Building an Agronomic Strategy for Scaling Regenerative Ag: Identifying WHERE Adoption is Most Likely (Part 3)

This is the fifth post in our series on building effective agronomic strategies for regenerative agriculture/ soil health product and solution adoption. We've covered defining the problem from the farmgate out and aligning agronomic fit with product capabilities. Now we're tackling Step 3: Identifying WHERE adoption is most likely and turning market intelligence into a focused deployment strategy.

TL;DR

Having a clear agronomic strategy is the starting point for turning a great product into a market success.

Once you truly understand: 

✅ Your customer's motivations 

✅ How your product works and its capabilities 

✅ How to manage risk and enable its use in the field

...the big question then becomes: Where should you deploy it?

This article provides:

• A data-driven approach to identifying high-potential markets using the proprietary FARM Index

• A three-layer targeting system that combines adoption likelihood, customer fit, and sales data

• Four distinct market zones with specific deployment strategies for each

• Pre-commercial applications for new product launches

• Real ROI calculations showing how focused deployment saves time and increases sales

  
  

Whether you're a small company with limited resources or a larger organization seeking market efficiency, this framework helps you move from gut instinct to strategic deployment.

The Cost of Unfocused Deployment

I've been in the position of throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping things will stick. Back in 2018, when I first entered the biological space, very few farmers in my area were using such products nor did they believe they were much more than snake oil. We didn't feel like we had the time, capacity, or resources to be more data-focused. As a result, getting any sort of traction felt like a stretch.

We ran all over the countryside having conversation after conversation, meeting after meeting, conference after conference with limited success. I myself logged 50,000 miles on my truck that first year, and many of my coworkers covering broader territories logged well over 60,000 miles.

Looking back now, I wish I would have had market intelligence insights to be more tactical. I know I would have had fewer miles but more meaningful face-to-face conversations, which everyone in ag knows move the needle a lot quicker than other approaches.

The Hidden Cost of Scattered Efforts

Let me break down the real cost of unfocused deployment with some conservative math:

It's very common for sales team members to drive over 50,000 miles per year. Let's say conservatively we reduce miles traveled by 10,000 per year from being more targeted. If the average speed is 45 mph (accounting for highway, town, and country roads), we end up saving 5.55 weeks worth of driving time [(10,000 miles ÷ 45 mph) = 222.22 hours or 5.55 work weeks].

Most people spend a good portion of their drive time on phone calls, but phone calls are very different from face-to-face conversations. Modestly, let's say you're able to average 2 additional face-to-face conversations each week, and half of those conversations end in a close. That's roughly 5.5 more sales per sales team member plus $7,000 in savings per vehicle (10,000 miles × $0.70/mile IRS rate).

The savings and additional revenue can begin to add up quickly across a sales organization. These are just the tangible costs. Imagine the intangible benefits of improved team morale, more family time at night, and reduced burnout from constant travel.

Tactical Isn't Enough Without Motivation

But being more targeted isn't enough if you're missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Later in my career, working in carbon markets, the larger team I was part of had phenomenal talent. We created sophisticated resources to help guide our field teams to where carbon sequestration would be highest based on different practice change options. This was a helpful tool to narrow down where the highest returns would be for both the grower and the company.

However, our strategy did not include the inherent willingness and motivation of farmers to change practices in those regions. We were being more tactical, but we forgot to include a very important consideration: The Grower's "Why."

As a result, adoption was slow, messaging was targeted but still broad compared to local resource concerns, and adoption lagged. What I learned and brought into the FARM Index was that sales forecasting, albeit important, won't lead to desired outcomes if you're pushing a square peg through a round hole.

Leveraging the 80/20 principle and finding the 20% of levers to pull that will deliver 80% of the outcome may mean a small tweak in what you're currently doing, or maybe even a complete overhaul.

