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Leading Across Differences with Krysta Harden
43 Plays17 days ago
Whether you’re a student stepping into your first leadership role or a professional navigating a divided industry, this episode will challenge you to listen with intention, lead with humility and persist with passion.
In this episode of the Cultivating Leaders Podcast, we are joined by Krysta Harden, President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council. From her roots as the daughter of peanut farmers in southwest Georgia to leadership roles in governmental agencies, Krysta has built a remarkable career at the intersection of agriculture, sustainability and policy. Krysta shares the skills that have carried her through some of the most challenging conversations in food and agriculture—skills that today’s future leaders will need just as much as she did.
Krysta reflects on:
- Tough Conversations Make Progress: in a world full of conflict, taking the time to talk through issues can lead the industry forward
- Lead by Listening and Learning: challenge your perspective and find stronger solutions by asking thoughtful questions
- Be Confident and Humble: acknowledging weaknesses and surrounding yourself with strong teams will make you stronger
This conversation is a masterclass in how to navigate tough conversations, embrace new ideas, and lead with both conviction and compassion.
Want to hear more from Krysta? Check out her 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
The Essence of Leadership: Humility and Confidence
00:00:02
Speaker
I think as a leader first for me, it's always being humble and recognizing what you don't know. You have to have confidence about the things you do know and you have to fundamental foundational strengths, understanding your own talents, your own strengths, but also knowing your weaknesses and recognizing that there are others who may actually know more than you and about specific things and can find solutions and find did work through challenges.
Podcast Introduction: Exploring Leadership in Agri-Food Sector
00:00:42
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.
Meet Krista Hardin: Transformative Leader in U.S. Dairy
00:00:54
Speaker
Today, we are privileged to welcome Krista Hardin, a transformative leader at the crossroads of agriculture, sustainability, and policy. As the president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and notably the first woman to hold that post since its founding,
00:01:08
Speaker
Krista leads a dedicated team across multiple international offices to expand U.S. dairy exports while championing environmental stewardship and community well-being. Prior to her role at the U.S. Dairy Export Council, Krista held key leadership positions in the dairy industry, including Executive Vice President of of Global Environmental Strategy at Dairy Management Inc., where she led the industry's ambitious Net Zero Initiative, aiming for carbon neutrality and optimized water use by 2050.
00:01:36
Speaker
Krista's leadership journey spans across some of the most influential roles in agriculture and sustainability.
Krista's Career Journey: From Policy to Agriculture
00:01:41
Speaker
She served as the Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for Corteva Agriscience and as the Vice President of Public Policy and Chief Sustainability Officer at DuPont.
00:01:53
Speaker
She also was the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. s Department of Agriculture, overseeing the implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill. Early in her career, Krista was the CEO of the National Association of Conservation Districts, Senior Vice President of the American Soybean Association's policy arm, and more.
00:02:11
Speaker
From the White House to the farm gate, Krista has built a legacy of uniting people and driving progress for agriculture, conservation, and the future of food. Wow, Krista, what a career. That is incredible. What did I miss from your bio?
00:02:26
Speaker
ah Well, you know, always start with my introduction. Nicole is saying I'm the daughter of peanut farmers from Southwest Georgia because I think that's probably what I'm most proud of. And also I think that's the foundation for everything that I've done and been able to achieve um throughout my career is that dirt road I grew up on and the wonderful family and all the things they taught me, daughter of farmers. So that's where I usually lead with.
00:02:51
Speaker
That feels very grounding. I love that you started there. When you started your career, did you have a dream job? Did you expect to to end up in all of these amazing positions in agriculture?
Personal Background: From Peanut Farms to Capitol Hill
00:03:02
Speaker
Well, kind of interesting um enough, I studied journalism at the University of Georgia, really wanted to be a sportscaster.
00:03:08
Speaker
And I recognized I didn't really have the voice or the face, and there were not a lot of women doing that in my day. And the flip side had a very strong interest in policy and politics, worked on a campaign between my junior and senior year of college and came to Washington two weeks after graduation from undergrad at UGA.
00:03:30
Speaker
Working on Capitol Hill from my member of Congress representing Southwest Georgia, friend of my daddy's, the whole thing, you know, that everybody, stories that people have here. Started working on ag issues because the congressman at the time said, hey, I need somebody who understands ag policy.
00:03:46
Speaker
Will you work on the farm bill? And I realized it was not a question. It was kind of a, you know, voluntold kind of thing. And um I thought, well, you know, act was really tough in those days. And my family had said, do anything but agriculture.
00:04:03
Speaker
um It was not a place that a lot of young people were going into. I didn't see my place on the farm. As a female, those were another thing happening in my day. And I didn't see a lot of opportunity in agriculture um for jobs. People were leaving agriculture quite a bit in the 80s.
00:04:21
Speaker
But then when I realized, you know, that didn't really have a lot of choice if I was going to stay in this member's office, I started working on farm bill. And realized I knew more than I realized I did. And I cared more than I realized I did.
