AmericanCowman.com: Timely, practical production and management strategies that will add efficiency, value, and profitability to cattle herds with up to 100 head.
URBANIZATION HAS contributed to the demise of some ag retail operations. But for retailers able to adapt to the changing landscape, it has opened new marketing opportunities.
The USDA Economic Research Service reports, “As farmland is put to different farming uses, a shift in input suppliers may result. Suppliers providing goods and services to more traditional farming operations may fail or relocate to more rural areas, replaced by suppliers whose products are suited to the new ‘specialty’ enterprises.”
Some 25 years ago, Growmark saw the shift coming and looked for ways to diversify, says Bruce Bertsche, who oversees the non-agronomic businesses of Evergreen FS, Bloomington, IL, a Growmark member company. Bertsche is responsible for the company's Farmtown business, which sells and services outdoor power equipment and runs a retail fuel business. He also oversees FS Custom Turf, a professional lawn-care service, as well as the company's consumer lawn and garden business and a storage rental business.
Evergreen FS serves the greater Bloomington-Normal area, McLean County and parts of neighboring Woodford and Livingston Counties. The Evergreen FS agronomic business also serves this tri-county area. Bloomington-Normal has a population of about 100,000.
The concept of FS Farmtown began in the late 1970s as Growmark saw urban development expand around Bloomington and other areas, Bertsche says. Evergreen FS added the professional lawn service in 1984.
“The lawn-care business was one of the fastest growing industries at the time, and it still is,” Bertsche says. “At that time, a person who owned a lawn-care company bought product from us. He eventually began working through us and then we bought his business.”
Evergreen FS gradually added personnel and increased its customer base from 100 to 2,000 clients. Clients now include homeowners, as well as commercial customers (for example, business parks and city parks), schools and universities.
Lawn care is compatible with the agronomic business, but it should not be entered into lightly, Bertsche says. He recommends that dealers interested in this business do their research first. “We know the larger landscape companies,” he says. “We're in constant contact with them during the season and meet with them one-on-one in the winter as well.
“Make sure you have qualified and trained people to do the service,” Bertsche adds. Evergreen FS has a certified custom turf manager who has received certification through Growmark's professional turf program. The company also has a certified arborist who knows about insect and disease problems in trees and shrubs.
“Big-box” stores
Having knowledgeable people on board is essential because it distinguishes one's business from “big-box” stores, such as Home Depot, Lowe's and Wal-Mart. “We sell our reputation and ability to offer expertise and service,” Bertsche says. Independent retailers in the lawn and garden business need to remember there are many other places consumers can buy product, he adds.
Independent retailers also can be competitive by offering exclusive products. Evergreen FS, for example, offers the FS GreenYard brand of seed and fertilizers. There are 10 different GreenYard blends to fit a variety of situations and needs. The brand also includes 55 different fertilizer blends, from straight materials to weed-and-feed blends.
The Illinois retailer also sells and services Simplicity, Snapper and Echo outdoor power equipment lines, which are not sold in the big-box stores.
Bertsche stresses that if you are looking at new markets, look for something that complements your existing business. In addition to lawn care, Evergreen FS found a niche in the energy business. “We became the primary fuel supplier in our area for construction equipment,” he says. Evergreen FS essentially devotes a driver and truck to go to construction sites (road, commercial and resident construction) and fill equipment with fuel. Bertsche states, “We saw an opportunity that no one else was doing at the time.”
Times change
Like Growmark, Southern States Cooperative has seen a shift in customer demographics. The customer base of Southern States Carrboro Service, Carrboro, NC, for example, has shifted from one of primarily dairy farmers to one of urban homeowners and professional landscape contractors.
Rodney White, manager of Southern States Carrboro, has photos in his office that illustrate the change. A photo of the business from decades ago features spreader tanks and bulk lime. Today there stands a thriving lawn and garden business with displays of grass seed, fertilizer, fancy bird feeders and wind chimes.
Southern States Carrboro, the largest nursery in the Southern States network, serves the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area, as well as some of Durham, Hillsborough and Pittsboro.
Today, about 98% of the dealership's customers are considered urban. True farm customers make up only about 2% of its clientele, White says.
For retailers considering more urban markets, White has this advice: “Know and understand the needs of the customer you're going to market to.” It is important to have the right inventory on hand and be willing to do special orders, he says.
