Before merging with North Central Farmers Elevator to become Agtegra Cooperative, South Dakota Wheat Growers has been an integral part of the agricultural community in the Dakotas since 1923. What has remained constant for more than 95 years is the desire to provide top-notch services and fair prices for their member-owners. One of the things that has changed dramatically in that time is the technology the grower uses on the farm.

The Innovation Center is the precision ag division of Agtegra and where growers go to get the latest technology for their operation. Their precision ag specialists help growers with equipment maintenance, after-market upgrades, and the latest farming technologies. The Innovation Center also provides in-field support for their customers, as needed.

Though the Innovation Center offers top-notch service and tech support, what was missing from their story was the story itself: who they are, what they do, and letting people to know they’re there. The Innovation Center tapped MCG’s creative team to help bring that story to life through video.

Partnering with Labyrinth Films, based in Aberdeen, our creative team worked with the Innovation Center to conceptualize, script, shoot, and produce a series of authentic and compelling stories as told by the Innovation experts themselves.

When we conducted our initial pre-production phone interviews, our experts were very easy to talk to and were able to give us full, complete stories about what they do. But when the camera was turned on, it was often a different story.

Being in front of the camera is not an easy task for most people, and every member of the Innovation Center team is extremely modest. We almost got the sense that they just didn’t see why anyone would be interested in hearing their stories. To them, they were just doing their jobs.

But after hearing the growers share their stories, we reminded them of what we’d heard over and over again: how Joe helped Gordie with his planter in the middle of the night. How Lance rebuilt a harness when a grower broke down. How Dustin brought new chainrolls and installed them on Jeff’s corn head in the middle of harvest.

“This campaign gives the Innovation Center team an opportunity to showcase what we do. Our team is unique in our precision ag expertise, which adds value to the overall Agtegra family,” explains Innovation Center Manager, Todd Linbo.

These stories all shared a common theme: that these team members weren’t just “doing a job.” They are each willing to do whatever it takes, no matter the time of day or night, no matter the make or model, or if they’re being told by the manufacturer that it can’t be done – nothing stops these guys from figuring out a solution to keep their growers up and running.

That’s a story that needed to be told.

Perhaps the biggest success of the video campaign is the effect it’s had on the team members themselves. Greg Smith, Agtegra’s Director of Communications, said, “So many good things can be said about the new campaign for the Innovation Center. If I had to sum it up in one thought, it would be that this has instilled a great sense of pride in our team. Seeing themselves on camera and hearing their stories being told in such a passionate, professional way has given them a new confidence in how they work together as a team.”

The Innovation Center isn’t just about state-of-art technology, their 4,100-square-foot presentation room, or their 240-seat auditorium, though it does encompass these physical assets. The Innovation Center is the team itself: the individual experts who are willing and able to take their expertise on the road and make on-farm calls in the middle of the night to Agtegra’s 7,800 members-owners across the 60 communities they serve.

Working with the Innovation Center and bringing their story to life has been an honor for us at MCG.