00:04:35
Speaker
And I never looked back.
Krista's Role at U.S. Dairy Export Council
00:04:36
Speaker
So fell into it in a way, although it was a very natural place for me to go. it just was not what happened. women my age were seeking as a career.
00:04:48
Speaker
I just didn't really even think about it in college and really until I got to Washington and just luckily somebody else, divine intervention maybe helped choose this path and I have not looked back.
00:05:01
Speaker
Okay Krista, so I have to know, your dream was to be a sportscaster. What would have been your dream sport to cover? um Well, yeah I love all sports. I have season tickets to the Nats. I go to baseball games all the time. So baseball would have been one for certain in college football, you know, go dogs, huge college football fans. So either one of those, but I, you know, I love sports, could have found a path forward um in any place, I think.
00:05:25
Speaker
Yeah. I just had i had to now because, yeah, if you love sports, you got a passion there. Okay, so what an incredible career and a great place to start from on Capitol Hill.
00:05:36
Speaker
Let's talk about what you do today. Tell me about your role at the U.S. Dairy Export Council and what does your day-to-day job look like? Well, it is a terrific job, and I'm so honored and just really proud of the work we do at U.S. Dairy Export Council.
00:05:51
Speaker
I'm not a dairy girl. I'm peanut farmer girl, you know, so i had to learn a lot about dairy over the last years, and the importance of dairy and the diet is something I understood. And kind of took for granted that, you know, everybody in the world had dairy like we do in the U.S. in multiple forms and multiple applications, just part of our daily lives. I mean, the penetration in the U.S. is about 90 percent households have dairy in some form or multiple forms.
00:06:17
Speaker
Not the case around the world. So being able to have a very healthy product and nutritious product, high value, high quality products to help those round out their diets around the world is so rewarding.
00:06:32
Speaker
Just our mission is really the driver of what I do. We represent all the dairy farmers in the U.S. through the checkout program, our biggest membership category and funder. But we also have 132 member companies, cooperatives, exporters, allied industries. So we bring the whole industry together to help provide that kind of foundational, fundamental work for exports.
00:06:56
Speaker
So there's no day that's just the same because we're dealing with you know folks around the world. We export to 120, 30 countries, um probably more every day. It changes. Ten offices around the world.
00:07:08
Speaker
we have boots and heels and pumps on the ground. around the world and 50 people in the U.S. So we're really opening in the doors. We're serving as that catalyst for all those industries, and entities who want to export.
00:07:23
Speaker
So a lot of it is working with other governments, working with customers. I'm working through a very sticky tariff and non-tariff issues right now. That's ah probably a whole podcast on that, but happy to get into it.
00:07:35
Speaker
A lot of different efforts going on, really trying to make sure that those who want and need dairy in their diet, we supplement their local production. We help them understand how good dairy is for their diet and you know their cultural favorite foods can be fortified you know by adding dairy. So there's a lot going on in the dairy world and exports. happy to unpack any of that if we have time.
00:08:01
Speaker
Krista, tell me about how you manage to lead such a diverse team. You're talking about, ah I'm sure, a diverse team here in the United States, but 10 offices around the world. How do you lead such a ah widespread group of people?
Leadership Lessons: Embracing Diversity and Disagreement
00:08:14
Speaker
I love the diversity and the diversity of thought we have i'm doing exports. We do have... English is a second language for many of our folks even based in the U.S. People come from different cultures, who grew up in other places around the world, who understand those markets and the need for healthy foods and nutritious foods in their diet.
00:08:34
Speaker
They enrich our decision processes. They bring a lot of ideas, a lot of real-world practical information. that I think I know, but you really don't unless you grew up understanding and knowing that.
00:08:46
Speaker
And then also set with our offices around the world who really are that front door for our customers around the world, as well as, you know, governments and and and importers and others.
00:08:56
Speaker
I love that. I've managed international staffs in many of my jobs. I have learned that people are people. They require the same level of respect, the same level of understanding, the same level of trust, no matter what the language is of where they grew up or how they grew up.
00:09:15
Speaker
Good people are everywhere and people who love agriculture and healthy foods and want to be involved in that broader you know industry of food systems and import-export issues.
00:09:27
Speaker
I love that part. It really is humbling. um It's challenging. It brings a really different breadth and depth, I think, to my job. Bringing people together to find the unifying issues, finding answers to complicated problems that might really vary.
00:09:49
Speaker
Region to region, country to country, people to people. Having um the ability to bring people together is rewarding. i think I ah thrive on that and I enjoy that, and empowering people to make the best decision.
00:10:02
Speaker
For leaders who are aspiring to the level that you get to work at, tell me what advice or what tools do you use to bring such diverse groups of thought together around one unifying topic?
00:10:17
Speaker
I think as a leader first for me, it's always being humble and recognizing what you don't know. You have to have confidence about the things you do know, and you have have fundamental foundational strengths.