“When moving from farm to urban customers, be patient. You're dealing with a different mind-set,” White adds, explaining that some customers might not know exactly what they want. They will seek more advice. The time spent with customers will be different as will be the volume purchased, but margins will generally be higher with urban clientele, White says.
Marketing methods for urban customers also will be different. Urban consumers are accustomed to well-designed stores, for example. Southern States Carrboro has a 5,000-sq.-ft. showroom where it displays products on gondolas or stacked on bases. The store's diverse product mix includes pet food, bird food, grass seed, fertilizer, high-end bird feeders and wind chimes. “Most Southern States ag stores would not carry these items,” White says.
However, the Carrboro store gets a great deal of assistance from the Southern States corporate office, including advertising support. The Carrboro store's farm-supply items (for example, tools, lawn mowers, seed and feed) are frequently advertised in a company circular that is sent to some 33,000 area residents. The corporate office also handles some radio advertising and direct mail pieces for the store. Advertising is particularly important considering that the dealership has two big-box stores within a radius of eight miles.
Like Evergreen FS, the Carrboro dealership competes by promoting unique products and service. “We put a personal face on service,” White says. “Southern States' slogan is ‘Brands you trust. People who know.’” Personnel receive training, and the dealership also can call upon corporate agronomists.
The North Carolina dealership offers Stihl power equipment, which, to date, has been offered only through independent retailers in the area. It also offers certain chemicals that are used only by landscape contractors.
The professional markets
The Wilbur-Ellis dealership in Spokane Valley, WA, also has found success in the professional markets business. For the last 20 years, it has been serving this and several commercial markets. Non-ag customers include those in the lawn-care, greenhouse, nursery, golf, forestry, vegetation management, roadside, reclamation, hydro-seeding and range and pasture markets.
To serve these customers, the branch has four specialists who receive ongoing training in their respective industries. Three were hired for their skills and experience from industries outside of agriculture. The other specialist was a long-term employee who had covered several markets when the Wilbur-Ellis branch was still providing mostly agronomic services, explains Wayne Stewart, branch manager.
The Spokane Valley branch understands how a customer base can shift. “Twenty years ago, we were 95% wholesale ag,” Stewart says. “We sold to ag retailers who sold to farmers. We still have a little wholesale ag, but 80% of our branch business is now non-ag.”
The Spokane branch was a distribution hub, but the number of ag retailers started to decline. Some of those dealerships were offered for sale, and Wilbur-Ellis bought several of them, thereby shifting from wholesale ag to a retail ag business, Stewart explains.
The move left the Spokane distribution center with a limited customer base. Therefore, the branch had to be reinvented, and it moved quickly into the non-ag professional markets.
The Spokane Valley branch serves a large area. From north to south, it serves customers from the Canadian border to 300 miles south of Spokane. From east to west, its territory stretches 400 miles. Spokane Valley alone has a population of about 82,000. The rest of the company's service area has a population base of approximately 500,000.
Twenty years ago, the branch employed eight full-time people. Today, it has 16 full-time employees. “We've added personnel and trucks to serve the commercial business, and we now have more in-store people as well,” Stewart says, noting that the company's walk-in trade has increased by about a percentage point a year. Many of these customers tend to have 5- to 20-acre lots and are looking for advice, such as how to handle noxious weeds.
To properly service all of its market segments, the store stocks a wide variety of products. “We now carry 500 to 600 products versus 20 years ago, when we carried 30 to 40,” Stewart says.
The branch has been able to handle the challenges of inventory management and billing with a Wilbur-Ellis corporate computer system. Stewart stresses the big change in billing practices. “In the wholesale ag business, for example, we might have delivered to and invoiced a dealer for about 5 to 10 pallets. Now we must do many deliveries to achieve that same volume,” he says.
Like Bertsche and White, Stewart recommends that ag retailers pondering urban markets do their research. “You need to recognize the cost of committing to do this — the number of products you will need to have and the specialists who can sell them.” He adds, “You'll need to extract higher margins because overhead and product costs also will be higher.”
Ask the experts
Despite its challenges, these retailers are finding satisfaction in the non-ag business. One reason is that the business is varied. In the dryland ag market, one is generally dealing with just a few crops. By contrast, in the lawn-care business, the retailer may need to deal with up to 30 different species in just one landscape (different types of trees, shrubs and flowers, for example). “We can help solve problems with products that are safe for those varieties,” Stewart says. “Customers look to us to help manage information for them.”
