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Humanity in Leadership with Jarrod Gillig
0 Playsin 13 hours
Clarity, candor and humility shape stronger teams and smarter decisions in an industry where every choice ripples across families, communities and supply chains.
Jarrod Gillig, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Beef at Cargill, joins The Cultivating Leaders Podcast to share what he’s learned across nearly three decades inside one of the most complex protein businesses. From stewarding the people behind 90 million daily meals to navigating operational challenges that affect both producers and consumers, Jarrod brings a rare dual lens from the packer and producer side. His journey is one of curiosity, accountability and leading with intention.
Jarrod explores:
- Leading with candor and humility: clarity is kind, and honest conversations strengthen teams and decision
- Finding value across the supply chain: what it really takes to balance producer needs, customer expectations and consumer demand in a constantly shifting beef market.
- Building teams that thrive: cultivating a culture where diverse perspectives, debate and vulnerability make space for smarter solutions.
This episode invites you to pause, reflect and consider what it means to create impact — not just outputs — through your leadership.
Want to hear more from Jarrod? Check out his blog here!
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About The Cultivating Leaders Podcast
Real stories. Practical advice. Tangible growth. Join The Cultivating Leaders Podcast, brought to you by Agriculture Future of America, as we explore what it takes to lead in food, agriculture, and beyond. Whether you’re just starting out or leading at the highest level, this podcast is your go-to resource for leadership that matters. Listen now and start cultivating your leadership journey.
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Transcript
Introduction: Everyone Has a Story
00:00:02
Speaker
i'm ah I'm a firm believer everybody has a story. And if you give people enough time to tell you their story, it is amazing what you'll figure out and what you'll hear.
Podcast Overview with Nicole Ersig
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome to the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where we get inside the minds of leaders to harvest great ideas and lessons that help you grow as a difference maker in food and agriculture. I'm your host and curiosity captain, Nicole Ersig.
00:00:28
Speaker
Real leadership happens when innovation, impact, and commercial excellence collide.
Leadership at Cargill: Jared Gillig's Role
00:00:33
Speaker
Today's guest is Jared Gillig. He is the senior vice president and managing director of beef at Cargill Food North America, leading one of the most complex, high impact businesses in food production.
00:00:43
Speaker
His work spans producers, retailers, and consumers, and the decisions his team makes ripple across economies, communities, and of course, the dinner table. Jared, welcome to the pod. What did I miss from your bio?
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, you bet. Well, first off, excited to be here and and I'm an active listener of of your podcast, so it's pretty pretty cool to sit on this side of the table. Yeah, you know, the only thing I'd probably add to the bio is I've got a pretty unique seed. I mean, you know, with my involvement and leadership there with Cargill, you know, I'm also what you're where you're finding me today is actually at our at my home. And and I live, you know, on our family, family operations. So we'll farm roughly 3,700 acres and between farm and in ranch ground and in we'll have about 240 cows. So it's ah it's a pretty cool area to be both on the you know production agriculture side as well as as more of that production as I think about you know beef production and in plant processing and and getting meals on folks' tables.
00:01:49
Speaker
Pretty cool. Absolutely. That is a really cool seat and perspective because sometimes the ranch and the packer can feel disconnected, but the fact that you get to see both sides of it every single day is is fascinating, I'm sure.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah it's pretty fun and leads to some pretty interesting conversations as you can get. Oh, I i can
Cargill's Global Operations
00:02:08
Speaker
imagine. so for folks who may be unfamiliar, or I'm sure everyone has heard of Cargill, but can you give some perspective to what Cargill is what what your job actually looks like kind of day to day.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah, you bet. Yeah, so Cargill is a family owned organization. So we would have started in 1865. ah William Wallace Cargill started as a, you know, Conover, Iowa as a as a grain trader and started with an elevator and and has now become you know somebody yeah as an organization we've got 160 000 employees across the world we we operate in you know the protein business we operate in food so we've got our you know crushing facilities as well kind of our ag and trading group that would make biodiesel we do chicken production around the world and we don't we've got a joint venture in the united states on chicken
00:03:05
Speaker
We do, you know, when you think about ingredients, you know, we we recently did a kind of a showcase on Food North America, our leadership team, and we did a grocery cart. And it's pretty awesome to see everything from, you know, you know the corn that goes into Molson Coors to chocolates. You know, we've got ah an entire chocolate business.
00:03:27
Speaker
We've got even the starches that go on barbecue briquettes. I mean, there's all kinds of things in between that go in there. You know, we're really proud of of of the products we make and and candidly, not what you see in the grocery store, but a lot of times we're in those ingredients. so You know, even the eggs, we make 100% of the eggs across all of all of the U.S. for McDonald's.
00:03:50
Speaker
And so there's there's some pretty cool facts. And and it's ah it's a great pride to be a part of you know, putting this many meals on folks' tables. Yeah, absolutely.
00:04:02
Speaker
So you have spent most of your career with Cargill, right? I have, actually.
Jared's Career Journey
00:04:08
Speaker
So I've been with Cargill. This is my 27th year. Wow, congratulations. That's awesome.
00:04:13
Speaker
Thank you. Yeah, it's ah it's an outstanding experience. i I actually started in sales, and I was hired for sales. out of I went to Oklahoma State and then and got hired into sales, and we went to a sales training program, and I was in Skylar, Nebraska.
00:04:30
Speaker
And I fell in love with the operations. I just i truly am just – and continue to be. I mean, I've been part of this business for 27 years. And I go into harvest facility and just continue to be enamored with the process.
00:04:42
Speaker
it It just is so fascinating, the transition from muscle to me. And in just, you know, using all aspects of that carcass and just the harmony it takes for a team.
00:04:53
Speaker
You know, I call it, I kind of liken it to a parade that never stops. You know, you've got animals walking in and we've got boxes going out. And And it's just pretty cool. So anyway, I i had the opportunity to stay in operations, so i never went into sales.
00:05:06
Speaker
So most of my career has been through the operations team and have had the opportunity, you know, to kind of grow up in in the beef business and go through multiple different roles and, in you know,
00:05:18
Speaker
who was able to manage multiple sites, spent some time in Canada, led the McDonald's business on the beef side for Cargill up in in Canada for a while, and and then came back down to the States and got to go back to Schuyler at one point time and actually become the general manager
Living the Dream Job at Cargill
00:05:32
Speaker
there. and that was That was a lot of fun. There was a lot of folks that it helped you know my career and and step into that. so So I've been blessed by a lot of lot of different things. And then you know with my current role,
00:05:45
Speaker
basically responsible for the procurement team all the way, all the way through our customers. And, and just sitting in that seat and being able to do that, it, it you know, candidly, it's a dream. I mean, it's, this is a dream job I had and, and I'm pretty excited to be sitting.