00:10:31
Speaker
understanding your own talents, your own strengths, but also knowing your weaknesses and recognizing that there are others who may actually know more than you and about specific things and can find solutions and work through challenges.
00:10:48
Speaker
um think that a lot of leaders feel like you have the fancy title, you've got to know it all. You can't. And that's what I've learned. Maybe the hard way um over my years as a leader, but surrounding yourself with the very best, the best talent, the best thinkers, the hardest worker, the most dedicated, the most curious people with strong character and real commitment to your mission.
00:11:17
Speaker
And they're all going to look different. They're going to sound different. They're not all going to have Southern accents like me. They're not going to come from peanut farms. You know, they're going to be different challenges that they've worked through. And I think bringing that totality together of people really builds the strongest teams and the ability to, you know, to get things done.
00:11:37
Speaker
I love to hear that from you. I think for a lot of people, it's easy to say, right? Like we hire the best, we want the best people. But for what you're describing, the best in a lot of those different categories, strong character, conviction, confident people, curious people, that can also create a high level of conflict, especially when people come from from different backgrounds.
00:11:59
Speaker
How do you manage and lead through that? Well, I think you have to have parameters for everybody. You know, everybody has a lane, but they have to know where the lane should bleed and should cross and should come together. ah deal with very type A people a lot, very strong personalities, people who are extremely smart.
00:12:18
Speaker
who have achieved so much, but that's who I want on my team. I want the very best. They bring out the best in others, but they also have to be good listeners. You can't just be good talkers.
00:12:29
Speaker
You have to be good listeners. And I'll talk about listening with a capital L, which is listening to learn. You've got to know there are people around you that can teach you something no matter where you are in your career.
00:12:42
Speaker
And then take the time, listen to them, learn from them. And when you bring all that kind of together, you can really accomplish even more than you can.
00:12:54
Speaker
It's the collective that makes you so strong, not just the individuals. you know Solo players, people, lone rangers who like to go out on their own, ah usually don't get along with as well.
00:13:06
Speaker
I need people who understand you know the team concept. Maybe it's my love of sports, but that team concept that we are better together and that we're going to accomplish more, we're going to complement each other, we're going to augment, we're going to challenge each other.
00:13:21
Speaker
um mean, giving folks the space to do that. But as a leader, I know there's got to be one decision maker, one final word, and that's going to be me as CEO. And I'm going to listen. I'm going to care.
00:13:33
Speaker
I'm going to challenge everybody around me. I'm going to give. I'm going to take. But I know the ultimate decision who's responsible and who's going to have to face, you know, our members, our funders, it's got to be me. But I want all that all the noise until the time comes to make a final decision.
00:13:52
Speaker
You said, I love that. Listen with a capital l and listening to learn who have been people that you have learned the most from throughout your career. I've been very lucky you know working for a member of Congress when I was just so you know young to the business and really watching how he maneuvered through not depending just on staff, but always has really tough questions, really, really drove home to us doing your homework, being prepared, looking at all the issues.
00:14:22
Speaker
He was representing 600,000 people in our district, and there was not just one ever one simple answer, right? So he wanted to hear all the different opinions. listen to the mail, the calls that were coming in, all that kind of thing from constituents. So it really taught me early, early on, don't just listen to one voice or people who agree with you.
00:14:43
Speaker
You represent everybody. Either they voted for you, they support you, they agree with you or not. Your job as a public servant is to hear everybody as much as you can and then make the best decision.
00:14:55
Speaker
I think that was the early learnings for me working on the Hill for as long as I did and seeing the value of people who disagree and knowing that somewhere in the middle is right.
00:15:08
Speaker
It's usually not, you know, one way or the other. It's kind of in the middle. Taking the time to do that, and it can be quickly, but still making an important process of that.
00:15:19
Speaker
um Also, with just had really good bosses my entire career, people who invested in me, who mentored me, who stretched me, who challenged me. um Tom Vilsack, obviously secretary. I worked for him directly for four different jobs, um three at USDA and one at USDEC. was his chief operating officer before he went back to be secretary, watching him lead a department.
00:15:45
Speaker
I'm learning so much from him on management, on policy, the politics, climbing the middle between all of those. You know, it's not just when you're a cabinet secretary and when I was deputy. It's not just one of those.
00:15:58
Speaker
It's the combination of all of them. So I'm very, very fortunate to have really strong leaders in my life. And you'll notice most of them are men. didn't have a whole lot of women.
00:16:09
Speaker
My mentors were outside of agriculture, and I depended on that group of women out in the oil and gas industry, frankly, to help guide me and maneuver through how to stay true to me as a female leader, but also lead in a very male-dominated industry.
00:16:25
Speaker
Wow. That is so fascinating to hear. It inspires so many questions for me, Krista. But the most important one, I think, is when you said the value of disagreement. I think in the political environment that we're in today, that is so highly polarized and so tenuous, and not just from American politics, but I think also when you look at food and agriculture and how some deep levels of disagreement whether that be between farmers and consumers or farmers and conservation or policy.
