In this episode, I interview Ruthann Anderson, CEO of CAPCA (California Association of Pest Control Advisors). Ruthann explains that CAPCA represents licensed PCAs (Pest Control Advisors) who she describes as “plant doctors,” often recommending non-chemical solutions such as irrigation changes, soil sampling, and nutrition adjustments before turning to pesticides. They advise across agriculture, turf, ornamental, and urban environments, and CAPCA focuses on statewide education and advocacy to support the profession. She discusses challenges like public perception and inconsistent enforcement in the past. A major example is the BeeWhere program, which CAPCA helped modernize to improve communication between beekeepers and pesticide applicators to reduce bee losses, showing how collaboration across groups leads to better outcomes. We also discuss the complexity of pest management, including public health issues like rat infestations, and the misconception that agriculture uses chemicals carelessly. Ruthann mentions grant-funded work documenting over 200 examples of PCAs choosing non-chemical approaches, which CAPCA plans to publish. We also dive into United Ag’s mission to transform healthcare in agriculture: simplifying access, reducing costs, and putting empathy first with zero-copay clinics in rural communities. Ruthann highlights how thoughtful decisions, whether in farming or healthcare, lead to better outcomes, and she shares how CAPCA members can leverage United Ag’s network for reliable health coverage.
In this episode, I interview Ruthann Anderson, CEO of CAPCA (California Association of Pest Control Advisors). Ruthann explains that CAPCA represents licensed PCAs (Pest Control Advisors) who she describes as “plant doctors,” often recommending non-chemical solutions such as irrigation changes, soil sampling, and nutrition adjustments before turning to pesticides. They advise across agriculture, turf, ornamental, and urban environments, and CAPCA focuses on statewide education and advocacy to support the profession. She discusses challenges like public perception and inconsistent enforcement in the past. A major example is the BeeWhere program, which CAPCA helped modernize to improve communication between beekeepers and pesticide applicators to reduce bee losses, showing how collaboration across groups leads to better outcomes.
We also discuss the complexity of pest management, including public health issues like rat infestations, and the misconception that agriculture uses chemicals carelessly. Ruthann mentions grant-funded work documenting over 200 examples of PCAs choosing non-chemical approaches, which CAPCA plans to publish.
We also dive into United Ag’s mission to transform healthcare in agriculture: simplifying access, reducing costs, and putting empathy first with zero-copay clinics in rural communities. Ruthann highlights how thoughtful decisions, whether in farming or healthcare, lead to better outcomes, and she shares how CAPCA members can leverage United Ag’s network for reliable health coverage.
CAPCA: https://capca.com/
Kirti Mutatkar, President and CEO of UnitedAg.
Reach me at kmutatkar@unitedag.org, www.linkedin.com/in/kirtimutatkar
UnitedAg website - www.unitedag.org
UnitedAg Health and Wellness Centers - https://www.unitedag.org/health-benefits/united-agricultural-benefit-trust/health-centers/
Episode Contributors - Ruthann Anderson, Kirti Mutatkar, Dave Visaya, Rhianna Macias
The episode is also sponsored by Brent Eastman Insurance Services Inc. - https://brenteastman.com
Blue Shield of California - https://www.blueshieldca.com
Elite Medical - https://www.elitecorpmed.com
Gallagher - https://www.ajg.com/
SAIN Medical https://sainmedical.com/
MDI Network - https://www.mdinetworx.com/about-us
Kirti: [00:00:04] So I am super, super, super excited today because I met Ruthann Anderson recently at an event here in Southern California and we were chatting. So when you and I were talking that day, I think I don't know what the topic was, but we just started talking and I felt like you would be a great guest on this. So welcome to the podcast. And I am Kirti. I'm the president and CEO at United Ag.
Ruthann: [00:00:28] I love it. And thank you for the invite. You know, we've enjoyed getting to know United Ag over the last couple years, working with Jason, specifically on the Alliance and then being able to join you guys this year. And we really hope to be able to expand your network together as we look at kind of the family of agriculture, because we're all a team working together for, I think, some common goals.
