What happens when you quit selling and start marketing seed?

Don't know the difference? Listen to Don Harbert.

“When we really started focusing on our seed business, income jumped five-fold in five years,” says Harbert, agronomy manager at Farmers Elevator Company, Doon, IA. He and seven agronomists cover a broad geography of northwestern Iowa and southeastern South Dakota. The co-op has a 60-year history as a storefront seed dealer.

What's he mean by focus? “Pick one or two brands you can really believe in. We market NK and Croplan Genetics seed over a wide geographic area, and we think we do a good job. But none of our agronomists is good enough to handle seven or eight different brands,” Harbert says. Focus, he adds, also means aggressive selling strategies that capture an entire farm account, including seed, chemicals, fertilizer, custom application and financing.

Simple bundling of seed and herbicides about five years ago was their first step to targeted marketing. “Almost immediately we saw we were creating a better agronomic and economic package for the grower because we were focusing on his two key objectives: clean fields and high yields,” Harbert recalls.

Technology has created a critical need to replace dwindling chemical income, and so seed marketing now follows the calendar. Selling for the next season starts in August, when the agronomists start making farm calls. At harvest, they tabulate about 350 weigh-wagon checks, compiling data for a yield book and contest. A grower meeting is also held in August at the co-op's 22-acre agronomy demonstration “megaplot.” After data is compiled, first- and second-place yield champs are honored at four regional grower meetings. Technology-related prizes, rather than trips or premiums, promote co-op services such as grid sampling or variable-rate application.

The co-op's investment to print and distribute 500 yield books comes back in credibility, Harbert says. “We keep track of all of our customers' varieties, whether ours or competitive brands. While our numbers don't always top their categories, it gives farmers a chance to make their own evaluations.”

Grower meetings are informational, not sales oriented: Why do genetic types perform a certain way? Why was the season abnormally bad for stalk lodging, or why do certain herbicides affect yield potential? Sessions are limited to 1.5 hrs. and no outside supplier reps are invited. “We do our own PowerPoint presentations and keep the whole thing very professional and local,” he adds.

Co-op agronomists reserve a special marketing initiative called “Total Farm Solutions” for large-acre professional farmers. The written plan presents a detailed analysis of soil types, topography and other agronomic conditions to support recommendations for fertilizer, herbicides, seed and precision farming applications. “In most cases, this is an eye-opening, first-time experience for them to deal with a supplier who knows their entire farm that well. It has been an important strategy for growing our business,” Harbert says.

Credit is another essential piece of the seed marketing package. To stay competitive, Harbert's firm offers below-prime interest rates, along with traditional early-order and other incentive discounts. “We channel credit through the Cooperative Credit Company, which gives us the flexibility to write our own plan rather than getting tied up with supplier financing programs,” he explains.
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