Gary E. Carlson has been appointed chief executive officer of Rooster.com, a comprehensive new marketplace designed to make it easier for farmers to do business on the Internet. Carlson will leave his current position as president of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (PCS) Sales and Marketing, Chicago, Illinois., and start with Rooster.com immediately.

"I am very excited to be part of Rooster.com because we believe it is the most important e-commerce venture in agriculture," Carlson said. "Rooster.com is being developed by some of the most respected companies in agriculture and people who share a deep commitment to helping farmers succeed. In fact, one of the reasons we believe Rooster.com will be such a valuable tool for farmers is because it will include the existing distribution channels." 

Carlson, 46, has spent his entire career in agriculture. After earning an agricultural economics degree from the University of Georgia in 1976, Carlson joined American Cyanamid Company, Wayne, N.J., as a sales representative in Waverly, Iowa. He held several sales, marketing and management positions with the crop protection chemical company, including president of Cyanamid Canada, Inc., and vice president of its International Division. In 1996, Carlson was named senior vice president of Arcadian Corp., Memphis, Tenn., then served as president of PCS Nitrogen until he was appointed to his most recent position. "

Gary Carlson brings an outstanding record of success in a career dedicated to serving the needs of farmers," said Joe Stone, Rooster.com spokesperson. "This experience will help us build a site that farmers can use to improve their profitability." 

Carlson says his priorities include formalizing relationships with new investors and "storefront" participants in Rooster.com. The initial investors are Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota., Cargill, Minnetonka, Minnesota., and DuPont, Wilmington, Delaware. These companies signed a letter of intent on March 1 to create Rooster.com. 

Carlson will also focus on building a management team.

"We are going to draw talent from all sectors of agriculture," he said. "These new team members will be working to ensure that Rooster.com offers farmers all the efficiencies of electronic commerce without disrupting the normal channels of distribution." 

Rooster.com will be a two-way virtual electronic mall for the agricultural industry, with anchor tenants and many other retailers, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In Rooster.com, farmers will be able to market their crops and buy seed, fertilizer, crop protection products, other farm supplies and equipment - all through the same businesses they work with now. 

Company news release
N2589