Kirti: [00:00:53] Right. That's true when you are in California. Ag. Right. It is when you think of different associations here. There's not necessarily a competition, but we all work towards making the California agriculture industry better, right? So it becomes like a part of the family, like you said. That's so true. But before I get to anything, Ruthann, can you introduce yourself and can you introduce CAPCA? Because a lot of my listeners are most of them are within Ag. But also This is Ag! is for people listening in from outside wondering, what do we do in Ag? What does United Ag do? What? What does CAPCA do? So we'd love to hear that. And what your role is there.
Ruthann: [00:01:34] I love it. So CAPCA. The California Association of Pest Control Advisors represents the PCA license here in the state of California, and the Pest control, or PCA license, was created back in the 70s to help support growers in their kind of decision making around chemicals in the field. So chemicals and pesticides is kind of the gap that PCAs fill in. But they're really charged with practicing integrated pest management, which takes in just a whole variety of things from soil all the way through to harvest, ensuring that we have safe, sustainable food as well as it meets the agronomic structure. To be able to take that that crop all the way through to harvest. So sometimes they're making decisions that aren't ag chem based. They're talking or thinking about things like changing irrigation water, sampling the soil, thinking about how nutrition helps drive the resilience for that plant, and then sometimes when necessary, just like when we go to a doctor, sometimes it's medically necessary for us to think about not just diet or exercise, but maybe we need something else to help us along, right. Or addressing a symptom. And so PCAs act kind of like plant doctors. And they're out there in the field writing prescriptions or recommendations to support growers in their kind of annual journey to bring forward crops from a variety of, um, of fields.
Ruthann: [00:03:19] And, you know, for us, one of the things that I enjoy is we're a statewide association. So there's PCAs in every district, every county of the state. Some of them are working in agriculture. We also have some that are working on kind of the turf and ornamental side. So you'll see them in cities, working in parks and recreation. You'll see them on golf courses. You'll see them in kind of nursery greenhouse situations. So they run kind of a really wide gamut. But the license is under Cali, PA in the Department of Pesticide Site regulation. And so we kind of work within those parameters. But for us, we're really focused on education and advocating for kind of a long term success of the PCA license. We believe that they are trusted advisor to growers. They're part of the family and hopefully really personal for each grower, or we hope they're really personal for each grower. And so we want to give them the best in terms of education and support to maintain that professional license.
Kirti: [00:04:23] That is interesting. So you talk about I actually did not when you were saying this, this was a new perspective for me that you put in my head and the PCAs as plant doctors. So very similar to human beings, right? You eat right, you exercise, you do everything. But we see that at United Ag because we are a health plan. We see claims come in and things happen to us that the doctor needs to intervene. And That's what the role the pesticides play with the plants and with what we do in the ag industry. Right. But there is a perception out there, right? So when you when I'm in Orange County or are you talking about agriculture, you're talking about pesticides. People have this perception. So anything you want to say on that where like a person who's not in agriculture and like okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Plant doctor. But what does that really mean? And how does that impact our food that's grown in California? Why? It's the safest food that we can eat, right. The industry here in California.
Ruthann: [00:05:23] Absolutely. So I do recognize, like, pesticides can feel like a really bad word for us to talk about, right? But it's part of our modern society in ways that I think we don't realize it. Right? The average person has a lot of pesticides in their home. If you use, for example, Clorox bleach wipes in your home, you're using a pesticide. You might not realize it, you might not call it that, but you're actually calling or it's actually labeled by EPA and it's called a pesticide. It's killing an organism, right. And so I think that when we can think about pesticides in terms of helping us continue to have safe and affordable food, we have to recognize that it's a complex decision making structure. Growers aren't out there spending money applying pesticides for no reason. They're applying them when it's absolutely necessary. And by using a PCA, they're selecting the best medicine, the best product that's available for what they're currently facing. And PCAs, when they do recommend a pesticide, they actually have to sign off that they've mitigated or considered alternatives before they prescribe. And so it's a really important part of the conversation and story that I'm not sure always gets out, because I think there's a perception that everyone just goes straight for the medicine.
