CropLife 100: The Declaration of Independents in Ag Retail

Editor’s Note: The role of the ag retailer and trusted advisor to farmers across the U.S. is constantly changing — never more so than in the last three years. As the dust seemingly settles — new market dynamics are here to stay, while many tried and true practices are gone for good. As the linchpin between grower-customer and the suppliers of sophisticated tools they use, ag retailers in the U.S. are essential to pushing crop production to the next level. In recognizing 40 years of the CropLife 100 ag retail ranking program, our editors are engaging with numerous CropLife 100 ag retailers at the National, Co-op, and Independent levels to unearth opportunities and concerns in today’s modern agricultural market. We will also feature numerous stories throughout the year focusing on ag retailers that are celebrating milestones, exploring how they have managed to survive and thrive where others have not. In this second article of a three-part series looking at the three types of ag retailers that make up the CropLife 100 listings, we shine the spotlight on Independents.

What is known as the ag retail sector of the business today started with independents. If you look back at the long histories of many of the companies that make up the CropLife 100, the two oldest businesses — Star of the West Milling and The McGregor Co. — both can trace their origins to the late 1800s (to 1870 and 1882, respectively). The makes these ag retailers older than the oldest cooperatives within the CropLife 100 by almost 20 years.

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Furthermore, independent retailers still make up the majority of companies represented within the CropLife 100, with 51 of the 100 retailers in this category. And although no independent retailers rank within the Top 10 in terms of overall sales, the top seven independents — Hefty Seed, The McGregor Co., Buttonwillow Warehouse, BRANDT, United Prairie, Grow West, and Mid Valley Agricultural Services —  all have revenue in excess of $200 million.

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Over the past 40 years, a lot has changed for many independent retailers. This includes growing in size beyond single location companies, increasing their geographic footprints, and adding loads of new technology to keep pace with an ever-evolving agricultural marketplace. However, despite the myriad changes, independent retailers have maintained their one distinguishing characteristic — family.

All In the Family

“That’s the one word I think of when I think of our company: Family,” says John D. Allen, Vice President of BRANDT Agronomic Services, Springfield, IL. “Our founder and current owners have always treated their employees like family, and we have had a high retention of our employees for exactly that reason.”

Sims Fertilizer & Chemical Photo Credit: Lara Sowinski

Sims Fertilizer & Chemical is ranked No. 65 on the 2022 CropLife 100 list. Photo Credit: Lara Sowinski

For Sims Fertilizer & Chemical, which now has three generations of family members running the business along with a few loyal employees who are just like family, the family-owned operation is not just about succession planning but continually nurturing the deep ties Sims has to its customers and community.

The Osborne, KS-based company, started by Joe and Kathy Sims 43 years ago, has faced considerable adversity over the years. As Joe recounted in a company newsletter from 2019, “Agriculture was going through some tough times in the 1980s.”

A particular day stands out. On December 28, 1984, the family’s home north of Osborne caught fire and burned to the ground. However, Sims remarked that: “One of the great things about being a part of a farming community is that within hours, neighbors and friends had pulled together, and we had clothes for our whole family.”

Sims conceded that during those early years: “It would have been easier to quit than to continue.”

At that time, he says: “Most suppliers would not sell to us because of the competition’s pressure on them to eliminate us. Suppliers that did sell to us would hardly extend any credit limits. That’s ultimately how we became a cash-and-carry retailer; we would deliver the chemical, collect a check, and rush back to the bank.”

The business was taking off and it was exciting, noted Sims.

“It was apparent that farmers wanted to do business with us, and needed us to help them save money, so we kept persevering,” he says.

The ability to offer unparalleled customer service is key to staying successful in today’s changing market, explains Katie Lix, Joe and Kathy’s daughter, who is a central player in running the business today.

“We believe that most farmers want to buy from people. Our family and team are here to serve them for years to come,” she says.

As for maintaining a competitive edge, Ryan Delaney, the Sims’ oldest son who overseas chemical sales and purchasing, knows that the personal relationships the family business has developed with its customers over the decades can’t be underestimated.

If a customer needs most anything, chances are they’ll get what they need. “The competition’s not going to go fix a pump,” Delaney points out.

40 Years Ago Vs. Today

The financial hardships that pounded American farmers during the 1980s, fueled by high interest rates, falling commodity prices, and farm foreclosures, resulted in a massive decrease in the number of farms throughout the U.S. while spurring consolidation and the creation of bigger, more productive farms.

Photo Credit: Grow West

Grow West is ranked No. 28 on the 2022 CropLife 100 list. Photo Credit: Grow West

For independent ag retailer Grow West, based in Woodland, CA, it also marked a period of diversification in both market geography and products and services to keep up with the increasing complexity of the ag chemicals and agri-service industries.

Today, as a vertically integrated company, Grow West provides a variety of services, including financing, technical and agronomy services, trucking, irrigation monitoring, fertilizer warehousing, along with safety training and consulting.

