Defeat is just a temporary situation. That’s just one of the lessons that Gene Spellman, regional sales manager at Central Life Sciences in Mount Horeb, Wis., learned from his experience as a wrestler at the University of Wisconsin – Madison that still inspires and motivates him in his career in animal agriculture today.
“Through wrestling, I learned over and over that defeat is temporary. It’s a time to reflect back on good and bad, yes and no evaluations of what to do, what to avoid and what to think about going forward,” Spellman says.
He credits his wrestling coaches for having some of the greatest influence in his life.
“Wrestling taught me that you win as a team through individual excellence. That’s something that I’ve tried to stress to the companies I’ve worked with, especially in this last career position. Individually, you have to perform to your best to make sure that the team succeeds,” Spellman says.
Those are just a few of the reasons why he flourishes in his role at Central Life Sciences. Spellman shares his views on leadership, business strategy, the pork industry and what he’s learned during his career.
Q. What is your why?
A. We are searching out answers for the hard production issues that affect neighbor relations. We are solving some of the real challenges regarding production agriculture’s relationship with its neighbors on farms and in rural neighborhoods. I’m passionate about solving some of the issues around odor, pests and insects. I believe this is becoming more important as the boundaries expand on urban areas and more people move to the country.
Q. Describe a typical day on the job for you.
A. Pre-pandemic, a typical day was face-to-face with customers, vets, nutritionists and customer influencers implementing a treatment program or a control program for flies and pests on the farm. I think the thing that makes my job unique is the time spent in the barns implementing our products and making sure our industry partners are holding up their end of implementing their programs.
Q. How does your company help and work with its customers?
A. One of the platforms I’ve tried to bring to this company is to lead with science. You need a valid business reason to implement a control program. One of the thrusts of our company today is seeking out the answer to this question: Is there a risk for disease transfer? We know there are so many other problems caused by insects, flies, roaches, etc. We’ve discovered through a lot of research that these pests, in addition to neighbor relations issues, are really overlooked as an animal health risk to our biosecurity protocols. We’re learning more about what these pests can do as far as spreading and being a vector of disease. I try to emphasize that, whatever solution we offer, it has to be led with research-proven science. I think that has been well received by our customers and our customers’ team of influences.
Q. How has the business changed since you started?
A. Leading with science on research and connecting a valid business reason to a return on investment has been a more emphasized platform in the past few years. We are not relying as much on a demonstration, and instead are getting scientific research and study-based science, validated with statistics.
Q. What concerns do you have about the swine industry?
A. Through this position, I’ve become more aware of the industry’s reputation within and around their neighbors. I think assumptions are made that our rural neighbors understand production agriculture. I don’t think everyone understands as simply and clearly as they once did. For example, I’m an ag person. I grew up on a farm. However, I’ll tell you we’ve had some courageous conversations around my family’s dinner table about environmental issues and production practices – particularly agriculture’s impact on the environment and on production issues with neighbors. It strikes me how in one generation, ag has been removed so much from their daily lives. That could be the case with our other neighbors. We need to be more sensitive to what effects our production practices have on our neighbors. That may be a tough message to deliver, but I think it’s reality. Farms will get bigger, urban areas are growing, more people are moving into the rural areas near our farms. Long-term, that’s the biggest concern I see in the industry.
Q. What are the greatest opportunities in the swine industry today?
A. On the production side, emphasizing all of the good things we’re doing and educating immediate neighbors is a great opportunity. I think it would go a long way to broadening the number of voices we have that would defend our industry. I also think there’s going to be great breakthroughs in production practices that will allow us to still work, live and produce pork around our neighbors.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. I like winning. Winning doesn’t always mean selling product. I like the great feedback we get when you put in a program that you hope improves the total environment around producing pork. That’s what really makes me happy – when you can offer something that reliably works every time that it’s implemented. The feedback from a satisfied customer is the tops.
Q. What is your business philosophy?
A. Start with the end in mind. Then, work back from that situation and never give up on the ways to get to that end. For example, what would a problem look like if it was solved? Then back-engineer it from there, developing solutions and processes to get there in a safe environment that is also cost-effective for producers.
PORK Perspectives is a recurring column that provides business and leadership strategy tips from some of the pork industry’s finest. Opinions expressed in this column are the opinions of Gene Spellman and do not represent the opinions of Farm Journal’s PORK. Watch for future columns featuring advice and insights from more of the pork industry’s leaders.
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