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| I'm on both ends of the spectrum, as a Producer and On-Farm Seed Salesman. I can side with Brandon SWIA on issues of picking up seed, planting is a busy season for all of us and thats where farm dealers have an issue. We try to deliver all seed before insurance date kicks off. If it's after that we try to deliver in the mornings or evenings after a days work, i'll gladly get out of the cultivator for a delivery if needed, after-all thats what keeps customers happy and helps my bottom-line as a dealer. I'm small time as a young startup farmer whereas dad has the full-time farming business, sometimes i think the two of us partnered together may get the wrong public view of "greed" when im just trying to retain a 100% on-farm job year round.
As a producer, i'm looking for an honest seed company (no i dont plant all of my own stuff, nor does dad). We have good friends that used to be on the breeding end of the cycle, and still have those connections today which helps us make a more informed decision for our soil types. When i sit down and listen to sales pitches, the least amount of general information the better. I get sick of hearing how every hybrid has "200+bpa capability and is a real race horse/work horse". I want to see root development photo's, side-by-side comparisons with non treated photo's, etc. As a small producer and salesman, i look to 3rd party yield trials to tell me whats right for our soils.
Here in IL (not sure about other states?), we have F.I.R.S.T trials, completely 3rd party, replicated hundreds of times throughout each county and statewide. I like to thoroughly read the information their data provides, and so do customers. I'm not always looking for the "top" hybrid in each data plot, i'm looking for the top 3-5 hybrids of the R.M i like that place consistently with my yield expectations in each soil type.
Edited by EbertFarms 7/27/2011 00:48
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What do you look for in a seed company?
