AG WORLD SUPPORT SYSTEMS WAS BUILT ON AN ABIDING, GENERATIONS-DEEP LOVE OF POTATOES.

Founder Warren Henninger grew up on a potato farm in Pennsylvania, with parents who farmed the land and passed down a foundation of faith and integrity to their children. His father, who spent his own childhood on a hundred-acre potato farm, taught Warren everything he knew of the industry. Warren learned to cultivate crops, manage costs, run a tractor, and judge the quality of potatoes. And as he did this, his interest in potatoes grew. Although each of his five siblings helped out on the farm, Warren said, “Well, none of them were as crazy as I was about potatoes.” He alone wanted to make potato farming his life’s work.

Yet his parents didn’t believe there was a positive future in potato farming in Pennsylvania. The industry was growing, but in the West, where the introduction of irrigation had changed the game. Once the region had a reliable source of good water for the crop, its long sunny days and cool nights offered an ideal growing environment that resulted in consistently higher yields and higher quality with lower per-hundred-weight (cwt) cost. With less predictable weather conditions and higher costs, it was challenging for the East to compete.

OR MAYBE SOMETHING ELSE.

At the time, all potato plant inspections in the US and Canada were being performed by either governmental agencies or the processors themselves. Warren had long been aware of how often these services didn’t best meet the needs of the industry. When he first considered this problem years earlier, Warren wondered if there was an opportunity to start a private, third-party inspection company that provided unbiased service to both processors and farmers. The idea intrigued him, but he hadn’t found the right partner to work with and didn’t want to do it alone. Faced with the loss of his position in Moses Lake, Warren reconsidered these unmet needs, and wondered, again with much prayer, if his next step was to create a solution.

At age fifty-one, Warren was reluctant to put his retirement on the line and embark on an unpredictable journey to start his own company. But as he and Judy sat with the idea and continued to pray over it, they felt God calling them in that very direction.  

In June 1997, Ag World Support Systems was born.

Warren and his son Craig, home for the summer after his sophomore year studying business, began visiting potato farmers in the Columbia Basin. Their goal was to see if these growers would support a private, third-party inspection provider. Met with encouragement, Warren continued to move forward and with the help of Craig, he wrote a business plan and structure for the newly founded Company.

Warren and Judy were committed to working together to make Ag World a success. Since Warren was knowledgeable in potatoes but not starting a business, they formed an advisory council to coach them on the unfamiliar aspects of their new venture. The council included Lynal Root, a Vice President at the McDonald’s Corporation; Dick Hughes, an entrepreneur who did startup work in the US and internationally; Ivan McFarland, a management and financial expert; Larry Young, a potato farmer; and Ed Baroch, a local educator. Warren and Judy also enlisted Darrold and Joan McGee and Ralph and Louise Fleming as four “prayer warriors” who provided vital spiritual support.  

When Ag World Support Systems signed their first big contract, with a Simplot potato processing plant, they secured a line of credit using their home as collateral. This allowed them to grow their team and get operations up and running. They were then able to bring in others who caught their long-term vision to be the leader in third-party potato inspections worldwide. As a milestone in getting there, Warren had a year-one goal to service all the potato processing plants in the Columbia Basin. It was a wild ambition, and he now realizes achieving it would have been too much too fast. They couldn’t have managed all the plants at that point. Instead, doors opened at just the right times when the Company was ready to go through them.

THE STORY CONTINUES.

Through Warren, Judy, and Bryan’s guidance and direction, Ag World Support Systems is now a leader in potato inspection services in the US and Canada while also providing consulting in China. Warren unexpectedly passed away in May 2020, leaving a gaping hole in the Ag World family and the potato industry. His heart and knowledge carry on through Judy and Bryan’s leadership and the whole team. The Company has and will continue to change the landscape of the industry and continues to grow globally.

As it has grown, Ag World has been deeply shaped and defined by its core values: to honor God, do it right, do it now, and serve. These values are woven tightly into everything the Company does.

In fact, an essential part of Ag World’s commitment to service can now be seen through the Ag World Golf Classic, an annual golf tournament benefitting the Ronald McDonald House Charities Inland Northwest. The event was first held in 2013 and has grown each year since. In addition to raising more than $638,000 for the Ronald McDonald House, the tournament brings together processors and growers, building relationships across the industry. The Golf Classic was a vital part of Warren’s vision for the Company, a vision of giving back that is at the heart of Ag World.

Along with its values and vision, it has been the people who have set Ag World apart. Without the focused inspectors who grade each potato and the loyal management team that pass down the culture, the Company wouldn’t be where it is today. Each team member is valued as part of the Ag World family.

In the Company’s early days, those in the industry often referred to Ag World simply as “Warren’s company,” but Warren was quick to correct them. Both he and Judy have never felt this Company or journey to be about them. The Ag World story belongs to everyone who plays a part in its success. And most of all, the Ag World story is God’s story. It’s a story of surrendering to life’s inevitable challenges and gifts and allowing His work to be done. 

Ag World Support Systems continues to expand and grow. Regardless of how the Company evolves over time, it will always possess the same fundamental DNA. It will always honor God, remain committed to quality, serve people, and give back. It will always live out its core values. And of course, it will always remain true to its love of potatoes—and carry on the legacy of its beloved Founder Warren Henninger.