The FARM Index: Measuring Adoption Readiness

This is where data can make a significant difference. The FARM Index (Farmer Adoption of Regenerative Management) is a proprietary tool I developed that helps identify regions where there's a strong likelihood for regenerative practice or solution adoption at the county level, combining both operational readiness and farmer motivation.

The FARM Index evaluates multiple factors including:

• Historical adoption patterns of sustainable practices

• Regional agronomic challenges and resource constraints

• Producer demographics and risk tolerance

• Incentive alignment and others

  
  

But the Index doesn't stop at adoption likelihood. When we combine it with your company's own characteristics and sales data, we can uncover strategic deployment opportunities that most companies miss.

The Three-Layer Targeting System

I'll be honest, I'm not a marketer at all. I'm an agronomist by trade and a soil health nerd with a deep curiosity about what makes farmers adopt new solutions or practices. So I won't pretend like I know it all by any means, and please leave a comment if you disagree, I would love to talk about it. That being said, what I've found in my experience is that effective market deployment leverages three layers of analysis, each building on the previous one:

Layer 1: Identifying Your Ideal Customer Characteristics

Where begins by identifying characteristics of your ideal customer. This should include crops grown, operation size, equipment capabilities, archetype/risk tolerance, age, and more. Knowing these characteristics helps you be more specific in your targeting.

I personally leverage data like this to help prioritize focus when helping companies focus where they allocate their resources. This layer is critical because adoption likelihood isn't enough. You could have high adoption likelihood in a particular region but a low number of farmers who fit your ideal customer profile.

Layer 2: The Opportunity Score

This is where we combine FARM Index insights with a prioritization score based on your ideal customer characteristics. This helps further narrow down where to focus efforts by likelihood of adoption AND by customer fit.

The Opportunity Score weighs:

• FARM Index rating (adoption readiness)

• Customer density (concentration of ideal prospects)

  
  

Layer 3: Sales Data Overlay

This approach can be taken one step further by overlaying your historical sales data. In doing so, we become more tactical and create sales zones where efforts can be further focused based on three filters: Adoption likelihood, Customer fit, and Historical traction.

We move from gut instinct to data-driven, from spaghetti at the wall to focused and tactical.

The Four Market Zones

When you combine FARM Index scores, Opportunity Scores, and sales data, four distinct zones emerge, each requiring different strategies:

🟢 Zone A – Scaling Zone

Definition: High FARM Index and Opportunity Score with at least one transaction.

Implication: These are proven markets with both mindset and infrastructure in place. Prioritize for sales expansion and resource allocation.

Strategy: Double down on what's working. Increase sales coverage, expand product offerings, and use success stories from these regions in marketing materials.

🟡Zone B – Untapped Potential

Definition: High FARM Index but either no transactions or a lower Opportunity Score.

Implication: Farmers may be mindset-ready, but structural or awareness gaps remain. Prioritize education, awareness-building, and localized pilot strategies.

Strategy: Focus on education and relationship building. These markets may need more time and nurturing but represent significant long-term opportunity.

🟠 Zone C – Mysterious Success

Definition: At least one transaction, but low FARM Index and/or Opportunity Score.

Implication: Unexpected wins, likely driven by relationships, random connections, or unique local conditions. Worth studying for insights.

Strategy: Investigate thoroughly. What made adoption possible here? Can those conditions be replicated or identified elsewhere? These zones often reveal important market insights.

🔴 Zone D – Low Priority

Definition: Low FARM Index and Opportunity Score with no transactions.

Implication: Minimal readiness and no traction to date. Deprioritize and avoid spending resources here for now.

Strategy: Monitor but don't actively pursue. Redirect resources to higher-potential zones unless you have specific strategic reasons to maintain presence.

Interested in seeing what this looks like? Download a sample here

Pre-Commercial Applications

This framework is also powerful before you have sales data to analyze. When developing a new resource, tool, or service, we can leverage proposed characteristics of the ideal customer and adoption likelihood to better understand the context of where we're deciding to go to market.

