Columbus, Ohio, USA
May 13, 2025
Two more leading agronomic professionals have joined Meristem Crop Performance, one of the fastest-growing crop input suppliers in America. Curt Hanson will serve farm operations in North Dakota as sales representative and Cody King becomes sales representative serving farm businesses in South Dakota. Hanson and King both have deep experience in helping growers boost their profitability with the right crop inputs and farming practices specific to the Dakotas.
“We are growing quickly and grateful to have two more highly talented professionals to help us carry out our mission in this key growth area,” says Mitch Eviston, Meristem founder and CEO in announcing the hires. “This duo adds major-league horsepower to serve more growers in the Dakotas with Meristem products that will help them get more bushels for less.”
Curt Hanson brings more than 15 years of crop input and farmer service experience to his new work with Meristem. “I grew up on our family grain farm near Portland, North Dakota,” he shares. “During high school, I also started working for the custom application and custom farming operation just down the road in the Clifford area.”
After studying business at Minnesota State University, Hanson signed on as a location manager for Central Plains Ag Service, serving the Aneta and McVille towns in North Dakota. He says he’s thankful for the wide-ranging experience in serving farmers that experience brought to him.
“I’ve helped growers solve problems with their precision ag technology as well as fertilizer and seed,” he says, adding that he’s served growers all over the Central Red River Valley and all the way over the Bismarck and he’s eager to bring them Meristem’s products.
“I know Meristem can help many of the farmers I know in North Dakota improve their ROI (return on investment),” says Hanson, adding that it’s his experience as a location manager that informs that opinion. “Big claims are easy, but it’s how it really works for the farmer that’s important,” he smiles. “I think Meristem, with their BIO-CAPSULE™ technology to keep these biologicals alive is the real deal. I believe it will help a lot of farmers.”
Hanson and his wife Kayla live near Mayville, North Dakota, and have four children: Chloe, Canaan, Kase and Kaitlin. They often join him when he follows another passion as a professional Walleye fisherman. He pursues that side interest on the National Walleye Tour.
Cody King grew up working on the family farm near Toronto, South Dakota, homesteaded in 1878. He spent his early years helping his grandparents, and now he often pitches in with his father and brother – the fifth generation on the same ground. Cody and his wife Kayleigh live near Toronto and have two boys: two-year-old Rip and newborn Rowdy. King comes to Meristem from Sound Agriculture, where he served as regional sales manager for the Dakotas. During this experience, he was in a position to observe Meristem’s success at field level.
“I’ve learned a lot about Meristem and I really think the BIO-CAPSULE seed fluency delivery system is a great answer to the challenge of delivering live microbes to where they are needed,” he says. “It’s actually something that can truly bring benefits to these growers. Keeping this innovative technology alive is going to make a real difference for the farmers I know. I also think EXCAVATOR™ AMS with CYCLESTRIKE™ is going to be a game-changer for our growers in the Dakotas.”
Before he started at Sound, he worked with King-Ag, his brother’s start-up independent crop input retail operation. There he had three years of frontline work with growers for King-Ag in Toronto, S.D., providing seed, crop protection and plant nutrition. Before that, King was territory sales manager in Minnesota for six years with Ag Systems, a distributor of ag equipment and precision ag technology. He earned his bachelor’s degree at South Dakota State Univeristy.
Topics
Species