Ruthann: [00:06:46] Right? But that's not even how we operate in the health environment, right? I go to my doctor and they might say, hey, you should try this first and then come back to me, right? Or let's do some blood work and just double check and make sure that everything's going the same way. Right. And so PCA's are in the field. They're actively looking at other alternatives. But sometimes a pesticide is what's required. And we're seeing this even right now with the current rat infestation in the Central Valley. You know, the concern is if we aren't using pesticides or we aren't controlling the rat population, sometimes that's through pesticides, then we might have some public health issues that kind of sprinkle out from this. And so it's a really complex kind of environment where, you know, it's not just about food safety, but it is about the safety of our communities at times, or that pest moving to adjacent neighbors or into adjacent communities. And what that would look like in kind of our modern day is a lot different, right? I don't want rats running over our cities.
Kirti: [00:07:55] Right? Yeah. That's interesting. You don't realize it when you are doing it at your home and you are using it. You're not thinking of when you said you're killing an organism. It's a pesticide, right? So you or you are killing something because of the impact it has. And from a community and all the things that you talk about, if these pests run rampant and the impact that has, it's huge, it's a huge impact. But also the important thing that I heard you say is the PCA, the, the, the focus is to use as less as possible and where it's more impactful and kind of really understand like a very similar to a good doctor would do and saying, okay, what's needed. But you see that from a standpoint, right? You'd rather not go to a doctor because the claims cost or the cost of all that is very high. So why would a grower, why would somebody in agriculture use something that's so expensive and adds to the cost of growing and impacts the income statement? Why would somebody just do that for the sake of doing it? You do it because it has an impact, right? So true, so true.
Ruthann: [00:09:04] Yeah. And for me, I think we've grown. We've learned that we have to tell our story better, differently. And the last few years we actually have received some grant funding through Cdfa that has allowed us to document over 200 PCAs and their non-chemical decision making that occurs in the field. And we're really excited next year to be able to release that data and kind of tell that story because it colors in kind of this other part of the story that isn't always talked about. Because, ironically, the only thing that the state asks us to report is our use of pesticides. Not all the times that we decided not to treat with a pill. Right. And I'm not sure if there's like a tie through on the medical side, but it is really fascinating, right, that there's a lot of of actions that we can take that aren't prescriptive but can still have a big impact on the bottom line.
Kirti: [00:10:03] Yeah. And when you look at, I mean, we are a health plan for agriculture. And when you see the impact and we see the impact on claims and all that, we don't necessarily see an impact directly from pesticides, right. So it's contradictory to the point that if somebody from outside says, oh yeah, I'm sure your claims cost must be really high, because look at everything that happens in Ag. But it's because of this controlled use. And if there is something else to be done, let's do that first before doing this. But if you don't do this, then we will not be able to feed the nation and the world, right? Because then what happens to the food and that that's so we have to look at I think when you kind of people have these perceptions or people make these narratives in their head, right. You're looking at it from a very siloed problem, and you're not looking at the big picture. Like you said, it's such a complex system. You have to take all that into account, and you're making the right decision based on all the information you have at that point from the impact on human beings and stuff. So that's that's so true. But we all get so reactive. We all get, oh, I know my truth, and that's my truth. And I don't want to listen to something else. But that's the whole point of This is Ag!, right. Having these conversations and kind of understanding deeper down what's happening. But, you know, Ruth, and my curiosity and I usually go, the interesting part that I get excited about at United in Women Ag is to understand people's stories of why did you get into agriculture, who is Ruthann and why? Heading CAPCA.
