Cotton Rohrscheib’s family has been farming in Arkansas for nearly 100 years. Rohrscheib Farm, started by his grandfather, is still operating near Helena. In addition to rice, corn, and soy, the farm raises several hundred cattle, mostly Angus crossbreeds.
While Cotton’s uncle and cousins continue to run the family farm, Cotton’s interest in agriculture has taken a different turn. He spent some time in the IT field, but he wanted to return to a job related to his family roots.
“I decided I wanted to finish my career in agriculture,” he said.
Cotton is a Partner Manager for Farmers Business Network, which means he works directly with key accounts as well as managing a team of 1099 contract workers, known as community builders. This network of partners could include anyone from agriculture pilots to farmers.
According to the company’s website, FBN “empowers farmers to share information, buy as directly from manufacturers as possible, and have the market compete for them.” The community partners help sell FBN products to farmers. This model allows FBN to sell its products directly to farmers, which saves time and money, Cotton explained.
“We’re able to keep the margins low,” he said.
FBN’s products include everything from special loans or financial advising for farmers to purchasing actual products such as supplies, equipment, or animal feed. The company is also the first of its kind to use AI on the farm with its comprehensive virtual advisor, “Norm.”
Cotton also recently resurrected his agriculture-focused Cotton Club, which he uses to interview the various community builders from his FBN network. He’s able to feature his partners and highlight current and upcoming ideas within the farming industry.
For example, an upcoming episode highlights regenerative agriculture.
“A lot of people are really interested in regenerative ag,” he said.
Cotton recently reflected on what he sees as the future of farming. While it’s clear that the expansion of broadband will make it easier for farms of any size to use FBN’s evolving technology, he also sees that it will become even more difficult to get into farming.
“We’re going to see more corporate farms than family farms,” he said. “We’re already seeing it.”
To learn more about Cotton’s involvement in agriculture, visit https://rohrscheib.net/. For his podcast, visit https://cotton.buzz/.
