide to the farmer. So with all that, we, we launched the program in February. We had hundreds of farmers across the US reach out and want to participate. We had a limited amount of carbon this initial year we could transact.

So we had to prioritize farms that we felt had the best opportunity to, um, sequester carbon and participate in the program. And then over the course of eight months, we went from launch enrollment that quantification, so data and soil, uh, collection to ultimately to to transaction. And for the whole team.

So our retail owners, the truth ha team and our farmer customers to, to pull that off in eight months was incredible. Others have been talking about this for two or three years, uh, other programs, and they still yet in our understanding, haven't yet actually transact a sale of carbon. So I'm extremely proud of, of how speedy we went.

But yet speed didn't at the, at the, the sacrifice of quality. We, we always were very focused and rigorous on generating the highest quality carbon. Asset we possibly could to generate the best possible payment to the farmer. Well, like you said, you uh, you've been doing it for six years and, um, have established the leadership position and it's so, uh, it's so nice to hear what, um, the thinking and the proof points are, uh, behind the, behind the leadership that you've earned.

Um, now shifting to you Lucas, for a moment, um, tell me a little bit about being a participant in this and, um. When you're, when you're down at the, uh, at the coffee shop or at your local co-op, um, what kind of conversations are you having with, uh, about the program with and about carbon really with your friends and neighbors and other farmers?

So a lot of 'em are like, I can participate in that. Like they think that you gotta do some far out practices and that it's something really unobtainable. Um, that's the first kind of question that they ask. They're like, oh man, this sound, this sounds like some new, you know, hippie magic or something like that.

Um, when you start hearing it, but, and it's like, um, you're strip tilling because you see the yields out in our field and they're like, oh, well I can participate in that. Yeah. I think it's, it's, um, it's a different mindset and the coolest part that I'm thinking and that I'm seeing is that. They're like, I can participate in this and the stuff that I've been doing, I can, I can now, um, get another value for, and that there's, I I, I'm sequestering carbon.

That's the other thing too that I think a lot of farmers, it's, it's, um, it's the understanding of their practices and why we do what we do. You know, for a long time it's been, oh, we're really about cost. You know, it's that ROI per acre. Now we're in this ROI, not just in a. Monetary sense, but an environmental sense and how they're getting to participate.

Um, that's always the first thing. And then the second thing that I hear is, well, people actually wanna buy that kind of stuff. That's the second thing that a lot of people are like just bamboozled by. But it's like, yeah, this is legitimately going to a real business to help offset real things. It's not just, um, a pilot.

It's not just, um, a figure. This is actually creating real change. And actually. Helping offset and making people think more environmentally friendly. And I think a lot of people are like, if I'm gonna do something, I don't want it to be in vain and I don't want it to be a right to go out and pollute more and not polluting, but you know, being able to create more carbon.

They want it to actually lead to significant change, not just be a right to. Go out. Yeah. Um, so that's, I mean, nobody, nobody cares about the planet more than the farmer. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that, and that's out of all of these situations, that's the best story that's coming out, is that there is some conservation in everyone's mind.

Um, because if we didn't have conservation at the root of our cause, then we wouldn't have a job like Jason's talking about the complexity. That soil. I mean, we've switched away from different fertilizer types based off the, the reduction of carbon, first off, the better efficacy, the use of it, and then lastly that soil microbiome.

So we wanna make sure that we're feeding it the right way. We're not putting it in jeopardy, but at the same time, we still are able to continue business as usual. Um, keep the lights on, keep the taxes paid, but at the same day, uh, taking care of the environment around us. That's. That's all these kind of conversations that I've heard is I can participate and wow, it is easy to participate and I do actually make change.

Well, and you know, when I think about you talking with your, your friends and neighbors, I know you work very closely with your local cooperative, uh, central Valley Ag, who is also a, um, a member owner of Land O'Lakes. Um. Can you talk a little bit about how I, I, you know, I gotta assume that the local perspective is quite valuable, um, for you.

But, but you tell me how, how does that work? And, and then maybe Jason you can tell us a little bit about how you work with other local ag. You know, I think that's the best part and kind of shout out to CVA because. They hired an in-house conservation agronomist just to help support their members. So when we have a question about conservation or what new cover crop blend should I do, or what's the best practice out here?

We have a specialist in the field and Tru Terra is that tool in their toolbox that backs them up. So year over year, we can look at the data and we can make informed decisions, and it's not just a shot in the dark. It's backed up and that's what you know. Agriculture's become a very data-driven industry.