Ruthann: [00:11:38] Yeah. So I have a really interesting like stumble into agriculture, but I think I've found a really great space to be in. I always tell people that agriculture is like family, and working for CAPCA has been so rewarding for me, but I come from kind of a fundraising background. I studied history and political science when I was in college, and I actually was working on a project with the prior fundraiser that worked with CAPCA as a consultant, and she introduced me to the CEO before me, and he was really just a great guy. But he initially didn't even want to interview me for the open position as an executive assistant at the time, because I needed health care. I actually worked part time at Starbucks, so I worked morning shifts so that I had my health care, and then I would work all kinds of random consulting jobs in fundraising, in kind of events, those types of things. And it was wonderful. I loved working for Starbucks and it was great for my healthcare. But he kind of looked at my resume and he was like, well, you're just a barista. I was like, well, do you even know the level of customer service that's required to sell a $5 cup of coffee? And he was like, you know, I never thought of it that way. So he called me in for an interview and basically handed me the job by the time I got out the door. And then a few years later, when he was ready to retire, the board actually approached me about considering, you know, taking his place.
Ruthann: [00:13:18] And I kind of laughed at first and thought, oh, you know, that's funny. But somebody had, you know, kind of a true moment with me where they were like, you know, the executive assistant is kind of running the organization right beside their boss. In a lot of ways it made sense. So I applied and the board took a, I guess, a chance on me. Yeah. And it's really been kind of a great journey. Right. CAPCA continues to evolve. The license continues to evolve. The state continues to evolve. Our regulatory and policy priorities continue to evolve. But, you know, for me, so much of what CAPCA was brought together, as was a grassroots organization to ensure that PCAs had a voice here in Sacramento and that their license would continue on even if they didn't have the chance to be in Sacramento to share what was going on. And our current chairman, Matt Bristow, he's down in the Desert Valleys area and always remarks, you know, having CAPCA allows me to continue to do my job and stay in the field, stay in the dirt. And for you and the team, the CAPCA staff, to really be able to represent the professional PCA in all the matters that we have. And, you know, it frees up people's time, right? Like that's why we've had associations. That's why associations continue to flourish, even here in California is those common values, those common goals, and being able to have representation when it matters.
Kirti: [00:14:54] That is interesting. I didn't know your story. That's pretty cool. That's a great story. So is there anything that as you transition. So you've been nine years into this position. So this is not new to you. You've been in this position and has done really, really great things under your leadership. So exciting to see that. So anything that came in as a surprise to you when you came in from a different industry and you came into this and like, was that something that you had a certain way of thinking and like, oh, hold on. This changed my perspective about things.
Ruthann: [00:15:27] I, I would say I didn't have anything surprising in terms of like changing my perspective on things. I think that there are moments where I continue to be surprised by policy decisions or kind of implementation, that when you're going through either legislative or regulatory comment process, you kind of assume one thing or you feel like we're going one way, and then when it comes to implementation and enforcement, it's completely different. And one of the things that I've always tried to catch is like the things that either are being missed or the things that maybe are important but aren't raising to the level of importance. So like Bee Aware is a great example, a program, a compliance rule that was actually voted in in the 80s and nobody had ever really taken the time to build a structure to enforce it. So certain counties were kind of enforcing it and other counties weren't. And as we care about pollinator health, CAPCA kind of took on and spearheaded building out with the ag commissioners, the Bee Aware program and ensuring that this regulation could come to life as a statewide enforcement tool, but also that it was built in a way that would still fit into the workflow for our applicators, and it didn't become overly burdensome to be able to comply.
Kirti: [00:17:02] So can you tell a little bit. So for somebody else, somebody outside who's all this is so new to them, what is that program and what do you do with that.