00:05:58
Speaker
That's awesome. Did you think you would ever be where you're at today? I didn't. I actually grew up in Missouri. So I grew up in Odessa, Missouri, and we would run somewhere around 30 to 35 cows and registered Angus operation. And I was highly involved in 4-H and was the chairman of the Junior Angus Board.
00:06:17
Speaker
And at the time, i would have told you that i you know i was going to go work for a breeder or you know i was going to go spend time you know maybe working in a feed yard. I mean, and there's kind of all kinds of things. But you know really thinking about it, wanted to be on the live side of what we were doing. And and hadn't really spent a lot of time with Cargill. and and then And then obviously...
00:06:39
Speaker
Went through some interviews there and at Oklahoma State and was really was really intrigued by Cargill and some of the stuff they were offering. And I'm really blessed to have been given that opportunity to to join the team and and get into this. But by no means did I think this was path I was on.
Mentorship and Leadership Philosophy
00:06:55
Speaker
ah When you look back at the career you've had thus far, do you have any pivotal moments or people that you can look back on and be like, this is what directed me down this path?
00:07:07
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, i would say several. I mean, the the first one that comes to mind is the general manager. when i When I went to Skyler there in 1998, Vaughn Bloom would have been the general manager for us. And and he had a leadership team, you know, Don Porter. there were There were several folks that were super integral in And like you start seeing these individuals and you think about, man, that that leadership style, like you just gravitated to it. They were so, they were so humble. They were, and they were just, you know, they cared. They'd ask, you know, great questions. And so I, really aspired to be, to be like Vaughn candidly.
00:07:48
Speaker
And, and, and, As I grew in my career, he became somebody that I would spend a lot of time talking with and he would kind of help guide me particularly as I became a general manager. so i was One of the youngest general managers you know promoted for Cargill when I was in Freona, Texas.
00:08:04
Speaker
and And Vaughn spent quite a bit of time you know just checking in on me, seeing how things were going, and and I always just truly appreciated that. But I've been blessed by some great folks. you know Bill Rupp and and Steve Mellinger kind of gave me that opportunity, and then John Keating, he really stepped in. And and just from a business acumen standpoint,
00:08:24
Speaker
John Keating was somebody who was really, really influential. As you talk about leadership styles that you gravitate towards, tell me what, how would you describe your leadership style today and how has it
Values in Leadership: Candor and Diversity
00:08:34
Speaker
evolved? Yeah. So it's definitely evolved and there are, there are probably times early in my career where I'd like to go and and do a rewind and and and kind of go back and fix that. Like the younger Jared probably didn't understand impact of decisions or the impact of conversations as much as I do today.
00:08:55
Speaker
um As I look at is that for my leadership, the thing that i The thing that I really want to focus on is from a humility standpoint, I truly believe we've been given this opportunity.
00:09:07
Speaker
I don't believe this is something that I deserved. I think I've been given it. and And I take that you know with ah with a great amount of pride. um you know I enjoy having fun. I mean, the beef business today is extremely tough.
00:09:21
Speaker
I mean, you can go out and look at margins. I mean, it's it's pretty rough. But you've got to enjoy it, right? You've got to have fun. I truly believe it's it's like a family, and so we've got to have a lot of fun.
00:09:34
Speaker
Super accountable. I mean, you've got to make sure you're holding yourself accountable. And then i also am in super candid, and I believe candor is a gift. um You know, you've got to do it with respect, but i you know life is too short not to be candid with somebody and tell them, and and clarity is kind, and just having that conversation, right? Like, you know, they may not want to hear immediately what you you're saying But long term, you're going to make a better leader as a result of doing that. so and And the other thing I would tell you is the speed of our business.
00:10:07
Speaker
Life, it just happens too quick that you can't like beat around the bush. You have to tell. us It's just you got to do it and you got to go. And candidly, we're making this decision. We're going to move on to the next one.
00:10:19
Speaker
so Yeah, I love that. I also am someone who really values candor, and I always tell people, ah i want you to tell me if I have lipstick on my teeth, not just physically, but metaphorically. you know yeah It's kind. I may be embarrassed, but I need to know. yeah well i'll you know i was actually in a conversation this morning with one um with our our lead trader, and who leads our risk and trading side of the business. and and you know One of the things that i I spend a lot of time challenging my leadership team with
00:10:50
Speaker
And Adam and I were were in this conversation this morning about let's make sure we don't get an echo chamber. Like, we've got to have debates. and And I think that's also important. You know, as as I think about leaders and in not to go into any history there, but, you know, folks that kind of surrounded themselves with with folks that wouldn't push back or wouldn't argue and and So anyway, I value that a lot. I think whenever we fall into an echo chamber and we just kind of start agreeing with each other, that's that's where we're we're placing the business at risk because we're not looking at you know the opposite views or we're not understanding what the antagonist side of our decision is.
00:11:29
Speaker
And so anyway, I value that. And I think that candor and building that culture to where folks can actually feel vulnerable And actually step out there and say, hey, wait a minute, I disagree. This is what this is what I think. And then and then we enter into the debate. And and candidly, i I truly do enjoy that.
00:11:47
Speaker
I mean, that's ah that's a fun part of the job. Yeah, I would agree. I always enjoy. ah mentally sparring with people and it's not an emotional thing by any any chance but when you get a bunch of smart people who think differently in a room it can be it can be really fun honestly well and it's you know it's pretty cliche to say this but it's a multiplier right i mean it it that literally is how you get two two plus two to equal you know ten you know it doesn't even you're you go way past four because you're Because you're thinking of things differently and and it allows you to kind of get out of yourself and then what that will drive in others is is pretty high performance.
00:12:27
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Tell me about how you approach building a team and an environment where that type of um like safety safety of conversation and debate and difference of thought can thrive.
00:12:41
Speaker
Yeah. So diversity, you know in my mind, making sure that you've got you've got diversity as part of that team. I mean, you know, Cargill truly values that. And we look at it and we say, you know, diversity, you know, there's a lot of definitions across diversity. But, you know, what Brian Sykes, our CEO, the way the way he really comes in and talks about and i absolutely love this, it's an an oasis of decency.