00:16:59
Speaker
What I hear you saying, and I'm curious your take on that, is that there's opportunity in all of this and that there's maybe a ah pathway through it, that if there's value in this disagreement, how do we how do we capture some of that value and not just some of the pain that I think a lot of us are experiencing today?
00:17:18
Speaker
Well, that's a loaded question, Nicole, and i I can't tell you that I have all the answers, but I do know that there was nobody in my life I agree with 100% of the time, including my very sweet husband. Amen. Me too.
00:17:29
Speaker
And my baby sister, who was the best person I know in the world. There's still differences, and that didn't make either one of us absolutely right or absolutely wrong.
00:17:40
Speaker
And I think you have to have an open mind. I think that's what minds are supposed to be, is to be used and exercised, to be challenged, to grow, to be stretched. I believe that discourse and the civil discourse is really healthy.
00:17:55
Speaker
And, you know, I learned that in college when, you know, that's when probably the first time I felt like I could actually have an open discussion and disagree with those in my class. especially at higher levels, you know, where sometimes I think professors would throw out some, you know some crazy something and just to see how people scrambled and try how they, you know went through the process of agreeing or disagreeing. I learned that on the Hill where there were passionate opinions and not necessarily, you know, party to party, but sometimes region to region in agriculture.
00:18:28
Speaker
where we would have really, really good debate that brought out issues maybe I hadn't thought about and through a lens I hadn't seen. And I certainly see that in my international work because there are different challenges in places around the world and we have to be able to learn from each other and listen to each other, share your ideas, share the challenges, look for solutions together.
00:18:52
Speaker
I don't think any one person, any one party, any one idea, any one religion is absolute. I think we all gain um from that shared experience of sitting around a table, a coffee table, a boardroom table, a classroom, you know, um whatever it might be to have this kind of discussion and not make it so emotional, not make it so personal and be, you know, who we say we are as people.
00:19:21
Speaker
and remember how we were raised sometimes. um You know, i hear my mama voice in my ears and thinking about that, who I say that i am and the person I want to be. And with that comes with a little more civil approach to disagreement and to, you know, trying to share ideas and learn from each other.
00:19:41
Speaker
How do you define for yourself, Krista, when it is civil discourse and you're at an impasse with someone? um When I feel like someone just has absolutely no interest in hearing what I have to say, and the biggest challenge is probably my career was when I worked in the biotech industry.
00:19:58
Speaker
And there were just adamant you know folks around the world who did not believe in the benefits of biotech and agriculture. And that I often felt like no matter what the venue was in certain circles, minds were made up.
00:20:16
Speaker
And, you know, it was not going to not going to change them. But I put the same test to myself but because, you know, I was listening many times to someone talk to me why biotech might be harmful and a problem. My mind is racing to say, oh, I got you there. i know more than you do.
00:20:33
Speaker
I understand this better than you. Instead of really listening to their source of information, their passion for what they thought, their commitment to their feelings and ideas.
00:20:45
Speaker
I already had made up my mind, I'm going to prove you wrong. I was just as guilty as they were. And when you stop to say, maybe I'm not absolutely right and you're not absolutely wrong and both people can admit that, I think you have a better chance of finding a compromise and finding a solution that could possibly work for both.
00:21:08
Speaker
It's very difficult. It's easier to talk about this than to actually accomplish. But I really do think we would be better off as a people, as a nation, as a world, if we brought that kind of attitude the table. And I've been at many diplomatic tables negotiating big things, little things.
00:21:28
Speaker
I wish we could do more of that with the commitment to listen, commitment to learn, commitment to not always be right. Do you have an example from your career of where compromise led to a win?
00:21:45
Speaker
When you say us willing to realize like, hey, we're not right all of the time, or that I'm not going to get exactly my way. I think sometimes in today's culture, we feel like compromising is losing. I think that's definitely the case today. And I remember certainly times when I worked for the soybean industry, working on the biodiesel industry, trying to get a tax credit for them and having people very much opposed to using what they would determine as, you know, food for fuel, that that was not positive, or why should we be subsidizing, you know, agriculture in a way to support fuel and listening to all sides and finding there is a way, there is a middle there.
00:22:22
Speaker
Certainly, and then at USDA, yeah negotiating with different countries and talking about trade, talking about compromise on issues, finding a way that didn't make everybody completely happy, but everybody happy enough.
00:22:36
Speaker
I have seen that, but it takes a lot of time. It takes willing partners. It takes open minds. It takes everybody looking at, and then I often do this. I start with what I want to accomplish, and then I work backwards. How can I get there?
00:22:52
Speaker
And being able to morph that, change that, look for different ways to do it. So certainly different times in my career, there have been sometimes tiny successes that grew over time, just keeping the door open.