“We are a service company,” says Lucas Schmidt, Vice President & COO, “with services extending from the start of planting to post-harvest.”

The company’s reach includes 18 wholesale and retail locations throughout Northern California and supports growers in a wide range of crops, including rice, wine grapes, and tree nuts, as well as tomato processing.

Schmidt emphasizes that people and relationships are central to staying relevant and expanding into the future.

“Remaining committed to the customer and the community is huge for us,” he says.

That means empowering employees via mentorship, encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit and independent mind-set, and supporting new ideas
that help move the business forward.

Looking back 40 years ago, Brent Wallner, Vice President of BRANDT Dealer Support, says, “We provided commodity products that weren’t as specialized back in the 1980s. And the farmer didn’t rely on us as much for knowledge. Today, we as an ag retailer have to be on top of all the information about what we are offering customers, to provide knowledge and let them know how the products they use on their farms will work. We never had to do that 40 years ago.”

Harlan Asmus, Co-Owner of Asmus Farm Supply (AFS), Rake, IA, agrees with Wallner’s assessment. “To me, one of the key moments for ag retail took place back in the 1990s,” he says.

“That’s when funding for land grant extension universities started decreasing. Here in Iowa, every county used to have a person to provide this knowledge to farmers. But that went away, and farmers started coming to independent retailers like AFS for advice instead. That helped us develop a new level of partnership with these growers. We stepped up to be the place they could look to for help.”

According to Garrett Asmus, Business Analyst at AFS, the need for more information from grower-customers led to the adoption of faster, more accurate ways for independent retailers to handle physical assets as well.

“We are using technology and data to help us manage our inventories,” says Asmus. “With these systems in place, it allows us to monitor all of the inventory in our warehouses at one quick glance. That’s not something we would have been able to do 40 years ago.”

Rodney Riech, BRANDT’s Director of Marketing, also sees the ability to rapidly manage crop input assets by independents today as a plus — one that helps distinguish the sector from their larger brethren.

“By our nature, independents are able to do things at a faster pace than larger retailers or cooperatives,” says Riech. “That’s one of the values we offer customers — we move the needle or adapt more quickly in certain cases.”

Building a Better Business

Most ag retailers acknowledge that thriving in the current market presents challenges. Yet, there are certainly opportunities.

Grow West’s Schmidt sees “a sweet spot in the middle for innovative, independent organizations” that can leverage their portfolio of products and services to play an even bigger role for customers while being more agile.

In addition, having a flat organization is also an advantage, he says, which provides easier and quicker access to the top decision-makers.

At the same time, Schmidt also expects to see continued acquisitions in the sector, due in part to the higher cost of money as well as a lack of succession plans for some retailers.

“We’re going to continue to look for acquisitions and growth,” he says, “even non-traditional bolt-ons.”

For example, this past year Grow West added a custom soil blending division to its offerings. Soil is blended to the customer’s exact specifications to assure repeatable results from the product, and the custom blend is scalable so grower-customers can get as much as they need.

Meanwhile, BRANDT’s Wallner says consolidation may be the only option for independents to increase their market scope.

“For the retail business of our company, growth will likely have to come from acquisitions,” he says. “Organic growth would be tough.”

Ongoing Innovation, Education

Yakima, WA-based G.S. Long Co., Inc. (GSL) has nearly doubled its number of employees over the past eight years due to “growth in our portfolio plus greater demand for our services from bigger farms,” says Nick Longmire, COO.

The ag retailer’s expanding portfolio not only stays ahead of customer demands but also helps maintain its competitiveness in the market.

“The big guys force us to continually evolve and adapt,” Longmire says. It’s a team effort that keeps GSL innovative and responsive to customer and market demands. For example, its proprietary recommendation software, FieldBase 2.0, was developed specifically for GSL and its grower-customers.

“Field function is very important,” says Longmire, “and so is data privacy.”

The ag retailer has also been using drones to release beneficial insects in orchards as part of a larger integrated pest management program (IPM).

It’s an area that shows lots of promise once the “bugs” are worked out, such as finding the optimum weather conditions, application rates and times, even assuring the right balance of available food in the orchard for the beneficial insects.

GSL also prides itself on its commitment to continuing education. It was important to Gary Long when he started the company in 1980, says his son, Brad Long, Vice President.

The elder Long believed education would make for a better partnership between growers and retailers so they could work in unison to address pest and disease issues in the orchard.

Not only has GSL’s continuing education program grown significantly over the years, but the re-tailer has also been influential in promoting information and resources in Spanish. This helps improve safety in the field and advances leadership skills.

Long says “investing in good people” is the strategy GSL will continue to pursue going forward.

Furthermore, “We will continue our relationship growth by helping our customer base navigate the challenges of Mother Nature and inflation, while maximizing on ROIs.”

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