Ruthann: [00:17:11] Yeah. So I'll step back for just a moment and say, I think that there's a misperception that agriculture doesn't care about bees, that we kill bees every year. But I actually think that the reality is that we care about bees and we care about them because they are part of the family, right? We have millions of bees that are trucked into the state of California every year to support almond bloom, to support some of our seed crops. And the law on the books was that beekeepers were required to register their locations, and that applicators were supposed to access those locations to provide an alert to those beekeepers whenever they applied something that could be hazardous to that bee.
Kirti: [00:18:00] The bees. Okay.
Ruthann: [00:18:01] And what we saw for years was there wasn't a good compliance mechanism. So the communication between the beekeepers and the pesticide applicators broke down. Right. And that always results in a lot of finger pointing and unfortunately some dead bees. And we didn't want that. Right. And so for us we went back to the law. Right. We went back to, to the original and said, well, what could we build that would help us better comply? And so we worked together with the commissioners and really focused on how to build something that would solve the problem. Right. And allow us to tell this great story of how we really are trying to protect the bees. But we need all the sides to come together for great communication in the middle.
Kirti: [00:18:48] That's so from a CAPCA standpoint, the value proposition that I see is, I mean, it's bee is one example, but I'm pretty sure in agriculture they're more like that. Right? So you're saying kind of like a collaboration. So you have your PCAs or the pesticide applicators and you have your bees, and it's working together for the betterment of everybody involved, the bees and the Ag and your product and all that. So that impacts better instead of just kind of saying, okay, you know what? This is what's happening. But again, going back understanding what the deeper issue is, what the deeper problem is, and solving for that versus solving for what seems like a superficial right. I mean, oh yeah, you're killing bees and let's not do this, but let's go deep and find out is what I heard you say. That's what you do. Yeah.
Ruthann: [00:19:38] Yeah. And I think for me, I know you have a lot of commodity groups that are part of your organization. I get this really unique view where PCAs are part of every commodity or part of so many different things. And so I get to like flex this muscle that I really enjoy, which is building collaboration and community. Right. There's this great African proverb where they say, if you want to go quickly, go alone. And I kind of go the opposite, right? I can't always go quickly, but I can bring everyone together so that they're shared by in. And there's a perspective where we can all work the problem together and hopefully share in the success of the solution.
Kirti: [00:20:25] So at the end of the day, or when it's all said and done, when you're done. Looks like this is what brings you fulfillment that you solve based on. Building that community, solving it together is that I saw you, like lit up by. When you're explaining that.
Ruthann: [00:20:39] No, I think it's one of my drivers. And I think it's why I've been so successful with CAPCA is because I haven't felt stuck in one community or another, but I've been able to bridge across just so many different groups of people, and I'm a natural connector. So somebody will call me and they'll be like, what is? What is this like? Who has this information? Or like, how would I get to this? And I'm like, oh, I know exactly who you should talk to. And so being able to build those connections I think has benefited CAPCA. Right. Because now we have a really big network and we get to solve things and look to our network when we need help, right? We can't do everything on our own. And so yeah, I think for me it's always been a it's going to slow us down. But if we build the community and the network, we actually can go further than we might have been able to go alone.
Kirti: [00:21:39] And it's like a short term versus your long term thinking, right. So you might get short term wins by taking the shorter like option. But what takes a longer option is going to result in long term benefits. I mean, that's that's kind of my mindset even at United AG, when, you know, when you look at other claims and what the way we do it. Right. There are some easy ways of kind of growing and solving this, but you want. So when you're looking at it and putting, okay, how does this impact a human being who's using this healthcare? What do we need to do with that? Right. And when you start thinking from that perspective, when you're thinking appeals and all that, it's easy. Thing is like, no, no, no, you control cost. But then when you take the harder route, it's harder. But I feel long term that's more sustainable than like the short term thinking. And sometimes I do see that even the healthcare industry, such a short term thinking where you're making like, I don't know if promises are made, whatever it's but it's a short term thing. And what are you creating from a long term sustainability? And I hear you say that that maybe that's the reason I know the team has the last couple months or years they've been connected with CAPCA and people have been excited. So I see where that excitement comes from because very, very aligned to the way we think too. So super excited with that.