Strategic Market Entry

Understanding local context helps pressure-test your solution or service against common resource concerns in the area. The early lab and greenhouse data should have helped identify what challenge you're best positioned to solve. Now you can test it locally, develop a dataset for marketing collateral, and invite innovators and early adopters into the process to collect real field data and earn their business prior to full-scale launch.

Preparing for Scale

Doing so prepares you to meet the needs of middle adopters and address objections they may have. You better understand the challenges from the farmgate out and create messaging that resonates with local and regional agronomic constraints.

This approach is particularly valuable for companies with limited resources who need their early market entries to be successful and generate momentum for broader expansion.

Implementation Framework for Market Intelligence

Whether you're a smaller company or larger organization, this approach starts with understanding your core constraints and leveraging the right expertise. In my work with companies, I focus on the agronomic and farmer decision-making aspects - helping identify where your solution fits best and what resonates with growers in those markets. For the broader market intelligence and territory optimization work outside of the FARM Index, I collaborate with marketing and sales specialists who bring those specific skills to larger projects. As such, the following thoughts are intentionally high level to provide directional guidance. 

For Smaller Companies (Limited Budget):

1. Start with existing data - Use publicly available agricultural census data, university extension reports, and industry publications to build basic customer profiles

2. Focus on 2-3 target markets - Don't spread thin across too many regions initially

3. Leverage partnerships - Work with local dealers, consultants, or extension agents who understand regional dynamics

4. Build incrementally - Start with basic targeting and add sophistication as resources allow

   
   

For Larger Organizations (Expanded Budget):

1. Invest in comprehensive market intelligence - Commission detailed market research and customer segmentation studies

2. Develop proprietary scoring systems - Create custom algorithms that reflect your specific product, product capabilities/ job to be done, and market dynamics

3. Implement territory optimization - Use advanced analytics to optimize sales territories and resource allocation

4. Create feedback loops - Establish systems to continuously update and refine targeting based on new data

   
   

Measuring Success and Iterating

The key to effective market deployment is treating it as an iterative process. Establish clear metrics for success in each zone:

Zone A (Scaling): Market share growth, customer acquisition cost, sales velocity 

Zone B (Untapped Potential): Awareness metrics, trial rates, conversion timelines

Zone C (Mysterious Success): Understanding drivers, replication success rate 

Regular analysis of these metrics allows you to refine your approach and reallocate resources as market conditions change.

The Strategic Impact

This data-driven approach to market deployment delivers measurable business outcomes:

• Reduced Sales Costs: Fewer wasted miles and more efficient territory management

• Higher Conversion Rates: Better alignment between solution and market readiness

• Faster Market Entry: Reduced time to establish presence in new regions

• Improved Resource Allocation: Strategic deployment of limited marketing and sales resources

• Predictable Growth: Better forecasting and planning based on market intelligence

  
  

The Bottom Line

The difference between companies that scale successfully and those that struggle often comes down to deployment strategy. Having a great product isn't enough, you need to deploy it where adoption conditions are most favorable.

When you combine adoption likelihood, customer fit, and market intelligence, you move from hoping for success to strategically creating it. You transform scattered efforts into focused campaigns that deliver measurable results.

The companies winning in regenerative agriculture aren't just building better products, they're deploying them more strategically.

What's Next in This Series

We've now covered defining the problem, aligning capabilities with farmer needs, and identifying where adoption is most likely. In our final article, we'll explore:

Part 4: Equip the Right People to Tell the Story — How and what you say drives adoption in your target markets

Ready to deploy your solution strategically? 🎯

If your soil health solution has proven effectiveness but you're unsure where to focus your efforts, it's time to move from gut instinct to market intelligence.

At Living Roots, we help companies identify where their highest-potential markets exist and create a clear agronomic strategy. When farmers win, we all win.

Let's turn your great product into strategic market success.

🌾 Let's save tomorrow's soils today.