00:23:08
Speaker
to talk another day sometimes That is huge. just I can't go into the details, but i just had an example of that very recently, just the agreement. This is not a done deal, but it's not a closed deal. We're going to come back to it.
00:23:23
Speaker
Let's go all think about it. Let's look at it from different perspectives. Let's do our homework. Let's look at more data. Let's look at more science. Let's think about repercussions and possible solutions, and we'll come back to the table.
00:23:37
Speaker
That is a win. When you don't lock the door and say, heck no, it's got to be my way or nothing. To me, that is how we can have progress. You have to be patient.
00:23:49
Speaker
You have to be willing to give a little. You have to be willing not to be absolutely right. I love that you described that as a win of just an open line of conversation, because i think often those who don't sit in the seats that you get to don't understand how hard it is to do what we're talking about right now.
00:24:10
Speaker
It's a grind. It's a frustrating grind. Even how important I think those incremental wins, especially if we go back to sports, right? Like that's a scored point in the fact that the the conversation is going to continue.
00:24:23
Speaker
The game isn't over. You're just moving the ball forward. We get lost in the headlines and miss that there's a lot of little baby steps that lead up to to some of these. whether talking policy change or, gosh, getting into a new market or any of the stuff that you're doing on a regular basis.
00:24:40
Speaker
It takes time and it takes little ones. Yes, you put it so beautifully. and I think about baseball, attend a lot of baseball games. are a lot of singles and doubles. The home runs are exciting, right? I mean, you just love them.
00:24:52
Speaker
And you see a ball go out of the stadium and everybody cheers. But there's a whole lot of singles. there' a lot of, you know, double plays that get somebody out. There's a lot of different things.
00:25:03
Speaker
um efforts that go into it um but the score might be you know on your side at the very end after nine innings or whatever. I think that patience is something we don't have a lot ah of right now.
00:25:14
Speaker
Maybe we never have but it seems like we're very impatient as a society. We want immediacy. We want absoluteness and I just don't know how realistic that is for the long haul. I'm not sure that that we can sustain that kind of attitude.
00:25:31
Speaker
Oh, I totally agree. so as we think about the future of agriculture, I think we need leaders who are willing to have that patience, who want to come to the table to build, to be willing to listen, learn, and being willing to maybe be wrong themselves.
00:25:47
Speaker
How do you think we develop more leaders like that in the agriculture space? There are a lot of elements that go into good leaders. There's always a question, are leaders born or made? And i think you have to have a tendency to want to lead.
00:26:00
Speaker
to not be afraid of it even at young ages. Even on the playground, you'll notice kids who always take the lead, you know, who are not bullies, but they're just to have confidence.
00:26:11
Speaker
They know the direction that we all need to go in. But I also think leadership comes with a lot of ability to know yourself well, and I said this earlier about your own strengths and your own weaknesses, to learn from others, to be patient, to be honest, to be trustworthy, to be respectful, to probably listen more than you talk.
00:26:35
Speaker
Surround yourself with the very, very best people you can. A lot of these things we've already explored because I think they there's not just one thing that makes a good, strong leader. I think things like sense of humor, being able to laugh at yourself, just say, oh, heck, you know, I messed it up.
00:26:53
Speaker
Or I thought it was this and it was that. mean, you've got to be able to kind of enjoy life. Look for joy. And, you know, I have something I learned, frankly, from my church, from my minister.
00:27:06
Speaker
She always says greatness comes from gratefulness. And that has really struck home with me lately. And I'm not saying that I'm great. I just have had great opportunity. So I want to make sure all your listeners know that.
00:27:19
Speaker
Well, I will say, i think your work speaks for itself. You you are a great leader. Well, I just, I know of a great opportunity. There's no doubt about it. I've been very, very fortunate. And it comes from gratefulness all the way back to that farm I grew up on, the wonderful family I had, the community I grew up in, a strong faith.
00:27:37
Speaker
the community all throughout my entire life who've nurtured cared supported challenged me all the different things to me that's what builds leadership to be able to have that totality it's never just one thing and we all lead differently mean every leader you're going to interview I believe will have different paths different stories different philosophies different players in their lives who have been there for them, I just look at mine.
00:28:07
Speaker
And, you know, there there's so many different steps through leadership. I mean, I always was kind of a leader. I know that. i mean, I knew that of my little group of friends.
00:28:19
Speaker
You know, you're always there's always somebody. But yet I never saw myself completely where I am today. I just knew I wanted to do big things. I knew I wanted to make a difference.
00:28:30
Speaker
I wanted to be somebody that was seen as successful but also that cared. That really cared about what they did. That was mission-driven and had purpose.
00:28:44
Speaker
That's what I'm so grateful for. oh I feel like there were so many great quotes in there, Krista, and so many things that I think emerging leaders today can relate to It sounds all great when we read your bio and some of that kind of thing.