Whether we like it or not, we rely on the numbers. We rely on the year over year. And Tru is that tool that is so farmer friendly. I haven't even got a go down that rabbit hole because I could talk for 80 minutes about it, but it is the one situation out there that I get a report in my hand. I can look at it and I actually have numbers that I understand as a farmer that impact our farm and that I can actually do something with.

And I know I was dogging on ROI, it has ROI built into it. So saying, if you're gonna practice, here's how you're gonna make money. So, or here's how you may, you know, spend a little bit more and not make as much, but your conservation's gonna be high. It breaks down that process of what everyone's trying to do in their head.

Visually in front of them. And so when CVA can come to me, compile those reports and we make an informed decision, everyone's winning. So I, I think that's the really cool part. And again, CVA went out, they hired that conservation agronomist in our area. That's one of the first, um, cooperatives to do that.

And they're making impactful change to their member owners because they understand it. If we don't take care of the soil and we don't make our customers as profitable as possible. We're not gonna be here. There's not, there's not gonna be a cooperative. So again, it's, it's that investment. And going back to what Jason said, land O'Lakes is like, Hey, we need to invest in the soil.

We need to invest in the environment. Let's create tru. So it, it's like you said, it's just that circle of life and that cohabitation between things. I love hearing the enthusiasm in your voice. I, Jason, is that something, uh, that you hear from a lot of, uh, folks working with their local AG retailers? Yes. I, I will say Lucas is unique in many respects, but he, he is in the last couple minutes, really shared more than a mouthful.

He is like, uh, dropping some, some knowledge here. Um, we, we work, we're very proud to work with CVA Central Valley Ag and we have over 40 other retailer owners. Across the US that are part of the True Terror network. Uh, and so that's a really key thing here. This is a federated approach. This is a cooperative system approach to helping farmers advance their sustainability and driving profitability.

And to be clear, we see this also as a value proposition for the retailer, for the retailer network. Now CVA is unique and in, in many respects, um, their size, the, the competence, the expertise, their agronomy team. But as Lucas said, they've also been investing in building out some additional skill sets. So they, they, on their agronomy team, they've got some folks, um, who frankly are, are truly expert in this whole topic on so health.

And they're out doing clinics, working with their, with their individual farmers around evaluating soil health and, and coming up with plans of action for their farmer customers. They've also hired a, a conservation agronomist who's just focused solely on, on not just tru, but overall on, on helping their farmers adopt these soil health management systems, access carbon opportunities, but other, um, other programs in their, in their territory.

We have other owners across the Midwest that are also have this growing skillset of, of conservation, conservation agronomy. And in the end it, the re why retailers are taking this on is, is one that they're increasing the number of farmers like, like Lucas, who are interested in advancing their sustainability, quantifying their impact, accessing ecosystem markets like carbon markets.

But what we also see coming is beyond carbon credits. We also see now other value add opportunities for commodities. So whether that's gonna be on pork production. So Lucas is also a pork producer. And the supply chain is looking at how do we reduce the carbon footprint of a hog to how do we reduce the carbon footprint of feedstock going into bioenergy, to how do we reduce the carbon footprint of, of wheat and other food crops that are going directly into human food?

And so our, our network of retailers are excited by this opportunity to connect their agronomy services to help farmers like Lucas advance their on-farm success. But then also connect those farmers and think about marketing their, their commodities, their products, into this new emerging global demand for sustainable commodities.

And that's an a huge emerging opportunity that our, our retail network is, is positioned, well positioned to take advantage of. Well, and it, it just sounds like you're out ahead of it. I, I, I'm a little biased, but I guess I'd be remiss in, um, not acknowledging that there's other players in the carbon market, and I think what you've just described, um, certainly is, uh, one of the primary things that sets Tru Trutter apart.

But, um, you've worked hard for the leadership position. Are there, um, other things that kind of set you apart from the other players? Well, I would love to hear Lucas's answer on that as well, but I, I, from our perspective, um, I, you know, the old adage or cliche of if you understand where the money flows, you understand an organization's values.

So again, that, that reverse ownership, where we're owned by the retailer network, we're owned by farmer members. Um, and so therefore, that value creation flows back. To the farm, to to, to co-ops and retailers and into rural American, into communities. I'd say other, other programs. Other services, um, you know, big picture, it's about partnering with farmers to an extent, but the value creation, you have to kind of question for whom and to whom they're creating the value.