00:13:05
Speaker
Like, how do we how do we create an oasis of decency where everybody can come, everyone can thrive, everyone can be themselves, But that doesn't mean we can't have different views. That doesn't mean we can't think of things differently. But we all get along. We can have debates. We walk away. We still, you know, go to the same, you know, you know, grab a coffee together or whatever.
00:13:24
Speaker
So when you're thinking about building a team, like making sure that you're bringing together different thoughts and different perspectives. know We've got consumers all across the board, and and we want to serve them all.
00:13:37
Speaker
So how does our leadership team help kind of represent that consumer base so that we can understand you know the folks that we're serving? So that would be an aspect of it. you know Obviously, i went you know as as I look at folks, you want you want a high performer. i mean, everybody wants a high performer, and I probably spend more time you know on folks – you know, that, you know, from a performance standpoint or their knowledge of the business, like I can train folks along as long as they have a willingness to learn a thirst, a hunger.
00:14:07
Speaker
And, you know, there's some, there's some great examples with that too. So not necessarily always looking for an expert, but definitely looking with somebody who is confident and, and can dig in and is willing and has shown that they will actually like say, you know what, I was wrong.
Handling Mistakes and Accountability
00:14:24
Speaker
I need to go do this different. And if you know if you don't have somebody that's kind of got that degree of humility, you're probably not going to thrive very well You know, I mean, because they're there's going to be times where we're going to get in debates pretty good. And I'm going to say I'm wrong. But likewise, you know, in order to build the team that we need, we need to be able to tell each other that, you know what, we screwed up.
00:14:45
Speaker
And this is what we're going to do different. And what action are you going to do? i I spend a lot less time spending time with, you know, the the first the mistakes or the first several mistakes even.
00:14:56
Speaker
It's more of when it becomes a habit or we continue to lean into that and we're not learning from it, you know, at that point time, we're letting the team down. So, you know, there's there's a degree of accountability there. Yeah, absolutely. It sounds like, Jared, you're someone who also moves fast. How do you what we're talking about takes time, right, to have debate and think about things and make decisions and also learn from them at the same time. How do you balance the need for some of those conversations and the piece of reflection to learn from either good or or poor business decisions and maintain that, that
00:15:34
Speaker
fast pace of, okay, decide, move forward, execute. Nicole, you're really, really good at this game. That that is a that is a weakness of mine, right? Like there is there's times where I don't allow myself enough time to do to do that. Or, um you know, there's times where I'm probably rushing the team or I feel like I am.
00:15:57
Speaker
And in candidly, the team will actually say, hey, wait a minute. um You know, we need we need to spend a little bit more time here. Like we know where you're at, but the rest of us aren't there with you.
00:16:09
Speaker
So let's pause here for a quick second. Let's have a conversation. And so my ops leads names, Leon Fletcher and and Leon probably does that the best for me, where he'll he'll literally like, you know, kind of check you and say, yeah, yeah I get it.
00:16:24
Speaker
Let's pause here for a quick second. Let's make sure we're having this conversation. We didn't debate this quite enough. so So having that relationship with folks. And the other the other thing is, there's there is times where you know it's a really heavy subject, and you'll devote more time to that. You know you you spend more time, or I i feel like you can kind of, we are truly a people business. And so being around folks and and helping lead folks,
00:16:54
Speaker
you know I can read into things when when things aren't quite going the way I would anticipate them or I have them in my head. At that point time, I'll actually step back and say, hey, let's let's do a one-on-one conversation. So let's pull out of this meeting and and you know that person or a couple of folks will just have a one-on-one conversation and say, hey, I feel like it's not quite landing or I'm not understanding your perspective. Can you walk me through that a little bit?
00:17:18
Speaker
And just taking the time to invest in that. And I do i do do a lot of one-on-one type stuff. you know, it's, um, because I think in group meetings, if they're not set up correctly, you're, you're going to lose that.
00:17:30
Speaker
I mean, you just, you just lose, you lose those conversations where people will actually give you a nugget of information that was probably pretty critical, but, you know, for one reason or another, it didn't come out.
00:17:41
Speaker
And, so spending a little bit of time, whether that's, Hey, we'll go grab lunch together or, you know, go grab coffee or, you know, I did a lot of management by wandering around. So I'll just go drop by their office or,
00:17:52
Speaker
Hey, let's have a quick conversation. Since COVID, candidly, that's that's one thing that has become tougher because it feels like everybody schedules meetings now. And and it it is a it's it's a struggle for for me. I don't truly appreciate that all the time.
00:18:11
Speaker
because I do actually kind of like wandering in and just creating a natural conversation with folks. But but yeah, that's that's one of the things that came out of COVID that's probably not the highest on my list of appreciation.
00:18:22
Speaker
So as of many, unfortunately. Yes. it would That was a real tough time to be in the packing business. Well, it was. Yeah.
Leading Through COVID-19
00:18:29
Speaker
And at the time I was leading operations. So we had, there's 26,000 employees across North America.
00:18:36
Speaker
And that i was that I was directly responsible for with with our leadership teams. And and we were having we would have daily calls. And then across the organization, I'd probably get 200-some folks on a weekly call just giving updates.
00:18:50
Speaker
And yeah, there was a lot going on. I can give you a play-by-play from my first COVID case that that affected our plants all the way through. I mean, it was it was a pretty intense time period. But you know I shared with folks, running out of toilet paper was one thing.
00:19:06
Speaker
If you didn't have meat on the shelf or you didn't have food on the shelf. So well we we did take what we did with a lot of pride. But it was not without the fact that we had to keep a really, really keen eye on our employees and what was happening.
00:19:23
Speaker
So yeah, it was it was a pretty interesting time. But also... That's a time where you look and you're you get super proud of what folks do and just the imagination and and just the innovative nature of folks.
00:19:35
Speaker
We had our maintenance team in in Pennsylvania that actually we we were we were coming out. Hey, we had to get temperatures. you know This would be around March fifteenth or something.
00:19:46
Speaker
16, we had to start getting temperatures of everybody and and we sure didn't want to like put people in a line put a thermometer in their mouth and then, you know, say they go left and this one goes right and the next person gets same thermometer, you know, that'd be horrible.
00:19:59
Speaker
So, so they came up, we were doing a lot of we do a lot of stuff with infrared with maintenance and so we actually created a a infrared so folks who walk through a a tent and there was an infrared camera and if you had an elevated temperature you went you went went to go see the nurse if you're you know a normal you walked walk through and and we literally over a weekend we put that in every site we have in north america which at the time when i was leading all the operations for the protein business that would have been 43 different plants it was pretty uh pretty cool
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So hard times, you create some pretty cool stuff. Yes, yes. can like Crisis can drive innovation for sure. It can, yeah. Yes.