00:28:59
Speaker
Can you be honest, Krista, and tell me how hard was it to get to where you are today? There were sacrifices. I made sacrifices. I made very deliberate decisions, especially as a female in my early days where women just didn't get married and have kids and they have the career I had.
00:29:17
Speaker
there times I was not, you know, the daughter I needed to be for my parents back on the farm. I know that. i mean, I thank goodness for my baby sister who was close by and who filled those gaps, who represented me, if you will.
00:29:32
Speaker
um As you know, she was in education, was easy for her to be there. I made choices. But it's harder for a female. It was for me. Maybe I'm hopeful that it's not today.
00:29:43
Speaker
But for me, if you missed a big meeting or you couldn't attend something you needed to do, the question always was, was she really serious about this? Is she just going to run off and go take care of something else every time?
00:29:57
Speaker
You know, men didn't get those questions, but I sat in rooms where women were questioned. How serious is she about this position? I had to prove I was darn serious. And I um know I'm ambitious. I've always been ambitious.
00:30:12
Speaker
I wanted to do big things. I wanted to make a big difference. went monetary. I never followed the money. But I took pay cuts at times to get the job I wanted.
00:30:23
Speaker
But I wanted to be steadfast. I wanted to be trusted. I wanted be reli relied on. I wanted to be the person, the go-to person for a lot of things. And that took a lot of sacrifice and giving up other things, missing out on other things at times.
00:30:37
Speaker
Yeah, I appreciate you being so honest and and vulnerable about that, because I think sometimes it's easy to to look at other people and think that. oh, they had it easy or, you know, to skim over the parts that are hard and the work that that comes and the hard lessons that you have to learn to to grow and evolve to where you're at. And it doesn't happen overnight either.
00:30:58
Speaker
It does not. It does not. And I do hope it's easier for women today. And I believe it is. And I certainly try to make it easier for the women that I work with to make sure they don't have to make those choices and sacrifice and no one judges them when they may have to choose family.
00:31:13
Speaker
I just didn't feel like always had that. Yeah. Oh, I hope that too. I am curious, what advice would you have for for women leaders in agriculture today? Because I hope so. And I believe it's it's better than what you experienced, but I don't know that it is women in leadership are without question, or it's not always an expectation in agriculture.
00:31:35
Speaker
First of all, would say you belong. um I tell every woman, you belong here. Don't let anybody make you doubt yourself. Your voice, your talent, Your leadership is needed and valued.
00:31:48
Speaker
First of all, you should be here. That's the most important thing I would tell ah young man or young woman, but I think women need to hear it more often and need to hear it louder. And frankly, they need to hear it from all of us, other women, to say, I've got your back.
00:32:04
Speaker
You are here because you deserve to be here and you're needed to be here. What you bring to the table in agriculture It's not better. It's just different sometimes from men. Women make more of the food choices in their families.
00:32:19
Speaker
They're the ones buying the groceries, decide if their kids are going to eat lunch at home or in the school. They're going to decide if we're going out and maybe what we're going to have. What are the treats the kids are going to have?
00:32:30
Speaker
By and large, there's a very high percentage. It's women. So their voices in food and agriculture are so valuable. And whether I always say this, they're doing the backbending work in the fields and the barns or you know on the land or in you know doing it in the mind-bending work around a kitchen table or an office table or a boardroom. Their contributions are very critical to the success of food and agriculture.
00:33:00
Speaker
So I just encourage women to think about what they want from food and agriculture and what they can give that is unique that maybe nobody else can.
00:33:11
Speaker
And we need that. We are relatable to consumers. Women are networkers. If I need a new dress or a new dentist or a new haircut, I ask my girlfriends, right?
00:33:24
Speaker
That's just what we do. So women listen to women. We trust each other. We count on each other for the basics. If you need in a new grocery store, is this the right kind of food or is this a good brand or is this a good restaurant?
00:33:39
Speaker
Many, many times women going to ask their girlfriends, their neighbors, their siblings or whatever there's near them. That's what we do, and that's ah women's opinions in food and agriculture, women's voices, ah believe, are more critical than ever.
00:33:55
Speaker
I love that. Thank you for sharing. It's inspiring.
Sustainability in Dairy Industry: Net Zero Initiative
00:33:58
Speaker
Okay, well, I would be remiss if we didn't spend at least a couple minutes talking about sustainability because of your background in it and where I feel like in an interesting space in the United States today around this topic. But I'm curious your perspective, especially with the launch of the Net Zero Initiative in dairy.
00:34:17
Speaker
Tell me about your experience leading something like this. As we go back to some of that like civil discourse, I mean, that probably wasn't the most popular thing. And I want to hear your perspective on like, is this really possible from an agriculture standpoint?
00:34:30
Speaker
I think, you know, that the jury may be still out on how we get there, not the fact that we want to. And believe that we will. It's just the how. All the tools are not.
00:34:41
Speaker
I'll speak to dairy only right now. We don't have all the tools we need. And it's got to make economic sense for the farmers. One thing that drives me every single day and why love being in agriculture is keeping farmers on the farm, keeping farmers on the land. I mean, so it's got to make sense for them.
