Johnson brings fresh perspective to big business of ag

Agriculture is big business in Hamilton County, especially when you are director of merchandising for one of the largest cooperatives in the state. But for Sam Johnson, it’s the relationships that matter, realizing that he and his colleagues are impacting the bottom line, one farmer at a time.
“The ag business is massive,” Johnson noted. “But also it’s really weird because it’s small, too. You know it feels really big because we are part of a massive industry, but the relationships then come down to the one-on-one — your relationship with your originator, the one you do business with, with your cooperative. It is big, but it doesn’t feel that big when you’re in it.”
Johnson shared his perspective as one of several sources in this year’s ANR workforce tribute. The Hastings native, who says he didn’t have any ag background before taking his first job at the Aurora Cooperative after graduating from Hastings College in 2018, believes that his fresh take on all things agriculture has helped him gain a solid footing early in his career.
“I guess the connection that I bring is just that I’ve always had a different perceptive from the co-op, from the normal mentality,” he explained. “I’ve always had an out-of-the-box thought process on challenging ideas, on how we do something versus how we’ve always done it, trying to widen our scope and dial that in. That’s kind of the outlook that’s got me to where I’m at, kind of bringing some creative ideas to the thought process.”
Johnson says jokingly that he didn’t know what a bushel was before he started working for the Aurora-based ag company, but now he is immersed in the details of making every penny of profit possible on each bushel for his farming clientele.
“I started on the accounting side with managing the futures that we trade, which is a mechanism for how we trade the commodity,” he said. “I started on the futures accounting side and then kind of evolved all the way up to now I’m director of merchandising, so I oversee our entire grain team on the trading side, what we buy and sell.”
Overseeing a team of 13 grain traders keeps Johnson engaged in the day-to-day operations of the commodity markets, though he says he tries to keep in mind who he is working for.
“I mean that’s ultimately my goal is to put dollars back in the farmer’s pocket,” he said. “Everybody in ag, right, the hard-working Americans, that’s why I really enjoy working at the cooperative. We’re providing goods and services to the customer, to the producer, that they can’t do themselves, giving them the ability to market grain on a larger scale.”
Johnson cited the investment the Aurora Cooperative made this past year in Murphy as an example of how a large company can impact operations on a much smaller scale.
“Trucks that were taking 35 to 40 minutes to dump are now taking six to eight,” he said of the $8.5 million investment in the hoop building at Murphy. “So what does that time mean? We’re giving back to the producer there. We’re hearing a lot of not having to make an extra trip, not having to have an extra truck driver, even just days in the field, hours less on the combine and a lot of things like that. 
“We’re continuing to focus around Hamilton County and we’ve made significant investments at Aurora South as well,” he added. “We’re going to continue. We have seen what the effects are of Murphy now and what having that building means to us and what it’s done for our speed and space and take, and just being able to increase the volumes. I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to slow down. The combines are only going to get bigger. Everything’s only going to get faster, bigger, better, and that includes our facilities as well.”
As a relative new kid on the block just seven years in, Johnson speaks with a veteran voice of experience. He enjoys working in a place and space that values energy and new ideas, understanding how important it is to always be creating and cultivating relationships. 
“We have a younger team, a newer team,” he noted. “It’s one of the biggest focuses that we push today is relationships. Are we making those contacts, pushing people to go develop those relationships?”
Ultimately, he said, the 3 to 5 cents that the cooperative might be able to save somebody or help them with an efficiency, that’s what the co-op can help them with on the grain side. 
Johnson and his team of grain traders are focused on trying to get grain from Point A to Point B, getting the best price for the producer, and ultimately having a profitable cooperative.
“How do I get my grain from the field to the elevator or the field to an end destination, get the paperwork and ultimately get the best price for my grain?” he said. “We’re working with all sorts of farmers in the area trying to work that piece together.”
Johnson lives in Hastings with his wife Becca, who is a nurse there, along with their three children —  Connor, Natalie and Carson, ages 5, 3 and 1. Neither he or his wife grew up around agriculture, but both now clearly understand how the successes and challenges of producers in the field ripple through all aspects of life.
“I mean you see it. You feel it,” he said of the connection he sees and feels to agriculture. “You see it in the grocery stores. You see it everywhere, from gas prices to interest rates. I mean, ag is so much bigger and touches so much more than any person in New York can understand.”