00:20:44
Speaker
So I love that story because to me, it talks about the scale that you are operating at. And help me understand how you approach it from a leadership standpoint of, like, there's a lot of responsibility, both from a commercial standpoint for the business and then people accountability. And what is it like to do that at such a large scale? Kind of give you another story of a perspective on that.
00:21:08
Speaker
the you know The decisions we make, whenever whenever we're making a decision at a plant, and you know you know for anything, whether that be, you know i mean, obviously with constrained beef margins that we're, or the challenge of beef margins I'm in right now, and we you know we're
Community Impact of Business Decisions
00:21:24
Speaker
reducing hours. But when we when we pull hours, the decision we're making for that facility is not those 2,200 employees that may be in Dodge City, Kansas. It's actually the 10,600 people affect six hundred or six hundred people i That's what our dependent roles, you know, that's the number of folks that are counting on that paycheck.
00:21:43
Speaker
So that's the number of dependents I have coming out of that facility from an insurance standpoint. so So whenever you're making a decision, you know, we are a people business. I said that earlier.
00:21:54
Speaker
So you've got we have to start with that. And I'm blessed to work for an organization who believes in that. And the Cargill family, I mean, that's probably one of the biggest questions I get from the Cargill family is just around our employee engagement, and what our employees, how they're feeling.
00:22:09
Speaker
So I'm absolutely blessed that that that just is a reaffirming, whether it's from our board or or the family itself. So that you start with that and then the second thing you start with is from a customer standpoint, how do we make sure we're servicing?
00:22:25
Speaker
As I make this decision, what is the effect of that? And then how do we make sure that we're going to be servicing the customers that we need to service because they're obviously counting on us. From a decision standpoint, it it does start with your employees first.
Inspirational Stories at Cargill
00:22:38
Speaker
and And I'm just super blessed to work for an organization that allows me to do that What I just heard there, Jared, is that when you're making decisions, you're not just thinking about the outcome that you want, but the ripple effects and how it's going to impact other people and and not just your employees, but their families and the communities that Cargill is in. yeah How did you gain that perspective? Because I don't think that that is something that like we all just innately have, right? Especially when you are leadership driven, like I got to get the things done. I've got to make these results happen. But thinking about things more holistically, how did you...
00:23:12
Speaker
grow to get that type of perspective and process? Yeah. So I would, I would tell you first, it's, it's the leaders we've had in Cargill. It's the leaders I've been around.
00:23:23
Speaker
That's how they've led. And then personally, what that walks, what that walk for me looked like is is getting to know our team. And I'm a, I'm a firm believer. Everybody has a story.
00:23:35
Speaker
And if you give people enough time to tell you their story, It is amazing what you'll figure out and what you'll hear. And one of the first stories, you know, was it that that came early in my career. i mean, when I was in Skylar as a trainee, I was sent to the hotboxes. So that's where we chill all the carcasses. We'll have like 10,000 head-on inventory.
00:23:57
Speaker
and And I had to clean rails. So we had... we had you know, there the rails come in and and there's wheels that roll on this. And so they get like grease on them.
00:24:08
Speaker
And I actually had to go back and wipe rails. And so the gentleman I was doing this with was, was from Mexico. He actually had a lot of grief from Mexico, had come up, had come up to the United States to to work to better himself, wanted to live, brought his family up and didn't know English. So i would,
00:24:27
Speaker
you know spoke a little bit of Spanglish, per se. And we got a we we definitely could understand each other. But he started telling me that that they're going to the library his kids are teaching them English.
00:24:38
Speaker
So he would literally, after work, go to the library and his kids would read to him children's books. And that's how he was learning English. So that his his goal was to take the bar exam here in the United States. I mean, that's what he wanted to do.
00:24:53
Speaker
So anyway, I was super intrigued by this. So as a course, you know, just out of college, know, I show up at library one night and sure enough, if him and his family aren't sitting there and it just, and to the day it still sends shows on back thinking about, you know, what, like what folks go through to to get things and how Americans, we just take it for granted. we take so much stuff for granted anyway that's that's just one example, but as you is you truly start to put connections to say, everybody has a story, and how do we how do I best serve them?
00:25:29
Speaker
I best serve them through the leadership of myself, through the leadership of my team, the viability of our plants. I mean, if our plants aren't viable and we have to make a decision on them, which unfortunately i have had to do in my past, then candidly, I'm letting them down, right? And I take that really personally. So how do we How do we make sure that we've got those decisions? Because when we're making but we're making those, we need to be telling them about it. We need to be talking to him about it.
00:25:57
Speaker
And we need to make sure that folks understand that. Because the longevity of their job, and the longevity of the community, there's so much that goes to that. I mean, when you're talking 2,000 people in one of these plants, know that it makes a significant portion of these communities up.
00:26:12
Speaker
Yeah. I got chills when you told that story. That's incredible. It's a fun one. I've got some miraculous ones. I mean, it's, you know, all the way from um Daisy, I think her last name was Zavala, she was actually from Honduras, and she used to speak to thousands of people on behalf of the the government down there.
00:26:38
Speaker
And then she immigrated to the United States for a better life for her family. She was working, she was trimming, she was a skirt trimmer. So if you think of like fajita meat, she was trimming that. And you would never know she had this history of being a public speaker.
00:26:52
Speaker
And so anyway, one day I started chatting with her about it. And and sure enough, she starts you know hurt she did not speak English really well at all. Actually, at the time, I don't think she spoke English at all. Anyway, so we started using her for like employee events. and She was just absolutely awesome. right i mean She was super motivating. super Anyway, if we tap into the talents of folks who we've got it around us, it's it's pretty cool stuff you can do.
00:27:21
Speaker
And it sounds to me like being curious is probably a key to your leadership success, because if you didn't have those just curious questions with people that are, sounds like at all levels of the organization, it's to me, sounds like, Jared, you use those little nuggets of information and those people's story to drive decisions at such a high level.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah, i I would agree to that i And again, you know, I can... you know, i can probably thank my parents for that. I can thank, you know, they're, they were super influential as I think about how you disrespect everybody. And, and, uh, I mean, it's just how was raised. I mean, you know, raised in rural America and everybody puts their pants on the same way. And, know, this is, it was, it was just kind of the way. So i'm I'm blessed by the folks I got too.
00:28:09
Speaker
As you I sit there and reflect on that and you reflect back to me on what I said. So, So one of the things you talked about was leading yourself well. And I feel like that has been a theme, honestly, across this podcast is so many of the leaders say that to be able to grow or learn or be better, they've had to better get to know themselves and grow themselves first.