Evergreen FS's Bertsche agrees that there is a lot to be said for being viewed as an expert. He says turnover at his company is very low because employees appreciate the opportunity to become specialists in a particular area and to get to know products inside and out.
Serving non-ag customers is not for everyone. Certainly, retailers in more rural areas are unlikely to feel the pressures of urbanization. But if they are losing market share, they may be forced to merge or find some new profit centers that complement their existing business. As Bruce Bertsche says, “Anything's feasible if you have market knowledge and the right personnel.”
Contract savvy
As more products with valuable output traits come out of the crop technology pipeline, so, too, should come new opportunities for ag retailers and growers.
Droplet size control
CONTROL OF spray droplet size is critical for minimizing the risk of drift, says Scott Bretthauer, University of Illinois Extension specialist in application
Tough pumps
THE NEW Diamond series 5500 roller pumps from Delavan Ag Pumps are made of a special alloy body and end plate to help them tolerate harsh agricultural
Court good customers
WHAT'S THE best way to keep good customers coming back and to attract new ones? Fix annoying problems The first step is to focus on frustrations, says
Compatible data for GPS/GIS
NEW SOFTWARE that allows automatic download of compatible data into major GPS/GIS software is now available from The Consulting Company of DeWitt, IA.
Recycling news
HOW-TO videos for rinsing and recycling and an order form for training materials are just a few of the many features on the Ag Container Recycling Council's
Tools of the trade
Growers have become more dependent on the tools of precision ag to manage their margins, and ag retailers that can help producers use the new technologies
Assessment tool
The Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association (IFCA) has a good tool to help ag retailers ensure that they are complying with regulatory requirements
Valued partners
In the last few years, distributors of crop inputs have seen their role evolve from warehouse and transportation managers to providers of information
A fresh approach
We need to look from the outside in to step back and reassess how we are conducting business, says retailer Tim Sanders of the DeLong Company, Clinton,
Swift action
Timing is the name of the game in treating Asian soybean rust. That message was sounded loud and clear by researchers and company executives at the recent
Be prepared
If the prospect of Asian soybean rust (ASR) hasn't already given you a scare, keeping track of the treatment options could add to the fright. A dozen
Environmental protectors
Agricultural businesses and individuals must project a positive image by promoting environmental stewardship of the crop protection industry to receive
Learning the lessons
When you've had the chance to visit with farmers, ag retailers, and farm managers for more than 30 years, there's one thing you learn right away about
Value and profits
Although retailers across the country specialize in helping growers produce a wide variety of crops from rice to soybeans to peppers, retailers have one
The "git 'r done" approach
Git 'r done. Anyone who has watched the Blue Collar Comedy Tour knows the phrase has been a good one for Larry the Cable Guy. It might be just as good
Computers don't get tired
The sole purpose of Tri-State LLC, located in Fairmount, ND, is to supply either raw or blended fertilizer for other retailers. For that reason, it has
Complaint control
UNCOOPERATIVE WEATHER patterns in much of the Corn Belt kept many ag retailers and applicators working overtime to keep pace with farmer demands this
Service-selling tips
WHEN SELLING to a customer, you must illustrate value, and to keep a customer, you must prove value over time, says John Wagner, president of AgRePlan
One up on Wal-Mart
AN IMPORTANT part of the success of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is attributed to its sophisticated inventory management systems. In the world
More E85 at the pump
CHS ANNOUNCES it will provide a Cenex-branded E85 fuel to 22 terminals in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and South
Low impact?