00:34:58
Speaker
It's got to make economic sense. It's got to be doable. They need all the tools and it can't just be on their backs, right? We need partners to help figure this out. Good science, good genetics, good investment in all these issues, innovation, technologies, but it's rapidly changing. So I had...
00:35:17
Speaker
ah Really a belief that we can do it, but it does take more than just the farmer themselves. It has to have partners. And again, all the things I just mentioned with innovation and investment.
00:35:29
Speaker
It is difficult when the dairy industry set these goals. It was a roll call vote i'm among CEOs of the biggest companies and cooperatives. They had to say, yes, we believe this can happen.
00:35:40
Speaker
This was not glossed over. This was not hidden under you know a blanket somewhere. This was CEOs really thinking about, can we do this? Should we do this?
00:35:51
Speaker
And again, knowing that every farmer may not get there themselves, but the collective would get there. It's not about each farmer doing everything, but every farmer doing something.
00:36:03
Speaker
And I think that's what's so powerful in the dairy industry is they're all saying, I know there are things i can do on my farm, but they may be very different if you're in the east with a lot of water or you're in the west with no water.
00:36:16
Speaker
What you're going to do with water is very, very different for energy use or feed, whatever it might be, dealing with methane, dealing with other emissions.
00:36:27
Speaker
It varies sometimes neighbor to neighbor. much less in all 50 states where you have dairy. But knowing collectively we can come together to find these solutions. I believe the dairy industry is ahead of the curve, frankly, and a lot in agriculture because we've had to be.
00:36:44
Speaker
consumer facing industry a lot of lot of spotlight on dairy. So I think the dairy industry takes it seriously. They're very thoughtful, they're very careful, but they know it has to make economic sense. And I think understanding that and not putting the burden on these goals just on the dairy farmers themselves, but the industry coming together, partners coming together, consumers joining this as well, is what's very much needed.
00:37:10
Speaker
Krista, I worked in sustainability for part of my career, and I don't know that I have ever heard anyone say it in the way that you just said it. And I think this is such a good example of you being someone who can work across very strong differences of opinion, because the idea of it's not about every farmer doing everything, but every farmer doing something.
00:37:31
Speaker
That's really hard logic to argue with for those in agriculture who feel like sustainability is an attack. So thank you. That's a fascinating perspective. I am curious, as we think about sustainability in agriculture, is this something that you think will continue to be a focus, not just in dairy, but as we look across the entire ag space?
00:37:51
Speaker
Well, when I look at the globe and when I think of the consumers around the world and the things they value and they want, sustainability often does come up. they care about natural resources, whether it's the water, whether it's the, know, the soil health, whatever it might be, those are very strong issues for a global consumer.
00:38:14
Speaker
They want good, healthy food, but they do care where it comes from and how it gets to them. I think that it will continue. Maybe the wording will change. You know, when I work for a Conservation districts, we talked about conservation. We didn't use the word sustainability, and they're basically interchangeable, right?
00:38:33
Speaker
The nomenclature may change. The words may come in and out of, you know, of vogue. You know, I'm not going to argue that, but wise use of our natural resources. It's always been something involved with agriculture.
00:38:46
Speaker
don't think that's going to change. And I do believe the investments and technologies and innovations are going to continue to give farmers those tools so they can do more with more.
00:38:57
Speaker
And it makes good sense for profitability. It makes good sense for what they're doing on their land with their natural resources. So right now, the words may be ones that raise people's temperature, but there'll be others that that can be used, I think, that will continue this love of the land or our natural resources and using them wisely.
00:39:17
Speaker
Mm-hmm. 100% agree. As I look at your career and and talking to you now, you have worked in lots of spaces that I'm going to call are like sticky situations, whether that be like biotech, you know, like very ah heated conversations,
Future of Leadership: Addressing Industry Divisions
00:39:30
Speaker
right? Like biotech or sustainability or right now when it comes to to tariffs and and export policy.
00:39:37
Speaker
When you come up against something like that, is it exciting because it's a challenge? Or and this point in your career, do you do you still get intimidated by any of those things? I really get intimidated.
00:39:48
Speaker
Certainly I respect the challenge. I would say i have not ever shied away from difficult issues or difficult people. I mean, you don't lead if you're afraid.
00:39:59
Speaker
You can be respectful. you know, that this is a really serious issue you may not ever solve because it's going to continue to be debated and morphed into more debate or different issues.
00:40:10
Speaker
It's like pesky weeds sometimes. They just show up somewhere else, you know, when you think you've got them resolved. But I do believe the challenge, if you're going to lead in agriculture, you have to be aware it's going to be tough and it is going to really test you as a person, as a leader, it's going to test what you really believe and what you know. Not just what you think you know, but what you know. And sometimes your comfort level. There certainly times when I'm uncomfortable.