00:28:29
Speaker
What does that look like for you? If you ask my team, it looks trying. But, you know, you know, for me, it's it is spending some time and reflection or, and I, I drive a lot.
Reflection and Personal Growth
00:28:43
Speaker
So, so, you know, i talked about being here at the farm or at ranch or whatever. And, um,
00:28:50
Speaker
So I've got like a two hour and 45 minute commute down into Wichita. And I go down there, you know, pretty much weekly. So I've got a good drive. I don't do it every day. Obviously, I stay down there when I go. but um So I get a lot of thinking time. I do podcasts. but But a lot of times I'll just put the radio on low and I'll think and write notes on the side. And and so I can spend quite a bit of time on that. and And a lot of that is actually replaying what has occurred.
00:29:17
Speaker
Or, you know you know, as I made a decision or I got in a conversation or maybe, you know, doing this podcast, I mean, I'll i'll actually like go back and and say, okay, what what do I wish I would have done different there?
00:29:29
Speaker
um and And how can I show up better next time I get this opportunity to do something like this? The the other thing I'll do is is, you know, I actually met with the attorney general in Nebraska yesterday.
00:29:42
Speaker
and And had one of my colleagues from our government relations team with me, Katie Smith. and And it's one of the things I'll drop Katie a note just say, hey, you know, how did everything go?
00:29:54
Speaker
Any suggestions you got? Anything you saw? You know, just trying to figure out how do i continue to get feedback and improve? whenever you're in those times. and And even, you know, we do a town hall. I mean, I'll i'll sit there and there's some folks out in the crowd that I'll, you know, whether they're direct reports of mine or or folks, you know, deeper in the organization. And I'll just candidly ask, hey, any any thoughts or suggestions on that resonate or what would be different?
00:30:19
Speaker
And, you know, feedback truly is a gift. and And again, that's a little cliche, but you know, feedback without any, any direction or feedback without any intention to do something different is actually just kind of words, words spoken. So how do you take that and actually do something with it?
00:30:36
Speaker
And, uh, you know, I, that, that hopefully I live by that. ah Again, i think my team would be a little bit hard to say, I don't know if I do the greatest job of that all the time. So, you know, my humility, uh, coming through you there, but,
00:30:48
Speaker
None of us are perfect. None of us are perfect. That's true. Yeah. As you look to create value, both for the people and the like what you're doing at Cargill, especially as we look across the supply chain. And I think you have such an interesting perspective on this being a both a beef producer and work working as a packer. What does that what does that look like to really create lift across the supply chain and value for customers and those who are feeding into Cargill? And how do you balance that? Right. Because like even if we look at the beef world today, like margins, no one is ever winning all at the same time in agriculture is what I will say. And so how do you how do you balance, you know, who do you prioritize at the right
Industry Cooperation and Sustainability
00:31:32
Speaker
time?
00:31:32
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think that's a great question. So I i actually did a ah podcast several years ago. a Cargill, I'll start with the back of your question, then we'll kind of move to the front. the and Cargill used to play this game, and it was called Win All You Can.
00:31:49
Speaker
and And the idea of the game was you're you're kind of – there's a banker, and there's like a central bank, and then there was like five teams. and And you actually – Everybody could win. There didn't have to be any losers, but the game was set up that clearly there was one winner and a loser in the in the instructions.
00:32:09
Speaker
But as you got into the game, everybody could win. and And that's a challenge. I i think we've got to figure out, you know, how do we win as an industry? Because from a viability standpoint,
00:32:21
Speaker
like We are seeing deeper you know deeper valleys and higher highs. I just personally don't think that is – I worry about the viability of that long term. I don't have an answer. I have debated this actually with quite a few economists and gotten some pretty interesting conversations.
00:32:39
Speaker
But i don't I don't have a solution. i you know I'll have conversations with ah with feeders. And I actually had a feeder tell me the other day that, admit this is couple weeks ago probably, but the and and he literally said, i actually don't want it to change. i I live for the highs and I know the lows are coming.
00:32:59
Speaker
And I am just so intrigued by that because as we look at- That man likes to gamble, it sounds like. He did. And I actually asked him that and he said, well, maybe that's true. But the ah but as like as you think about getting the next generation involved in agriculture, I think we've got to figure out how do we create a more sustainable?
00:33:19
Speaker
But, you know, one of one of the things that you've always got to remember is the only new dollars in the beef industry actually come from a consumer. Amen. so So as we, you know, we're all we're all getting increased costs. I mean, as I think about it,
00:33:35
Speaker
You know, and in the last, you know, as I think about my time frame at Cardio and what we've done in food safety expenses, I mean, our food safety expenses have jumped, I don't know, three times, at least two and a half times.
00:33:50
Speaker
If you just think about what we're doing today versus what we were doing, and it and it's why America can be so proud of the food system. in I mean, we truly have a remarkable and robust food safety process across America. But it doesn't come without a cost. So you start thinking about all these elevated costs.
00:34:09
Speaker
So the producers are seeing it, we're seeing it. Really, those only new dollars come in. so So anyway, so kind of kind of back that up. And how do you start weighing this out? So I think you've got to stay relevant.
00:34:21
Speaker
You know, as we look at an organization, and we look at ourselves. Like staying still is not really an option. So we've got to figure out how to stay relevant. And relevancy, depending on what sector you're talking about,
00:34:34
Speaker
kind of goes all over the board, right? Like relevancy today with one of our retail customers or food service customers is what kind of value can bring me, right? My menu prices are seeing this or my my store shelves. These are the prices consumers are pushing back.
00:34:48
Speaker
How do how do you show ah what can we do to drive more efficiency through the system? cattle Cattle prices are at the highest. I mean, they they understand that that doesn't flow. So then they start saying, you as a processor, how are you going to do this more efficiently?
00:35:04
Speaker
And so anyway, so we get in a lot of debates that way. So we've you've always got to have a lens on how do we, what are we doing from an efficiency standpoint? You know, we we did a, we kind of came out with with what we're doing from an AI and technology standpoint around what we call CARB.
00:35:21
Speaker
which is AI vision that helps our employees. So it actually is measuring meat-to-bone ratios, candidly, what it's doing. But it actually measures that and gives immediate feedback to the employees, and then they ah they are gamifying it.
00:35:35
Speaker
and And the amount of pounds that we are actually moving from an inedible source, which may have gone into pet food or or another source, and moving that to you know products that can now go into a core value for for human consumption is just an absolutely...
