Face Behind the Fertilizer: Allen Lange

Not many kids spend their fifth-grade summer as a full-time tractor driver. But growing up on the family farm in Conway Springs, Kansas, that’s exactly what Allen Lange did. While his peers spent most of their summer break kicking up dust on the baseball field, he spent a good portion of his days in the crop fields with only the tractor’s FM radio to keep him company.

Working on the farm didn’t keep Allen from playing baseball, but it did make things more interesting. More than once, he was picked up in the field and had to change into his uniform in the backseat of the car on the way to a rec league game.

“Growing up, ag was all around me,” Allen said. “My parents both grew up in agriculture and business and it was often the subject of conversation around the house. And if we weren’t participating in a sports, music or school club activity, then it was expected that my siblings and I were helping run the family farming business.”

The Lange family farm can be traced back to 1879, when Allen’s great-great-grandfather homesteaded the area where his family still lives and farms. As a fifth-generation farmer, he grew up in an environment that placed a high value on appreciation of the family legacy.

“Our family has been in this area for a long time and maintaining this legacy is something that’s important to all of us because it’s a shared responsibility,” Allen said. “It was built on values that still guide us today — hard work, integrity and commitment to our community.”

A scholarship dinner during his junior year at Kansas State University is what started cultivating Allen’s career path with Koch. His advisor recommended he seek out a former advisee at an upcoming career fair who now worked at Koch Fertilizer. Allen connected with him and eventually secured a summer internship in 2012. From day one, he knew the Koch culture was something he wanted to be a part of.

“A true passion for agriculture is where it started,” Allen said. “But one of the strongest selling points made to me during my internship — which still rings true today — is the way we’re able to explore career opportunities at Koch that align with our comparative advantages, the things we excel at and enjoy doing.”

After his internship, Allen held various roles in the market analyst group and logistics group before joining the North American sales team in 2015 covering Nebraska and South Dakota, a position he held for nearly a decade.

Perhaps the responsibility of handling extremely large and expensive machinery at a young age on his family’s farm played a part in preparing him, but reflecting on it now Allen is still amazed he was trusted with managing one of the company’s key assets so early on in his career.

“I was 24 years old when I took over commercial responsibility for one of our five North American production plants,” Allen said. “Looking back now it seems a little crazy, but I’m still here 10 years later so I guess I haven’t messed things up too bad!”

In the spring of 2024, Allen became northern plains sales director. He’s now responsible for a five-state area and spends most of his day working with people, both inside and outside the company.

“One of the most fulfilling parts of my role is interacting with different people and building relationships,” Allen said.

He jokingly added: “Maybe I’m just making up for all the lost time during my childhood I spent in isolation out on the tractor with no cellphone!”

From Allen’s perspective, the payoff for relationship building and creating mutual benefit is well worth the effort and strategic challenges that come along with it. He equates it to playing a daily game of chess.

“We’re always trying to anticipate the next three moves of our customers and competitors and our job is to ensure we’re properly positioned in the marketplace,” Allen said. “On those days when you strike the right balance between meeting our customers’ needs and also benefiting our company, the feeling is unmatched.”

When he considers his own personal and career growth, he’s quick to point out that success doesn’t happen overnight. Rather, it’s daily decisions that add up over time.

“You don’t decide your future,” Allen said. “You decide your habits, and your habits decide your future. It’s a culmination of incremental growth that happens every day.

Whether it’s a learning opportunity I’m trying to instill in my children or a chance to mentor a coworker, I try to lead by example and provide consistency in my daily habits.”

For Allen, one of those habits is continuing to be involved in the family farming operation. Although he works in Wichita, Kansas, he’s still a “weekend warrior,” helping out during busy periods. His three young children — the sixth generation — are also starting to accompany him to the farm.

The thought of his kids playing a part in carrying on the family legacy reminds Allen of one of his favorite quotes.

“Fred Koch once wrote to Charles Koch, ‘I should regret very much to have you miss the glorious feeling of accomplishment and I know you are not going to let me down.’

This is the type of results-driven mindset that I would like to pass down to my sons,” Allen said. “Being a family business gives us a long-term perspective, similar to how we think at Koch. We aren’t chasing short-term wins — we’re thinking about what we’re leaving for the next generation.”

It won’t be long before Allen’s boys take their turn on the tractor, too.