Part of the fifth generation of his family on their Missouri farm, Brian Strider brings a passion for helping farmers win as he begins his new role as Vice President of Business Development for Meristem Crop Performance.
“It has been 40 years since I started working on the farm as a kid,” Strider said. “I was very fortunate to be able to work with the third and fourth generations on the Strider farm with my grandpa and great-uncle, as well as my father. Now in my career off the farm, I want to see farmers win. I want to see them fight for independence and grow their operations by helping them improve their profit margins.”
Strider graduated from Northwest Missouri State University and started his sales career at the local cooperative in Hardin, Mo.
“In 1998, I got a job working as a counter salesperson at Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers, putting in sales orders and selling sacks of feed,” he said. “From there, I went to Iowa and started a sales career working with fertilizer, seed and chemicals, which allowed me to meet people, build relationships and gain an understanding of how other farms operated. I took some of the knowledge back to our farm to improve operations and I’ve also been able to use that mindset to help other farmers in some of their decision-making.”
Strider’s career includes work in the biological/microbial crop input market where he helped farmers implement new innovations on their operations.
“With biologicals, I had one or two tools to help farmers with their soil biology. And now with Meristem, I have a whole toolbox to help farmers take cost out and enhance the good things going on in the soil,” Strider said. “Meristem is the industry leader with products that enable farmers to win the game by taking costs down and bumping yields up. Raising more bushels with fewer dollars — that’s a touchdown. You don’t win without making touchdowns.”
Still working with his cousins on the family farm, Strider has nearly 30 years of experience building relationships in industry sales. Strider lives in Richmond, Mo. with his wife, Danyelle.
“Meristem has always been about putting farmers first and empowering them to win on their operations by taking cost out and producing more bushels for less,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem founder and CEO. “Brian brings decades of experience putting his farmer customers first to help them win. He is passionate about serving farmers and a great addition to the Meristem team.”
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