00:35:52
Speaker
Awesome thing. So so anyway, you know you kind of think about that and and that's one way that we're driving or working to drive more efficiencies. You think about from a producer standpoint, how do we create more value?
00:36:03
Speaker
And the intersection of that you know comes from you know the cattle quality and what we're seeing there, just the continued gain we see. So the premiums we can provide you know as we pull flow that through.
00:36:15
Speaker
But the other thing that is pretty unique is is around the sustainability conversation. Because you've got customers that have made ESG target goals, and and how do we now flow those dollars back to the producers?
00:36:30
Speaker
Because candidly, that cow-calf producer or the feed yard is where those dollars need to get to because they're making the greatest impact. So, you know, being able to recognize them for their efforts. and but But again, it only comes from a consumer. or the so So our our customers have to make those decisions. Because Cargill doesn't miraculously, i mean, we we don't we are a penny margin business. I mean, if as you look across the 10-year cycle, it it is a very low margin business.
00:36:58
Speaker
But because we do, you know, five, five and a half million head of cattle, we can, you know, that adds up pretty quick. So, so as you think about it though, that customer and and how do we get more of those dollars back? So those are kind of two examples of of things we're playing with and, and, and ideas. And we got some pretty cool, pretty cool things going on with cow-calf pilots specifically around, uh,
00:37:22
Speaker
around sustainability that I look forward to talking about hopefully in the next six to eight months. Pretty cool stuff. That's awesome. i could just nerd out with you on all things beef. Jared, so as you're talking about technology and innovation and efficiency, I am curious, Jared, from your perspective, where you think the beef industry is going to go and what kind of people leadership we are going to need in order to execute this technology
Technology and Operational Challenges
00:37:48
Speaker
efficiently.
00:37:48
Speaker
So, um, From a technology standpoint, i I think particularly as you think of like harvest facilities and, in you know, that physical production, that aspect of production agriculture, you know, in the packing industry, um I think technology is going to be, it's going to be pretty awesome. We've already got like automated saws. So you just think about what we're doing from safety standpoint, we've totally transitioned, you know,
00:38:14
Speaker
not all risk, but a significant portion of risk from these jobs. And then, you know, moot we're upscaling or upscaling. you know upscaling the employees responsibilities. right i mean We're moving more from, we still obviously have meat cutters, but you're moving from a lot of the meat cutters into more, hey, they're running these AI solutions and they're running robotics and they're doing. So I think that technical side, you know we're going to continue to do that. And and today we throw that candidly.
00:38:45
Speaker
weve we We have hired some of that, but but a lot of that is actually internally thrown Again, find out what folks are interested in, folks that are building computers at home. How do I get them a knife out of their hand and put them, you know, doing other stuff? And then now they love their job because what they do in their free time, they're able to do at work.
00:39:03
Speaker
and And that's a huge winning solution for us. so So you've got that. i think, like, robotics and automation, trimming, i wish I could say, you know, we've got some really cool thing coming and we're going to able trim mate with a robot.
00:39:17
Speaker
I don't know. I i think... Maybe in time, you know, the maturity of that will get there. But we're going to continue to be a pretty labor-intense organization. So as I think about leaders, it's it's really folks that are willing to have conversations.
00:39:32
Speaker
You know I challenge our, whenever we get associates that come in and and, you know, college associates we've hired, we pull them together. And and I joke with them. And I'm like, you know, Bethane, need you to be able to communicate on this, but I don't want this to be your communication style.
00:39:49
Speaker
Like I can't text employees on the table and tell them they need to trim better or tell them they need to do something. If I could, everybody would do it.
00:40:00
Speaker
That doesn't work. Like I need you to have interpersonal conversations and from society, we're losing that. So really figuring out how do we, how do we lean into that spend a lot of time training on that?
00:40:11
Speaker
And then, and then the other thing I would say is just, you know as As we think kind of forward and what's coming at us, know that skill level I think is huge, but we're going to have to get out of our own minds on on reuse water, on you know the ability to use the finite resources we have and to use them better.
00:40:31
Speaker
you know I think... The other thing that absolutely terrifies me in this is is the size of of cattle. I mean, you think the cost of gains in a feed yard today is about a dollar. We're paying $2.40. You know, it was kind of the last market.
00:40:47
Speaker
And so we're giving $1.40 for every pound they put on an animal. And they are getting large. So whenever you think about a ribeye and you go, you know, you go to a food service restaurant, you buy a ribeye, you know, you want something that's an inch thick and you want something that you can cook you don't want a pancake stink right So, you know, NCBA has been doing some great work on on trying to figure out how to better utilize muscle cuts.
00:41:12
Speaker
But I think some of that we're going to have to figure out how to change, whether that you pull the spinalis off of that and now you got like a, you know, the heart of a ribeye. You know I don't know what that creativity looks like.
00:41:23
Speaker
But in order to maintain that consumer demand, we're going to have to figure out how to fix that because nobody wants an 18-inch eye on a ribeye. but but unfortunately they're getting there and that's because the market signals and uh you know in tight cattle supplies we can't send a different signal because we're just literally trying to fill a plant you know so right now the feeders are kind of having their way with taking the taking it higher i i did a uh you know cattle procurement had a conversation yesterday or two days ago and uh year on year we're 35 pounds heavier on carcass and if you go back in history
00:41:59
Speaker
we've gained five pounds a year for probably the last 15 to 20 years. And this year we gained 35. Remarkable. And also terrifying. So to allow you kind of where my head goes on that is I told you earlier that these plants have 10,000 head on inventory.
00:42:18
Speaker
So do the math on that real quick. 10,000 head, 35 pounds. I mean, I'm hanging additional semi loads from my roof. Right. Like literally pull semis into the plant and just take a jack and start jacking them up to the root.
00:42:32
Speaker
And so I've got there's so much things you got to think about safety wise as you're bringing them through these plants. That's just a lot of weight. A lot of that type of stuff is, you know, what i dream about or daydream about.
00:42:46
Speaker
Well, I think it's fascinating as we think about all the different, I'll just think about my own career journey of like what I thought I would be working on in agriculture and some of the things I i have actually gotten to do or some of the the problems that we have to solve are things I never anticipated would be problems to solve or challenges to overcome or even the ripple effects from what you're like, you're talking additional pounds on an animal and what that means from an operation standpoint in a plant and how big of an impact that can have on an overall business or supply chain?