Ruthann: [00:23:00] No, we're so excited. And you know, I've talked with your team about this and I'll just share for us one of the priorities of the state of California, if you read the Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap, is to see more and more independent PCAs represented. And while we think that that's an interesting approach, we know that not all good PCAs can also run their own business by themselves. And I look at United AG as a really great resource for those who do want to be independent PCAs, to be able to not neglect their health or their health care opportunities if they did choose to become an independent PCA. And so we're really looking forward to making sure that especially those independent PCAs that are part of CAPCA, that they can kind of see the opportunity to re-access great health care for them, their small team, their family and be part of this larger network of United Ag.
Kirti: [00:24:04] Yeah, yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited to see where this takes us. So super excited. Is there anything that I missed asking? Is there anything That you would like to share or even ask me.
Ruthann: [00:24:16] I just wanted to know, like what drives United Ag in the expansion? Like, I'm so excited for the new states you guys are taking on. I think that it's going to open up a lot more possibilities. I'm excited. I saw some new clinics that are opening and I'm just I'm curious as we dive in and look more to engaging with you. Like, what does that mean to you personally to be able to grow?
Kirti: [00:24:42] So for me, I'll tell you why from my personal standpoint. And that kind of connects with United Ag. So my thing when I'm looking at it right, what when it's all said and done, when we're all done, am I going to be proud or feel satisfied? I've led a good life at United Ag, right? That's where my starting point is. And there is so much in the healthcare side of things that is convoluted and a lot of like, it's so hard, even for somebody who is in this industry to sometimes understand what needs to be done. How do you make that simpler? And when you look at, like you talked about the growers and our ag industry is such a low margin business, how I mean, you cannot sustain the year after year increases. So sometimes when some of the people like we think of it from a health plan, we'll say, oh, but that was a decent renewal, right? It's 8%. What's the big deal? 8% or 8% or even 5%, compounded year after year becomes a big number on the income statement. How can you sustain that? Right. So that's where I like to experiment. I like to experiment with how does this impact if you and I have something going on, how would you and I like to be treated? So looking at that from different perspective of service reps, kind of building that trusting relationship with everybody involved, very similar to the way you kind of handle the Bee issue.
Kirti: [00:26:09] How do we collaborate across the board and bring truly bring the health of healthcare down? I mean, it's easy to say it's not my problem. It's an employer problem. It's not my problem. It's this problem. And you push kind of the cost to somebody else and you say, oh yeah, look, United is doing great, but you've pushed the cost down somewhere, either upwards or downwards, but without pushing the cost that way. How do you truly bring the cost of care down? Is what my passion and what I want to think about. And just bringing back that empathy, right. Which is so lost. Understanding each other, understanding, thinking of us as humans and not as numbers. I mean, it's like a thinking beyond that that energizes me big time and that gets me excited in the clinics and stuff. It's like zero. You walk into a UnitedAg clinic, zero co-pay, nothing deductible. My goal is to expand on that because that is such a great access to care at zero cost to our membership. And how awesome would that is? That would be right. So we are opening a few other clinics.
Kirti: [00:27:15] You'll see more of those coming up, but we are excited to do that because what I realized in the last couple, especially in the last couple of weeks and months, that I've been really, really involved in the sales side of things, is the need for care in some of the regions that we are in. From agriculture, there are no providers. People have to drive for hours to get access to a provider. And I know it's a little bit counterintuitive when you look at it from a health plan like, oh, that adds to your cost, right? But if somebody doesn't have access to a provider and we provide that access to a provider and we take the cost on, so be it, right? Because we are helping people in that underserved areas get the care that they need. And that's all. Beyond that is everything else seems a little bit. I was going to say business, but it just feels like everything else feels like, um. Things you, I don't know, like, feels like more like a business thing. More I feel like. United Ag is more than that to me. Every day I actually get energized at the end of the day. So when the day is going crazy, people say, how do you do all this? But you know, the reason behind this is at the end of the day, if the things that you do energizes you, gets you excited.
