United Ag
Customer Stories
Background
United Ag is located in El Campo, Texas, about 90 miles outside of Houston. They operate a 6.4 million bushel grain storage facility, two cotton gins, four agricultural supply stores, and a custom bagging operation for deer corn and crack corn (puff corn).
The Opportunity
United Ag knew they needed a digital tool to get information to their producers. Their first attempt at offering a (non-Bushel) customer portal resulted in low adoption rates: it lacked an intuitive user experience and did not provide the critical information farmers needed day in and day out. United Ag also faced problems pushing information out to growers. They were sending PDFs and it was a hassle for their growers to open emails and access each PDF individually. Growers wanted something simple to understand and easy to navigate, allowing them to quickly find the information they need at a moment’s notice.
“They [Bushel] just took everything that I wanted and put it in a very user-friendly app [customer portal],” Bowers said. “We have always aligned very well with Bushel because…our core values are the same.”
Lindsey Bowers, Grain Merchandiser, United Ag
“I wish we would have known then, that we’d have this level of trust with Bushel and with our producers.”
The Solution
Bushel’s customer portal provides tools to enhance United Ag’s grower-to-grain facility relationship and experience. From Bowers’s experience, it’s all about effective communication. She uses the customer portal for mass communication purposes. Being able to put information out to all farmers simultaneously allows her to have follow-up conversations with individual farmers without having to repeat the main message.
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“I wanted us to have a United Ag branded app [customer portal] that farmers would use and that there would be buzz about. I wanted it to be successful, and I wanted the money we’re spending to add value to our farmer’s experience.”
Lindsey Bowers, Grain Merchandiser, United Ag
The Results
On his way back to the field, a farmers’ scale ticket appears in his local co-op’s customer portal. Using his smartphone, he and his wife can see the exact weight of the load, what the aflatoxin levels were, and the moisture content. Near the Gulf Coast of Texas, this story is a reality for growers who belong to the United Agriculture Cooperative. During the co-op’s record harvest in 2020, managers, merchandisers, and growers watched it all unfold in their United Ag customer portal. This was United Ag’s first harvest using their Bushel customer portal.
United Ag also used the eSign feature of the portal to encourage users to sign up. United Ag uploads digital contracts into the app and allows growers to approve and sign contracts from their cab, field, or the comfort of their own homes. It saves their growers from having to stop what they’re doing to sign a contract at the co-op’s office during the busy season or any time that it’s impractical to make a special trip.
Communicating Strategically with Farmers
Since rolling out the customer portal in 2019, more than 98% of United Ag’s farmer-customers have started using it. United Ag took many different approaches to achieve such high adoption. They first introduced their Bushel customer portal at their annual grower meeting, publicized it in their newsletter, and put log-in instructions in monthly statements mailed to growers. Their rollout strategy also included digital components, including emails, Facebook posts, and website banners. The United Ag Team also met face-to-face with customers to help them log in, showing hesitant customers how easy the portal was to navigate.
“Every angle that we could possibly promote through, we did,” Bowers said.
Implementing eSign helped growers during harvest, and the benefits continued throughout the year. Research shows that using electronic signatures reduces turnaround time by an average of 80%. Specifically, electronic signatures are shown to prevent missing files by 66% and scanning errors by 92%. United Ag and their growers benefit from this investment in efficiency and security. Producers can sign contracts from their mobile devices without having to access an email, download a PDF, and then sign. They are also reassured knowing that the signed contract is immediately submitted to their grain merchandiser and that it is available for their reference in their United Ag customer portal.
Jimmy Roppolo, General Manager at United Ag
“I try to challenge my staff to think of ways to better serve our members so they can rely on us more. I want to be able to take the cooperative to a different level and I think working with Bushel will help us get there.”
During the busiest times of the year, the investment in their Bushel customer portal helped distribute scale tickets and communicate pricing to growers, minimizing errors and opening communication channels.
From 2021 to 2022, United Ag experienced a 28% increase in customer portal logins during the harvest season. Growers used the customer portal to check their load deliveries, contracts, and markets, and they are still using the portal regularly as adoption continues to stay above 98%. Every time a grower opens the portal, they are engaging with United Ag at both the grower’s and grain merchandiser’s convenience.
The future is bright as United Ag looks to the coming growing seasons. In just one harvest, they transformed how they communicate with the majority of their growers. Now, growers can find their United Ag data anytime without sorting through papers. Growers still call in and visit the office, but business flows more smoothly because everyone is more informed. Through their efforts and investment in their Bushel customer portal, United Ag created a successful customer experience and will continue to strengthen their buyer-seller relationships for many growing seasons to come.