00:43:18
Speaker
Well, and even number of boxes. I mean, you start thinking about the weight on boxes. We've got a lot of customers that limit the amount of weight they'll take in a box. So if I used to put four pieces in a box and I put three pieces in a box, you know, we do 44,000 boxes a day in Skylar, Nebraska. So now all of sudden I'm going up to about 46 to 47,000 boxes a day.
00:43:37
Speaker
Can my system handle that? i mean, there's just, yeah, it's it's a parade that never stops and you just got to figure out where everything goes. Yeah, yeah. It's a giant puzzle that we get to put together again and again. it is yeah. So before we go into rapid fire, i i have to ask Jared, if you were to look back and give advice to either a younger Jared or someone who is more maybe in the emerging leader phase of their career who wants to get to where you are someday, what advice would you give them?
00:44:06
Speaker
You know, for for me specifically, it is weigh the criticality of decisions and spend time like in that.
Decision-Making and Well-being
00:44:17
Speaker
Meaning, whenever things would come to me and I would think they're a big deal, because in the moment they were a really big deal, I treated them like they were a big deal.
00:44:31
Speaker
And as I reflect back now, there there are there are decisions that I made. And if I was really really stepping back and saying, hey, you know, Is somebody going to get injured as a result of this? Is there is there a food safety risk? is there you know What truly are the risks?
00:44:50
Speaker
And whenever you strip that back away, you can actually spend better time and debate things and have better decisions if you would actually like. allocate the time correctly and you know younger in my career I mean everything was critical everything was important and and not that it's not am I act with a lot of urgency obviously came across but so it's not not acting with urgency but it's actually just saying what is the critical and what do I get hyper are you know what do I get excited about that we've got to really solve and then how do I step back from that and say you know what
00:45:28
Speaker
the team's going to figure this out and I don't need to be a part of this. Like it's, it's okay. um And there's, you know particularly younger, i I jumped into things that I should have never probably jumped into because I thought they were such a big deal.
00:45:41
Speaker
But candidly in the grand scheme of life, I mean, we were still healthy. We're still, you know, it's not probably as critical as I thought was. I appreciate that advice. I can also say I have been there myself. Yeah.
00:45:54
Speaker
yeah Yeah, we all have. I mean, it's it's human nature. It truly is. But it's, you know, I i lost my sister a couple years ago. to she She had been fighting pancreatitis for years. and And, you know, going through stuff like that, I talked about, I kind of referenced, I didn't really talk about it, but I was a general manager when when Cargo made the decision to shut Plainview down.
00:46:19
Speaker
And, you know, going through things like that, you it makes you think really, really quickly what's critical and what's important. in And anyway, so yeah, it's it's created a great perspective for me. i I hope it's created me to be a better leader.
00:46:37
Speaker
and And it's somebody that, you know, that I can sit there and listen to and and obviously, you know, create empathy with others. And I think that's obviously important is all too often when we listen to people, we want it we want to come with a solution.
00:46:53
Speaker
And there's most times people don't necessarily need to be fixed. They just need to be listened to. What advice would you give to someone, a leader right now, who's in the trenches of those like tough life things, both in you got to make hard decisions at work or even at home?
00:47:09
Speaker
Yep. um Find joy in something. So, you know, whenever, whenever I was a plant manager, mean, you're got, you there's ten twelve different departments in that plant right like it literally is a small city and there could be eight problems going on across that plant and invariably through the day I would go find the success story somewhere because otherwise you you can really get yourself mired down in everything that's going wrong and not spend enough time on what's going right
00:47:43
Speaker
And if you do that long enough, you literally, like your world will come in on you. And because you you've got to have a way to say, yeah, this is like, we're on the right path. This is going to be all right.
00:47:55
Speaker
And so it's it's figuring out what what brings you joy, figuring out, find the success. You know, Benjamin Franklin, I'll probably get this a little bit wrong, but in his autobiography, he actually talked about spending time You know, he wanted to better himself. So he would spend time and he wrote down everything he did wrong that day and everything that didn't go right. Well, as in his thought process was, I'll focus on that and then tomorrow I'll do a better job.
00:48:22
Speaker
Well, he actually got to the point where he was just depressed because he was focusing on everything that was going wrong and not focusing on things that were going right. So he actually recognized that, flipped that around and then started writing down success stories.
00:48:37
Speaker
Hey, this is what was great today. right And I forget, you'll have to read the book to to tell you, but I mean, it was days before he wrote the first thing that was good because his mind had been trained so much on finding that. But then he started writing that and then day by day, you know that group that list grew.
00:48:56
Speaker
And he literally said, the trick the trick to this, the trick to getting through humanity or getting through life is literally focusing on what's well and understanding how I can do that better And then that allows me not to do as many bad things or the things that I'm doing wrong because I'm so focused on what's what's going better. So anyway, that's kind of paraphrased. but But you just I always kind of use that logic a little bit of, man, find the good stuff because the world will come in on you. And there's days that I have like that, and then I've got to step back and say,
00:49:30
Speaker
Okay, so let's think about it. I mean, this is, i mean, it's one of the largest beef businesses in America. We get to feed all, you know, I'm feeding 90 million meals, what, 90 million meals a day across the protein business.
00:49:41
Speaker
mean, it's, there's a lot happening. I mean, there's a lot to be proud of. And, you know, the other thing that, the other thing that I kind of keep in my mind is it is a tough day. Because whenever I'm having a tough day, I've kind of got a gauge of what a tough day was. And I actually, in in my home office here,
00:49:58
Speaker
I've got a, it's a genuine Texas beef poster and it was signed by all of the leadership team from Plainview, Texas on the last day. And whenever I think of a bad day, that's my reflection of a bad day.
00:50:11
Speaker
That's incredible. Yeah. That puts it into perspective. Yeah. Yeah. Bad days don't happen very often for me whenever I reflect back on that bad day. Yeah. Oh, what a, what a strong reminder and visual reminder.
00:50:26
Speaker
Wow. Well, Jared, ah we are going to move into something a little bit more lighthearted, the rapid fire section. So Savannah will tell you I'm bad at this section but as because I always like to ask follow-up questions. But as best as we can, short answers only, what is one ag innovation that truly excites you right now?
00:50:46
Speaker
it's I talked about it in the interview, but Carve, what we're doing with AI is pretty awesome. What's an innovation or buzzword that you think the industry is getting wrong right now? Fascinating.
00:50:57
Speaker
Sustainability. I think we're so focused on carbon and we're so focused on greenhouse gas emissions. And that is a that is a part of sustainability. But, you know, I talked about it in the interview or in our conversation a little bit.