U.S. SOYBEAN producers, bombarded almost daily with reports of new discoveries of Asian soybean rust, may be wondering at what point new findings of the
3 ideas to help you keep customers
THESE DAYS it's extra challenging to satisfy and keep customers, says Nancy Friedman, president, Telephone Doctor, St. Louis, MO, an international customer
Complete systems
THE WORD may cause some ag retailers to cringe, but not Rod Miller, seed systems manager for Crop Fertility Specialists (CFS), Rossville, IN. Miller says
Wireless grain
COMMODITY Resource Corporation (CRC) based in Caledonia, NY, is one of a growing number of operations that are working to bring bulk commodity handling
Invaluable service
WHY SHOULD ag retailers sell services? The resulting customer interaction is invaluable and helps create long-term ties that are difficult for competitors
Dry run
IN 2005, agricultural retailers confronted grower fears, procured adequate fungicide supplies and developed plans for rapid application, all for a disease
Treat seeds for success
SINCE THE INTRODUCTION of genetically modified herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant traits in corn and soybeans, ag retailers have seen a huge shift
4 ideas for coping with ASR
WORK HARD to manage growers' expectations about Asian soybean rust (ASR), advises Duane Mol, chemical manager for Crop Production Services, Galesburg,
To expand or not to expand
EXPANSION THROUGH merger or acquisition has been taking place in the ag retail industry for some time now. Some mergers and acquisitions have gone relatively
Atrazine adjustments
FOR GROWERS concerned with using atrazine to control weeds on sensitive watersheds, management alternatives are plentiful, says Bill Johnson, Purdue University
Optimal application
NOT EVERY expert agrees on how best to boost a sprayer's effectiveness, but few would disagree that the ultimate objective of a crop protection application
Strip-till's profit boost
AG RETAIL businesses wanting to expand sales should investigate new ways to help current customers become more profitable, says Dan Towery, ag consultant,
Variable-rate review
GLOBAL POSITIONING systems (GPS) and variable-rate technology (VRT) have been available to ag retailers and their farmer-customers for more than a decade
Invaluable service
WHY SHOULD ag retailers sell services? The resulting customer interaction is invaluable and helps create long-term ties that are difficult for competitors
Natural disaster preparation
LAST YEAR'S hurricanes and flooding made many stop and think about what they would do if they, too, were hit by such a natural disaster. Not long after
Less chemistry, more biotechnology
BY NOW, it's no surprise to most agricultural retailers that few new herbicides are entering the corn and soybean marketplace. Because new product development
Cherry-picked software solutions
WHEN MIDLAND Co-op Inc. and Impact Cooperative Inc. became partners in 2002, the partnership, called Midland-Impact LLP, faced the challenge of integrating
State-of-the-art facility
SYNGENTA SEEDS recently celebrated renovations to its Phillips, NE, corn production facility. The $4.7 million project increases the plant's seed-conditioning
The adjuvant advantage
MORE THAN 4,000 adjuvants are on the market today to help improve a herbicide's performance. Bryan Young, associate professor of weed science at Southern
Ways to manage health-care costs
AS INSURANCE rates have risen over the last few years, ag retailers have looked for more cost-effective ways to offer high-quality benefits for their
Buying flexibility
A NEW 40,000-ton dry fertilizer plant standing alongside a unit-train spur in Alton, IA, has allowed its owners to largely avoid this winter's expensive
Old habits die hard
YOUR GROWERS' crop rotation has most likely changed over the years, but their lime applications may not reflect that change. Some Midwestern researchers
Looking to lenders
CROP INPUT financing programs have become as competitive as the products themselves, and all signs point to a continuation of this trend. The crop input
Tougher beans
STEVE HENRY, who farms near Nevada, IA, is trying to learn everything he can about Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS). However, he's frustrated with the lack
Scout for western bean cutworm
WESTERN BEAN cutworms (WBCs) have been a problem in the western Corn Belt since the 1940s and last year were discovered to have migrated further east
Too reliant on Roundup?
RYEGRASS AND marestail were the first two weeds to develop resistance to glyphosate, such as Roundup and Touchdown herbicides, but they won't likely be
Friends of the environment
THE DECISION to invest in new storage and handling facilities in the last few years has reaped rewards for Eastern Farmers Co-op and Farmers Elevator
First-class delivery
SPRAYER AIR technologies have been around for more than 20 years, but until recently, retailers and growers didn't use them much. That has changed, due
New mix for pop-ups
FMC CORPORATION has developed a new formulation of its Capture insecticide for corn that has better mixing properties than emulsifiable concentrates (EC)
Environmental edge
SOME AG retail businesses have found a lucrative new enterprise in an unlikely source: manure. Take the Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS), Sioux Center,
Memorable field days
FIELD DAY season rolls around again in just a few months. Farmers will attend, knowing they will more than likely get a good meal and a seed cap. But
Soybean rust Is this the year?
