We are Ag Leader – Paul Rose
In honor of Ag Leader’s 25th anniversary, we will spend some time focusing on an essential part of our success… our employees!
Name: Paul Rose.
Title: Territory Manager EMEA.
Hometown: Heckington, UK.
How long have you been employed by Ag Leader? 10 years – first and longest serving international employee for Ag Leader!
What are the different positions you have held at Ag Leader? Territory Manager.
How have you seen Ag Leader and precision ag as a whole change during your time here? My first experience with Precision Ag was with the Ag Leader YM 2000 in 1995 whilst working in the USA on a large farm. Little did I know that I would be working for Ag Leader a decade later! Precision Farming as a whole has changed a lot in the last 20+ years since I got involved. From my perspective, it has now started to evolve from the tangible benefits of auto steer and section control to the less tangible, but arguably the more beneficial use of data. More farmers are now becoming more comfortable with handling data and are starting to learn how they can use it to their benefit. I think also the pressures from environmental issues and regulations have also helped to drive precision farming from an accountability perspective as it now allows users to record exactly what, when and where something was done. The more recent advent of wireless data transfer and general ease of use will continue to fuel the growth of data management. Of course, the subject of drones and autonomous farming cannot be ignored and I am sure the next 25 years will be as interesting as the past 25 years!
For me, it has been great to see the EMEA region grow to what it is now and I feel there are still plenty of opportunities here. When I started I was looking after the region on my own, which was a challenge in itself! Today we have an office in the Netherlands with 9 employees and the turnover has increased dramatically but the challenges are still there which is what makes the job interesting.
What is your favorite thing about working here? I like the fact that it is still a private company and that there is a family vibe about it, despite the fact I am working from home 5000 miles away from Ames! I also like the fact that it has allowed me to visit several places in the world that I may never have otherwise gone to.
What do you do in your free time? Traveling to unusual places, collecting 1:50 scale models, volunteering for the National Trust for Scotland and photography.