Kirti: [00:28:27] So for me, UnitedAg is not a job. United Ag is not, um, I'm running this association or this health plan. And then everybody at United shared that. So it's not just me. If you talk to Jason and ask his story. Jason will have exactly similar story. You talk to Sachin. Sachin will have a similar story. So each one of us, Donna Bares everybody who comes in. We all have our stories which are so aligned. Right? So what? My goal is aligned to what United Ag is, and each one of us have exactly the same thing. So if any one of us would be sitting here, they would tell the same thing. So just yesterday we were in a meeting and somebody was saying, oh my God, I have this going on, that going on. But the we were solving for something and everybody said, oh, we have to just do it. I know this has five other things I have to do, but you have to do it because each and every one at United Ag, we feel like we are owners. We don't feel like we're working for someone, we're all working for ourselves. So that's pretty cool.
Ruthann: [00:29:25] That's exciting when the whole ag community. Right. I love hearing that you're being strategic about where those clinics are to make affordable. Sounds like free in some ways, healthcare available to people right, in the communities that they live in. And, I mean, I have two little boys and so fortunate to live nearby clinics and hospitals and all those things. But I can't imagine as a mom not being able to access something nearby if there was an emergency or an accident, and so that just.
Kirti: [00:30:01] And driving 40 miles an hour and you have a sick kid with you. And it's just not. I mean, so I don't look at it, maybe it feels sometimes it feels that when decisions are made, some people make decisions based on how does that help me grow? How does that bring in the revenue or contributions and stuff like that? I don't rightly or I don't know if it's a right or wrong thing to do, but I'm looking at it as more how do we increase access to care where there's no care? Right. Well, I mean, some of those other growth in things will happen, but let's do right by the members, let's do right by the ag industry, and it will have an impact. But let's not focus on that first and then make a decision. Why don't we focus the other way around and see what happens. So that's kind of sometimes I think it's as a CEO you feel like, what is this lady talking about? Empathy, human blah blah blah. So it seems like blah blah blah, right? But I think that's I feel like I want to change the conversation around how healthcare should be given to and show that United Ag is successful, and this is how it should be done. So that would be fun. At the end.
Ruthann: [00:31:10] I, I love it and we are here for it. I'm so excited this winter for us to be able to really dive in and make sure that our members are well introduced to the United Ag team, because there are so many benefits that our members just receive by us being part of United Ag, and then there's additional opportunities for them.
Kirti: [00:31:32] Yeah, excited for that. We have a conference coming up. Right. Don't you have a conference coming up next week? Is it.
Ruthann: [00:31:37] We just had it.
Kirti: [00:31:38] Oh, you just had it.
Ruthann: [00:31:39] Your team was there, and then your team is working on some really great pieces to go out. Yeah. So we're.
Kirti: [00:31:46] That's right. Marcos and the others were there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. You're right.
Ruthann: [00:31:50] Yeah. No, it was wonderful. And we just really enjoyed you guys sponsored our recharge station so people could come and recharge with you and do a little stretch session and, and engage with your team. And then they could also charge up their phones. So it was quite the popular spot. Nice.
Kirti: [00:32:08] Yeah. Nice, nice. So this was awesome Ruth. And I'm so looking forward to what this partnership with take goes forward. And just your approach to how you solve for things by collaborating that that gets me excited. So I think we have great things ahead of us. So excited to partner with you.
Ruthann: [00:32:28] I love it. We'll see what what is to come. Hopefully the next time I'm on the podcast we get to talk about a great project we're even working on together.
Kirti: [00:32:36] Yes, that'll be exciting. So thank you so much for making the time to talk to me. This was awesome.
Ruthann: [00:32:40] Thank you. We'll see you again soon.