Sharp minds, sharp blades: OSU students combine tradition and innovation
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Media Contact: Sophia Fahleson | Digital Communications Specialist | 405-744-7063 | sophia.fahleson@okstate.edu
In agriculture, tradition and innovation are words not often heard together. But Oklahoma State University students Landon Sechrist, agribusiness senior, and James Perdue, aerospace administration and operations senior, set out to change that.
The pair developed AgriBlades in the fall of 2024.
Through AgriBlades, they sell blades and bearings used in farm equipment and offer installation at the customer’s farm.
“We both grew up on farms in rural Oklahoma, are both members of Alpha Gamma Rho, and met there,” said Sechrist, co-owner. “We quickly became friends and have similar interests.”
Sechrist grew up in Mountain View, Oklahoma, where his parents own and operate an animal compounding pharmacy, have a cow-calf operation, and run stocker cattle. He has attended farm shows and other expos across the country with his family, crediting his experience to how he learned to interact with customers, he said.
Perdue was raised on a cattle and row crop farm in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His family owns a cow-calf operation, runs stocker cattle, and harvests a variety of crops. Perdue’s roots in agriculture run deep, he said, and he is involved in each aspect of his family’s operation.
“We didn’t set out to start a business,” said Perdue, co-owner. “We just saw a need and figured we could fill it. We work on discs, planters, and vertical tillage implements, and we sell blades and bearings. Then, we come and put them on — the full package. Not many people want to do that anymore, and we saw a need.”
The pair has dreamed of owning their own business to be involved in agriculture and helping people, especially farmers, Perdue said.
“My dad and other farmers were always asking who could do this work for them,” Perdue said. “That’s when we realized, ‘Why not us?’”
The pair began planning their business, looking for farm shows to attend, and finding customers, Sechrist said.
At this point, Perdue and Sechrist realized they needed marketing materials, so they looked to Elizabeth Perdue, James Perdue’s sister, who is an agricultural communications master’s student.
“I remember sitting in the kitchen over Christmas break, watching them write ideas in a notebook,” Elizabeth Perdue said. “That’s when AgriBlades really started.”
At first, potential customers did not know what “AgriBlades” meant, Elizabeth Perdue said.
When designing their brand and marketing materials, she had to ensure potential customers understood the value right away through all printed materials, social media, and other marketing avenues, she added.
“They had the idea, the skills and the drive,” Elizabeth Perdue said. “They just needed a brand to match.”
With marketing materials and a game plan in hand, James Perdue and Sechrist began looking for clients, James Perdue said.
“The connections we’ve made at OSU have been life-changing,” Sechrist said.
Success in the agricultural industry relies on knowledge and connections, Sechrist said. OSU brought him together with Perdue and allowed him to work in the industry, he added.
“From business advice to industry connections, OSU gave us the tools we needed to take this idea seriously,” James Perdue said.
According to a study by Business Dasher, an online business resources hub, the U.S. has 33.2 million small businesses and 15.9% of small business owners are under 35 years old.
“It’s a little scary at first, just the two of us figuring everything out,” Sechrist said. “But, we’ve learned how to problem-solve on our own.”
When you are young, some people don’t take you seriously at first, James Perdue said, but once they see the work, that changes.
“People buy when they’re going to gain more than they give,” said Kim Anderson, agricultural economics emeriti professor who taught Sechrist in a junior-level agricultural sales and marketing course.
This mindset helped Sechrist and James Perdue prioritize providing value to their customers, said Anderson, who taught the course for 24 years.
Finding customers and attending farm shows while building a consistent schedule can be a struggle, Elizabeth Perdue said, but Sechrist and James Perdue have handled it well.
The AgriBlades duo attended their first farm show, KNID Agrifest, in January 2025 in Enid, Oklahoma.
“Our first farm show was huge,” Sechrist said. “Handing out business cards and talking to people made us realize this business could really grow.
“Farming is already expensive,” Sechrist said. “If we can save farmers money and time, why wouldn’t we?”
Sechrist and James Perdue work to keep their prices affordable, James Perdue said. Their goal is to sell blades and bearings for a lower price than farmers can purchase them anywhere else and then install them in a timely manner, he said.
Sechrist and Perdue are dedicated to do the job right and take care of their customers, said Trae Hooper, AgriBlades customer.
Hooper’s son and Sechrist grew up together in Mountain View, Hooper said. Sechrist told Hooper about AgriBlades, and Hooper had a 24-foot John Deere disc that needed new blades, he said.
“AgriBlades was able to give a more affordable quote on blades and was there a few days later to install them,” Hooper said.
They arrived at Hooper’s shop and began working, Hooper said. By the end of the day, the pair had replaced the blades, and the disc was ready to go, he said.
“The pair showed up at the farm on time, had great equipment, and got the job done in a day,” Hooper said. “That’s hard to beat.”
Sechrist and James Perdue are both hard workers and were motivated to do the job the right way, Hooper said.
“It’s not what or who you know — it’s who knows you,” Anderson said.
Anderson’s goal was to teach students to address people’s needs in a way that makes them feel the solution was their own idea, he said.
“I always told my mom I didn’t want to work for anybody,” Sechrist said. “My parents worked for themselves. They worked really hard and lots of hours, but they could take off and we could go on a family trip.
“When you own your own business, you may work harder than other people, but you can do what you want to do,” Sechrist added.
Sechrist said the co-owners’ goal is for both to work full-time with AgriBlades, expand their workload, and eventually hire employees.
“Starting this business has taught us resilience,” Sechrist said. “When things don’t go right, we figure it out and keep going.”
James Perdue encourages others to take action when they see a need, he said, emphasizing that a person does not have to have everything figured out. The important part is to simply get started.
“We’re not just selling a product,” James Perdue said. “We're making life easier for farmers, and that’s what matters.”
Story by Taylor Kelner | Cowboy Journal