Nutrient use efficiency company Verdesian Life Sciences recently celebrated the winners of its Performance Guarantee Giveaway in two small farming communities in the Midwest. In Stitzer, WI, cattle rancher and grower Marland Bode and his wife LeeAnn received a brand-new Ford F-150, while in Ethan, SD, ag retailer CHS Farmers Alliance Co-op won $30,000 to spend on local community causes.
In addition to giving back to the towns that are the backbone of North American agriculture, the giveaway served as a celebration of Verdesian’s new Performance Guarantee. The program allows farmers to try two of Verdesian’s flagship products risk-free by promising a full refund if first-time users of AVAIL Phosphorus Fertilizer Enhancer and/or NutriSphere-N Nitrogen Fertilizer Manager don’t see a return on their investment.
“We strongly believe in our technologies and how they can benefit growers,” said Dave Schwartz, vice president of sales in plant nutrition at Verdesian. “The Verdesian Performance Guarantee program is a way to introduce our company and prove to growers our commitment to providing solutions that are both sustainable and profitable. AVAIL and NutriSphere-N can put growers at a real advantage in a down economy, and we’re excited to offer this program as the first of its kind in this space.”
To enter the giveaway, retailers were asked to sign their grower customers up for the Verdesian Performance Guarantee. At the end of the enrollment campaign, Verdesian representatives drew two names out of a hat: one grower to win a brand-new truck, and one retailer to receive $30,000 in charitable donations.
Reddy Ag, the Stitzer ag retailer that helped Bode enter the contest, had the happy task of informing him of the win. “My first reaction was, ‘okay, when are the cameras coming out? Is this a big joke?’ ” said Bode. “It was really exciting.”
The monetary prize will go far in Ethan, a 329-person town whose wide array of public resources and strong sense of community pride belie its tiny population. Said Schwartz, “Towns ten times this size don’t have anything near what Ethan does. It just speaks to the people caring for and running this town.”
CHS Farmers Alliance Co-op manager Mark Endres divided the $30,000 prize between five programs in Ethan: $8,000 to upgrade the baseball diamond park, $10,000 for the public school, $5,000 for the city, $4,000 to complete the American Legion memorial park, and $3,000 to fund children’s art classes and other needed resources at the community center. In such a small town, those donations will have a real impact on the lives of all residents and visitors, and the five recipients were thankful and thrilled for the chance to do good.
Though this is the first year Verdesian is offering the Performance Guarantee and giveaway, the company is no stranger to putting farmers and retailers first. In fact, it’s the philosophy they built their business on.
“We believe sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand,” said Schwartz. “We call ourselves ‘The Nutrient Use Efficiency People,’ and we’re constantly researching and producing new solutions to help farmers grow more with less inputs.”
