Meet the Team: Jeff Cole

Jeff Cole is just getting started in his new role at Corteva Agriscience as Account Manager for the U.S. Seed Licensing and Distribution team, and he’s very excited about it. But when Jeff was starting out at Purdue University back in 2005, he didn’t have the seed business on his mind at all. “I was going to become a large animal vet,” he says.

Fate, however, had other plans “In 2006, at the beginning of my sophomore year, I became a dealer for Golden Harvest. It was a really unique opportunity that a family friend offered me. A lot of my fascination with the row crop business grew from there. I was blessed with strong mentors who took me in and got me hooked on the seed business. I loved how fast paced it was, how much it was growing, and I got a deeper, fuller understanding of world-changing technology in seed traits and genetics. That’s really what pulled me into the seed business.”

Jeff has seen his share of change over his 20-year career. Since his start in 2006, he has worked in multiple roles and in companies of many sizes. “I don’t know if I could have written my story as well as it has turned out. With each new job, I wasn’t looking to make changes, but doors opened up for me with opportunities that I was really excited to take. After working through college as a Golden Harvest dealer, I joined Mycogen Seeds, the leading seed brand for Dow AgroSciences at the time. I covered territories in Minnesota and Illinois, where I learned a lot about the retail seed business. Next, I joined Beck’s as a Team Business Advisor, another rewarding and unique experience. In 2013, I had the opportunity to join Pioneer, where I led a team of sales reps in northern Illinois. As many licensees know, that region is particularly challenging for seed sales. We worked hard and saw tremendous success. In 2018, I moved back to Indiana for a Strategic Account Manager opportunity working with some of the largest, most progressive farms in Indiana and Illinois. Most recently, I’ve been driving forward sales effectiveness initiatives with the Illiana Pioneer team to improve sales coverage, build succession plans and, ultimately, evolve their sales force. I’ve had a lot of experiences as either the pilot, copilot or passenger to growing a seed business. And I think it’s given me a good perspective on different routes to market and ways to be successful.”

Jeff will continue to add to his experiences in his new position. “I’m excited to be working in the licensing business with independent seed companies. There are many opportunities ahead and it’s an incredibly important business for Corteva. Being able to contribute to the success of licensees and Corteva is a real honor and privilege. And I guess it means that what I’ve accomplished so far in my career has been noticed and that feels pretty good.”

With all this enthusiasm, Jeff plans to really lean into his role. “My first three months will be spent on the road meeting with customers and doing a lot of listening. My goal is to get to know them, learn more about their businesses and look for opportunities to provide support for what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Jeff feels that Corteva is well-positioned to offer licensees this support. “I think we’re in an incredibly advantageous place, not only with current traits we can license, but also with the power of our germplasm behind it all. We are very competitive right now, and it’s not just a flash in the pan. We have different products that provide more choices and allow the independent licensees we work with to further differentiate their offerings. Differentiation is a recipe for success in the seed business. That’s all very motivating and exciting to me — the clear runway we have ahead of us and the opportunity to prove ourselves to everyone.

“I think we’re on another big precipice with Corteva’s work on the multi-disease resistant trait (MDR). Just imagine getting benefits associated with a fungicide application that’s baked into the seed. When you see something like that happen, these big events, you can’t help but say to yourself, wow! This is going to be another fundamental change to what’s ‘in the bag,’ just like insect and herbicide traits were. MDR has the power to help our licensee customers and farmers around the world.

When he’s not using his talents to help the seed industry thrive, Jeff spends time raising his family. “The kids keep us very busy. We have an eight-, a five- and a three-year-old and another one on the way this August, so there’s precious little time available outside of that. I do find time to help coach my kid’s wrestling team and get out for bowhunting every now and then. I’ve gone on quite a few epic trips out west elk hunting, too. I’m hoping to do some more of that as the kids get older.”

Jeff sums up what has him most excited about his new role. “There’s industry-leading technology fueling Corteva and now we have the freedom to partner with licensees like we never have before. We have a huge amount of momentum that’s enabling our licensees to keep moving things forward, both for them and for us. And it’s not just happening right now, but going into the future. That’s a pretty exciting situation to be in.”

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Meet the Team: Jeff Cole