Rusty Harder

President, Ascendency

Rusty Harder’s passion for agriculture was formed growing up on his family farm in Nebraska. He attended the University of Nebraska, where he graduated with a B.S. in Animal Science and an M.S. in Quantitative Genetics. He began his career as a co-founder of a tech company, E-Markets, where he worked with manufacturers, distribution, retail and seed companies. Subsequently, Harder has worked within ag retail and ag distribution for CPS, Wilbur-Ellis, WinField-United and Titan Pro in various leadership roles in marketing, procurement, product management, sales and strategy.

During his career, Harder’s personal mission has been to help advance US Agriculture to feed a growing world. He enjoys coaching and empowering team members to reach their potential, developing strategic initiatives and building strong ties across the industry to work together in collaborative ways. Most recently, he has founded Ascendency, a company that is focused on consultative agronomic and agribusiness solutions.