00:51:10
Speaker
Producer viability is sustainability. and And I am truly worried about the next generation of agriculture coming into this. And how do we make it viable to where, you know, their kids and their kids want to come back? are are My kids, you know, we're again blessed. I married into into the family here in Kansas with ah with Jamie, my wife, and then she's got two sisters.
00:51:33
Speaker
My father-in-law is still super active. the younger Jamie's younger sister and her husband actually run the farm on a day-to-day basis. We're blessed to be a part of it. Our kids represent the fifth generation.
00:51:44
Speaker
And and it's a that's a heavy weight, right? Like how do we make sure that the same has the ability to continue? so So anyway, when I think about sustainability, I think about, sure, I think about the greenhouse gas aspect of it, but it's more that viability for a marine production.
00:52:01
Speaker
That one was worth diving into a little bit deeper. What is one thing most people misunderstand about meatpacking and how it actually works? that That's a lot of fun.
00:52:12
Speaker
So they they misunderstand you know the the skill set of our employees. you know A lot of times you know folks will back and say, oh, they're meat packers. And you know the pride and the skill set that takes is is huge.
00:52:26
Speaker
you know The other thing is just you know this scale and having a tough time wrapping their head around the scale. but But we literally, I mean, it's, you know, we're putting meals on people's plates.
Understanding Meatpacking Work
00:52:37
Speaker
mean, that's what we do every day.
00:52:38
Speaker
And that's how we think about it. So it's not it's not all about the scale. It's literally about, hey, that piece, that carcass, that animal, how do we get the most out of that and make sure we're respected? What is a book, podcast, or maybe even conversation that has influenced how you think about business strategy?
00:52:57
Speaker
that's pretty ah That's pretty good. So so probably there's there's a There's a couple of them, particularly when I think of early in my career. I think it's it's called It's Your Ship by, let's see, he was ah he was a Navy captain, Abraham, Abrahas, Abrahas, I think.
00:53:22
Speaker
Anyway, Michael Abrahas, I think is what his name is. Anyway, the thought process is, Like you are in charge of your your own destiny there, right? Like you're in charge of things.
00:53:33
Speaker
so So I think, you know, that that one was really big for me, particularly when I was in the plants and and, you know, challenging, hey, this is what we do every day, but why do we do it that way? Let's figure out what we can do different. I mean, he did ah he did an awesome job with that book.
00:53:48
Speaker
And then this other one, and this is like a timer time of history, is a Zig Ziglar book and Closing the Sale. and And the reason why i say that, and and remember this is from an operations person who started in sales and never went into sales.
00:54:06
Speaker
Literally, all we do all day long is sell ideas. And Zig Zerger goes through I forget, it's like 70 different selling tactics. and And literally, all we all day long as managers is we're going to sell ideas.
00:54:20
Speaker
It was a great book for me. I love that. I always love adding books to my list. ah Last but not least, what is your favorite cut of beef and how do you like to prepare it?
00:54:31
Speaker
This is a pretty ah this is pretty awesome debate. So my favorite to eat is actually prime rib. My favorite to prepare is actually a petite tender, which comes off the cloth.
00:54:45
Speaker
It ah looks like a little cigar muscle. So I'm a huge smoker. I absolutely love to smoke beef. And the petite tender is the best item in my mind to smoke.
00:54:56
Speaker
Love that. also love a good prime rib. Both of those. Good picks. Okay, Jared. So last but not least, we always do a section of this podcast. If you have listened, you have heard them called Hot Takes. So an unconventional or bold opinion that you have about the future of agriculture or ah leadership or the beef industry.
00:55:15
Speaker
Yeah, probably should have prepared for that just a little bit had since i yeah I am an avid listener. I knew this was coming. um Let's see. I'm going to go back to the producer. I mean, as I think about agriculture, um you know, super involved in our family, super involved in FFA. You know, my my daughter's actually leading the chapter here at Valley Heights.
00:55:36
Speaker
And then also the work we're doing with AFA. The future of agriculture is bright. Like the folks we've got coming in here, i think is, I am super excited about that knowledge and what we can do.
00:55:49
Speaker
But I would also say that we need to continue to challenge and how do we make sure it's a viable. you know And in candidly, probably the thing, and this is Jared, the producer, speaking, i actually am not a fan of you know a lot of government intervention.
00:56:06
Speaker
I just and don't think that's healthy in business, and I actually don't think it creates you know long-term viability. But what that means then is we've got to fix it through trade. We've got to fix it got to fix it through other ways, you know, whether that be you know, the RBO. When you think about like a grain farmer, how do we how do we actually incentivize more biofuel production? How do we, you know, what are things we can do to actually create a market in the United States?
00:56:32
Speaker
You know, we've obviously got a little bit of an issue going on with China. So what can we do that way? You know, I think we've got to figure out how to create, and America in general is,
00:56:43
Speaker
ingenuitive enough to actually be able to do that. so So anyway, that would be the aspect. When I think about the beef, um what excites me the most is what genetically we've done across time. If you think about, you know, in the last cattle cycle, we've increased the quality grade of cattle by 10 points.
00:57:01
Speaker
and And I just continue to see that going higher. And what that is doing, I believe, is it is creating a higher demand for our product. And I think it's given consumers confidence because when they go into a retail shelf and they you grab a steak and they go home and cook it, they can cook it great.
00:57:18
Speaker
Because it started it started with a great product, right? And so anyway, that really, really excites me. And then we talked some about the innovations and and what we've got coming forward. But, you know, the next these next leaders, you know, we've got some talent within Cargill that are just absolutely awesome rock stars.
00:57:37
Speaker
And the stuff they're going to come up with is things I probably only dreamed about. And that's what really excites me. ah Well, I appreciate everything you have shared with us, Jared. i have I could talk to you all day. ah But you know at AFA, we are all about building bridges. So where can our listeners learn more about what's happening at Cargill and connect with you?
00:57:58
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. So I've got a LinkedIn page, so you're welcome to reach out on LinkedIn. And then Cargill's got a website there that you can, I think it's even cargill.com. So Pretty simple. and And always, you know, if you're interested in a career opportunity or or, you know, I'm going to put that plug in there too, shamelessly. So, you know, love love to chat with folks.
00:58:20
Speaker
As you should. And whoever has listened has just heard what kind of leaders are at Cargill and how much you can learn from them. So absolutely not shameless at all. Plug it. Jared, thank you so much. This has been a wonderful conversation. and i now have some new reading material. And I'm sure our listeners also learned a lot. So appreciate you being a guest on the Cultivating Leaders podcast.
00:58:41
Speaker
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