00:40:39
Speaker
We go head-to-head, I would tell you, frankly, with the EU on tariffs. mean, head-to-head. In June, I was know with ministers pushing back very hard on their position in a way to represent my industry, my beliefs, our country,
00:40:55
Speaker
You have to be willing to do that in a respectful, thoughtful, you know, diplomatic way. But you've got to be just as tough as they are. But I mean, I love it. I mean, I have been admit it. I enjoy that.
00:41:07
Speaker
What gives you the resilience? Because I like the way that you described it's like a weed sometimes. It's like, gosh, I thought I got rid of this. Or it feels like playing whack-a-mole. What gives you the resilience to like, I'm going to keep coming back. I'm going to keep trying to solve this problem. I'm going to try something new. I'm going to hit it again.
00:41:22
Speaker
I believe so deeply in what I do. It's not a job. Oh, that's a great, I think, transition. Krista, I want to move into our rapid fire segment. So we are going to try to answer these questions as, I'm to say as quick as you can, in a sentence of those or less or less. All right. know what one wind is, but I'll try.
00:41:39
Speaker
It's okay. ah We always struggle with me wanting to ask follow-up questions in this segment too. Okay. What is one global food or agriculture trend that you're keeping an eye on? Clearly are the tariff issues right now for us, tariff coupled with non-tariff issues that are are very make it very problematic and difficult.
00:41:57
Speaker
Everyone, I think, right now, yeah, those tariffs. Who is a leader that you admire? Tom Vilsack. What is one thing you would tell every young professional entering agriculture today? We need you.
00:42:09
Speaker
Please do it. Please stay. What is one leadership tool or resource that you can't live without? Um, my heart. Oh, that's ah the best answer I think we've ever had to that question.
00:42:21
Speaker
What do you hope that the next generation of ag leaders dares to do differently from your generation? Please don't make the mistakes we made. We, we've messed things up, not intentionally, but I look at where we are as an industry so divided, so urban versus versus rural, diverse.
00:42:44
Speaker
Party against party, family member against family member.
00:42:52
Speaker
That's not good. And we will all lose. Everybody will lose. So please fix it. No pressure, friends. We got some work to do. What gives you hope for the future of agriculture, Krista?
00:43:05
Speaker
All of our young people. I am just blown away by the young people that work for me, by the young farmers that are my leaders and that i see the folks coming back to farm, going to UGA to talk to students, to talk to classes. I do that you know often.
00:43:21
Speaker
the quality of the questions, the deep thinking, the commitment for the future, the love of agriculture from those who grew up on farms and those who did not.
00:43:34
Speaker
I just know it's going to be better. I have absolutely no doubt. No doubt. That is so great. Okay, Krista, we love hot takes. So unconventional or really bold opinions.
00:43:45
Speaker
so I want to ask you for ah hot take that you would have about leadership or in the future of agriculture. I just say stay humble. Be willing to listen and to learn. I've said this throughout our interview. i think most people think that confidence means that you're arrogant and that you have to have all the answers.
00:44:08
Speaker
And you have to be the boldest, loudest person in the room. And I think the person who sits back and listens more than they talk, people kind of notice when they do talk.
00:44:24
Speaker
And I just you know say, make sure that you're doing that. And probably the last thing is just be true to yourself. yeah Don't be what, and I say this a lot to young people early in their careers, that they're listening to their parents or listening to their spouses or listening to their friends or their teachers or professors or somebody, their boss.
00:44:47
Speaker
Listen to your heart and yourself and your head. you know Do what makes you happy. Goodness gracious, life is tough enough. You've got to be happy at work. Find that joy. Find that joy and be joyful.
00:45:01
Speaker
spread the joy. So great. Well, Krista, that is advice. Gosh, I wish I had listened to this episode early on in my career. i know i learned a bunch from you today. This has been so much fun for me, but also hopefully, hopefully fun for our leaders. So I am really grateful for you taking time to share your wisdom with us.
00:45:20
Speaker
Well, I just say thank you to you for the opportunity. Thank you to your listeners for what they're doing in agriculture. You're definitely speaking to the future leaders of our industry and in my mind of our country, because there's no greater industry than one that feeds people and nourishes people and what a responsibility we have.
00:45:42
Speaker
And i just am very excited for what's going to happen next and know that the problems that will be fixed and the solutions that will be found. So congratulations to all of your listeners for what they're doing today and will do tomorrow.
00:45:55
Speaker
Thanks, Krista. Okay, at AFA, we are all about building bridges and connecting people. So where can people connect with you and learn more about what you and the U.S. Dairy Export Council are doing? Well, we're on our website, you know, usdeck.org, and I'm Kay Harden at usdeck.org.
00:46:11
Speaker
Thank you so much, Krista. Appreciate you spending the time with us today on the Cultivating Leaders podcast. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the Cultivating Leaders podcast brought to you by Agriculture Future of America.
00:46:23
Speaker
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