Tara Bierman
Tara Bierman grew up around farming and agriculture. She shares that she was born into it and that she has been around the farm for as long as she can remember. Growing up, her family had a grain operation, grew soybeans, corn, and even pumpkins. So when the question of college became a question, going to school for agronomy and agricultural business felt like the right thing to do. She would go on to go into agricultural sales full-time, focusing on selling seed full time. After working within the corporate structure for a while, she realized that her passions didn’t exactly align with theirs. She found herself not feeling fulfilled; in her words, she was wearing the company hat more than her farmer hat. But that experience helped her identify the gaps and her strengths in the niche that she could fill in the field. She knew she wanted to be of service to farmers rather than just reducing her work to a paycheck. Knowing and having that firsthand experience as a farmer, she shares that she knows what farmers go through. She says she does well when the farmers do well.
Now Tara Bierman Ag focuses on putting the right seed on the right acre. She says that her goal is to make the harvest worth it for the farmer. She specifically tailors what varieties are specific to the land that she is working with. She has conversations with growers that focus on addressing their concerns and problems. More than anything, she says she hopes to be a problem solver rather than just a salesman. Her motto is: Sensible, Sustainable, and Specialized. She wants to cater her services to the needs of each farmer rather than a one-size-fits-all product.
Tara always loved driving tractors and was always invested in agriculture, and knew she always wanted that to be a part of her life. Although her background is in agronomy and plant sciences, she shares how she has recently felt a pull toward animal agriculture. She has picked up poultry as a hobby, raising chickens. She shares that after having struggled with health issues, she realized the importance of soil health and having a garden, and being cautious of where your food is coming from and how it is produced. She shares that a healthy lifestyle really begins with healthy soil. She explains that it all truly goes together. Raising her own poultry, healthy soil, and a healthy lifestyle all contribute to wellness. She shares the importance of living roots and microbes, not only in increasing yields but also in the quality of the produce.
As for the business side of things, Tara wishes she had had a more business-focused education, but she shares that the Northern Innovation and Startup Center has really helped guide her and fill that gap in many ways. The Idea to Market Program played a pivotal role in helping fine-tune the business and run it more as a structured business. It helped her become more organizationally structured and set achievable goals. She shares that her goal now is to get her name out there more and get the community to know what she does. She shares that the ag retail space is very competitive. Being in a rural region, commute is also a barrier; while her farm is by Northville, most of her business is around the Miller area, which means she is building connections an hour away. Transitioning to prioritizing her own business while also helping out her family business has also been a learning curve.
Marketing is another area she is actively investing in. She has begun building all her own promotional material. Her new logo was designed by her sister-in-law through Canva. She is also learning how to incorporate AI and social media for a larger audience reach, along with utilizing radio ads. But most of all, simple field signs with her name, logo, and phone number have been game-changing. Farmers often drive around and see the signs, and that exposure has been key.
As the District 9 director for the South Dakota Soybean Association, Tara recently got to visit Egypt and learn about the impact of our exports there. She shares that the trip was very eye-opening. The lifestyle there is very different, and food safety standards look very different. Egypt is the fourth largest importer of U.S. soybeans. She shares that with their population rapidly growing, the need for poultry and fish increases, and soybeans are a key poultry feed, so U.S. farmers have a unique opportunity to fill that demand. The United States is uniquely positioned to fill this need because our soybeans dry naturally in the field, making them more digestible, and they are produced without deforestation, all qualities that make U.S. soybeans more appealing to the global market.
For those who are feeling that same non-fulfillment in their career, Tara says that once you find that pain point, it is your cue to leave. Thankfully for her, she had a financial safety net of a significant other who was willing to support her through that process. But she shares that you need to find your passion and what is fulfilling to you. Your mental health is valuable. If your career is negatively affecting that, you need to make that jump. She recommends that anyone who wants to pursue a new business venture take part in the Startup Center’s workshops. She says that for a long time, she was winging it, and she waited to ask for help. She shares that asking for help right away is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business. She ended by sharing that if you are passionate about something, you will find a way to make it work.