AT THIS time a year ago, retailers were scurrying to stock up on fungicides to quell panic among soybean growers about Asian soybean rust (ASR) and finalizing
Price predictions
THIS GROWING season there is good news about nitrogen fertilizer: It appears that prices for the fertilizer will fall in late spring and early summer
Grain storage spillover
LIKE MANY grain-handling businesses, Buckingham Cooperative, near Waterloo, IA, needed to react quickly last year to find enough storage space to accommodate
The Phosphorus Index
NEW EPA and USDA efforts to improve surface water quality throughout the nation emphasize keeping a close eye on phosphorus (P), says Antonio Mallarino,
Just-in-time fertilizer
THE TIME when fertilizer dealers will be able to reliably supply customers who want to book fertilizer just before they need it is coming to an end. Dealers,
Energy anxiety
AFTER HURRICANE Katrina battered the Gulf States in August of last year and inflated the nation's energy-related prices, some ag retailers were caught
Seed trackers
THE MANY new combinations of traits and seed-applied insecticides have quickly multiplied the number of seed choices available to growers. Although most
4 risks in buying fertilizer
PERHAPS THE biggest lesson learned by the agricultural supply industry in the past year is that the business environment is riskier than ever, especially
Nourishing the bottom line
Offering nutrient management services requires a fair amount of investment whether it be in additional staff, training, specific software or simply more
21 days and counting
It generally takes 21 days for a certain behavior to become a habit, says Colleen Francis, president of Engage Selling Solutions, a sales training company
Fall fertilizer forecast
Fertilizer Management has become more of a year-round responsibility than it used to be, says Gayle Melcher, manager of Clarinda Co-op Company, Clarinda,
Covering new ground
Venturing into new markets can have its ups and downs. Some ag retailers have successfully added lawn and garden or hobby farmer product lines, for example
New weapon in herbicide arsenal
THE INTRODUCTION of a new herbicide that can be used on rangeland, pastures, wildlife habitat areas and other non-cropland areas has sparked the interest
Shifting loyalties
I like orange juice in the morning as part of my breakfast ritual. What made me think about that was a study done at the University of California Berkeley
Marketing your services
PICK UP ANY marketing book and you'll find hundreds of ideas that you could use to market your services and products, but before deciding to implement
Design inspiration
AN EXCELLENT company Web site is much more than a billboard in cyberspace. Instead, it creates an inviting and easy-to-use environment where prospective
3 steps in creating a company brochure
WHEN YOU create a brochure for your company, the act of identifying the benefits your customer receives from your service is, in and of itself, a valuable
Achiever or Struggler?
THE FUTURE of agriculture is likely to look dramatically different in the next 10 years, says David Kohl, professor emeritus, agricultural finance and
Courting the young customer
Ag retailers trying to determine how to sell to their younger customers should not make assumptions about their motivations or buying habits. Some [young
Communicate 24/7
Creative agricultural retailers have learned that the Internet, once feared to be the potential source of unwanted competition from afar, has turned out
It's not all about you
According to business speaker and coach Donald Cooper, most businesses make the mistake of defining themselves by what they sell and by how they do business
5 ways to build referrals
How can I get more referrals? is a question that Colleen Francis, president of Engage Selling Solutions, a sales training company based in Ottawa, Ontario
The first impression
Finding reputable home remodeling and repair companies is never easy, but after we decided to replace all the windows on the front of our 30-year-old
Managing what you know
What do we know? I might say I know my customers, but what does this mean? Do I know these people socially, and do I have deep knowledge of their business
The meaning of full-service dealer
At a recent international conference, my Brazilian pesticide stewardship counterpart, Joao Rando of the industry-run organization inpEV, described in
Win back lost customers
If you could increase your chance of selling to a particular customer group by 20 to 40%, would you pursue it? According to research from Marketing Metrics,
Stay ahead of your customers
WITH THE fast pace of change nowadays, identifying your customers' needs may seem like trying to hit a target moving at the speed of a Japanese bullet
6 steps to capture customers online
Most agricultural retailers have Web sites, but they rarely use them effectively as a business-building tool. That's a shame, because a Web site has the
Watchful waiting
While U.S. soybean growers' attitudes about Asian soybean rust (ASR) range from concern to near panic, it is not a new threat to many soybean growers
Innovations at Agromek
Boom controller, seed monitor. LH Agro introduced its 75 Command Box at Agromek. The Command Box can command up to seven boom sections using pulse width
First lab accredited
BIODIAGNOSTICS of River Falls, WI, is the first seed lab in the United States to become a USA Accredited Seed Lab under USDA's new seed lab testing program.
Recycling adds up
0 Cost to grower, dealer or custom applicator, in most areas 3 Rinses per container for triple-rinse 4 Recycling contractors serving the ACRC across the
Protect valuable machinery
Shrinkwrap protects idle equipment PROTECT IDLE equipment and machinery from dirt and damage with shrinkwrap. Dr. Shrink offers premium shrinkwrap in
Paid Content 
Enhanced for the Web