And for Tru, you never have to question that value proposition. We are creating, we are built. To create value for the farmer family and to create value for the retailer network. And I think that at its core is our, our differentiation and our value. Yeah. I, I, you all can't see out, uh, 'cause you're listening here to me, but Lucas is nodding his head.

So I, I have to ask you Lucas, as does that, um, hit on all cylinders for you? Does it sound true? Yep. I think the biggest thing, if I'm gonna look at a, if I'm gonna look at a offering to me. One, I wanna make sure it's with a trusted company, I gotta trust the people that I'm working with, right? So if I'm trusting the cooperative system to provide me for the seed, the fertilizer, the crop protection products that I go to year after year to make sure, you know, shout out to Winfield, um, United and their products.

'cause that's what I trust. Um. You go to that trusted person, but you also want to have a company that's gonna be large enough to get something done and is that leader in the whole, whole entire field. Um, you guys, I know it's always funny, but it's like you're doing what with the butter company, everyone always thinks, oh, it's the butter company.

That butter has power real change in the agricultural space. That butter is now powered. You know, Jason, to be one of the best carbon offerings out in the whole entire, in the entire marketplace, that's trusted. And it's like, that's the thing that I'm, I'm excited to tell people that I work with Trutter because it's a trusted brand.

It's not just a fly by night organization. This wasn't just that some, a bunch of investor capital thrown into a pot to say, Hey, this is what we did. This was, Hey, we wanna make a difference in the world. Not just with one product, but with multiple offerings. So this is a sustainable, long-term organization that's gonna do real good.

And this is, this is one business when the private sector steps up and leads. And that's what I want to do because I'm a sixth generation farm. I have nieces. Hopefully I'm gonna have kids one day. That are gonna be that seventh generation, and I wanna be able to hand 'em over, hopefully a big stack of papers at that point, sustainably sourced paper.

Um, they're gonna be able to read and say, Hey, you know, your dad, your brother, your uncle, all these people really cared about this farm. And we partner with a company that cared for us that had a longstanding tradition of doing the right thing the first time. And so if I'm gonna partner with a company, that's what I want.

And I also want technology that's gonna be easy for me to use because I'm already making enough decisions every single day. So let's, let's take some of that load off. You know, Trutter creates a trillion some data points on our farm. Let's use that trillion data points to work for us so we can make the best decision every.

Well, gosh, I, I can't think of a, uh, better way to end this conversation. I, I sure appreciate that. I, uh, I have to ask you both on our, um, something greater podcast, and I'm gonna go to you first, Jason. Um, we ask every guest, what does the phrase, something greater mean to you? So if Tru Tera, uh, I mean, we're biased.

We believe farmers are the answer. Um, and stepping back, big picture in the next 30 years, we're gonna have 10 billion mouths to feed. Uh, and how we do that sustainably for not just decades, but for really literally centuries to come in maintaining our natural resource quality. In the face of a changing climate.

I mean, this is, this is gonna be one of, I mean, it will be the seminal challenge for not just farmers here, but for as a global civilization. And so agriculture was a nature-based solution as the first original nature-based solution for, for feeding us, but also in this case for stewardship, something greater means as a cooperative system, we're investing in the capabilities.

Help ensure our farmer members and agriculture in the industry will not just, you know, be around, but will actually be thriving in, in the face of those challenges that are coming. Thank you, Jason. I appreciate that. Um, Lucas, how about you? What does something greater mean to you? You know, I look at it as a empowering statement.

Um, we've started off good, but we're going to that next level. We're getting that much better. Um, and when it comes to the whole, in this whole entire conversation that we've had today. Um, we're, we're onto that next step. We're, we're creating another commodity to take off to the farm. And I love the phrase that Jason was talking, it's value added agriculture.

So when we market that bushel of grain, or I market that pig someday, I hope that there is an environmental score associated with it. Um. You know, it's really cool to see how technology is now leading us to telling a more authentic story and being able for producers to grasp the opportunity for that story and being able not to just to tell it, but to sell it.

And that's the next something greater, um, that you guys are doing. And I think this space is really creating. Well, thank you both. I, uh, I so enjoyed the conversation and, um, I don't know about our listeners, but I sure learned a lot. Have a, uh, wonderful, wonderful rest of the day and, uh, we'll talk again soon.

Thanks. Thank you, Kim. Thanks Lucas. Thanks Kim. Thanks Jason. Wherever you find your podcast, that's where you'll find us. Something greater is available everywhere. So download, subscribe, and leave us a review looking for more content from Land O'Lakes. Head to land O'Lakes inc.com for more stories. We're not just better.

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