Category: Business Resources

How the Amaferm® Advantage Pays with Program Cattle

Are your customers feeding calves to sell at the local auction market one pound at a time? Or are they feeding cattle in a program to capture the most value? If you are not sure, consider having a discussion to better understand how they market cattle, and educate them on the value of getting Amaferm® into their diets so they can be part of a program that pays.

“Branded programs increase a producers bottom line and help develop the reputation of a quality producer who is working at producing a superior product,” said John Tucker, BioZyme’s Large Beef Account Specialist. “When I think of quality producers, I think of those who feed VitaFerm or Amaferm. I can count on one hand the number of commodity producers, those who just feed a hodge podge of cattle, who feed Amaferm.”

In recent years, producers started receiving premiums by selling Gain Smart® Raised or VitaFerm® Raised program cattle through Superior Livestock. These were the first two nutrition value-added programs that Superior recognized in its suite of value-added programs. Calves must be on a Gain Smart mineral 45 days prior to sale through delivery or raised on a VitaFerm-fed cow or be eating a VitaFerm mineral for the same time period. Buyers recognize that the Amaferm advantage creates healthier calves that will go onto feed faster, and often those calves will meet the criteria for other programs like NHTC and all-natural as well.

Another program where the popularity of Gain Smart is being realized is the Prime Pursuits program. This program was started by 44 Farms, a leading Angus operation based in Texas to supply high-quality Angus-based, all-natural cattle to Wal-Mart. According to Tucker, the calves that Prime Pursuits runs on grass are getting the Gain Smart Stocker HEAT® mineral. These cattle are typically higher performing and stay healthier, meaning they can fit the all-natural requirement for other health-based programs.

“In a program like NHTC, Amaferm provides the ionophores to capture what an implant would do for the cattle,” Tucker said.

He adds that the end results of these cattle that have been harvested through the Prime Pursuits program and marketed as McClaren Farms Beef in Wal-Mart stores in the southeast have offered consumers a high-quality, consistent product every time they go to Wal-Mart, something that has been especially important during the pandemic, as more people are shopping and preparing meals at home. Therefore, the entire beef industry is becoming challenged to become better as more competition is created.

Here’s your challenge: ask your customer if they are ready to sell their cattle on a program. There are many out there, and it is beneficial to find programs that are synergistic that a producer can receive multiple premiums on a load of calves. Programs pay. Programs that include the Amaferm advantage pay. Don’t forget to sell the Amaferm advantage through the Gain Smart program to your customers!

Marketing Gain Smart® as a Program

Weaning is the most stress calves will face up to that current time in their life. Up until then, they have lived a fairly peaceful, carefree life. They’ve had their mama’s milk, some grass and perhaps even some creep feed or a Vita Charge® Stress Tub to lick on. But now, everything is about to change, and it is up to your customers to continue to give them the best life they can with the 1-2-3 approach of the Gain Smart® program.

Here’s a refresher on why it is so important to market all three steps of the program, especially if a customer is trying to keep cattle healthy and on an all-natural program.

Step 1: Vita Charge Cattle Drench within the first 48 hours of weaning or receiving if shipping cattle to:

  • Jump start feed and energy intake
  • Stimulate the cattle’s immune system
  • Allows maximum effectiveness of weaning time vaccinations

“When we wean, and we go right to Vita Charge Drench, I’ll go 45 days without any issues, usually. Those calves seem to come out of the drench, hit the stress tubs, and go straight to the bunk. I’ve had no issues the last three years that we’ve used the products.” – Kevin Evans, Thaler Land & Livestock, Wyoming

Step 2: Vita Charge Stress Tubs for the first week to three weeks to:

  • Promote feed and water intake
  • MOS to help trap bad bacteria, limiting their ability to do harm
  • Increase digestibility to maximize the energy value of feed for more gains
  • Prebiotic and probiotic approach provides synergy for a 1 + 1 = 3 effect on cattle health and performance.

“It is a big part to have a healthy calf and not have pulls since we are selling our calves on an all-natural program. We’ve had really good success putting Vita Charge® Stress Tubs in front of the calves immediately at weaning. An ounce or two of stress tubs versus an ounce or two of medication is pretty reasonable if you were able to compare it by ounce.” – Tim Ree, Montana

Step 3: Gain Smart Mineral for 45 to 100 days:

  • Promote calf vigor and health
  • Stimulate digestion and increases nutrient uptake for optimum gain
  • Support hoof health and immunity
  • Accurately supplement minerals lacking in pastures and rectify mineral imbalances.

“I believe in minerals. I believe the most problems you have with cattle is with mineral deficiency. I saw the VitaFerm® Gain Smart® Program on The American Rancher one night, and I thought I could use that. Since I started feeding Gain Smart, I’ve had less than 1% death loss. I have virtually no foot rot or pinkeye problems at all. I love the VitaFerm Gain Smart Stocker HEAT® that has the garlic in it. It has good fly control; Stocker HEAT does help with the fescue because we have a lot of fescue down here. The cattle are healthy, look good, and I think they are getting a premium.” – Tom Carter, Virginia

Hay Testing is a Service Your Customers Need

The adage “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is also true for the nutrient quality of hay. Just because a particular cutting of hay looks superior to another doesn’t mean it has the nutrients that a cow herd needs to thrive. That’s why it’s important to BioZyme ® Inc. to provide forage testing to its customers – to make sure proper nutrients are getting to the cattle when they are most needed.

“Forage testing is an extremely important service we offer as part of the BioZyme services so we can align nutritional programs to our customers’ specific needs,” said Jack Oattes, BioZyme’s Regional Business Manager in Canada, on a recent Facebook Dealer Training.

Forage testing is a management practice that helps you plan ahead to make the best nutritional decisions for your herd. Testing in the early fall will help your customers know which forages to feed during which stages of production and the proper amounts of protein and energy they need to supplement.

Before collecting forage samples, be sure each lot of hay is identified by field and cutting number so the producer will know which sample came from which lot. For example, nutrient needs peak at lactation as the cow is trying to maintain her own condition, raise a calf and prepare for breed-back, so producers will want to make sure their highest quality hay is kept from that lot for that period of the production cycle.

Once you collect the samples, work with your Area Sales Manager to get them sent in and analyzed. The results are typically generated within a week, indicating any deficiencies in energy or protein. In addition to knowing the nutrient content of your forages, it is also important to know the amount of each lot of hay the customer has and the number of cows to feed when working with the BioZyme Nutrition Team to plan the next steps.

“If we don’t know the analysis, it’s hard to know what to do,” said Dan Shike, Associate Professor of Animal Science, University of Illinois, during the dealer training.

In addition to forages, Shike said producers might consider other feed alternatives like crop residues, bakery or grocery store wastes. Regardless of the feedstuffs, the nutritional value needs to be known so proper supplementation can take place. Shike also reminds that feeding must consider the cost per unit of energy or cost per unit of protein, and those calculations need to factor in more than just the feed and supplements.

“Not one size fits all. We need to think about equipment and labor,” he said.

After the tests are analyzed and interpreted and the protein and energy needs are determined, there are five ways to supplement proteins using the Amaferm ® advantage.

Feed mineral with Amaferm. Get the most out of what your cows are consuming by increasing intake and digestibility. This is the least expensive option as the added cost of Amaferm is less than 5 cents per cow, per day.

Feed VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® Protein Meal. This is a granular, free-choice mineral. In addition to the mineral, supplemental protein is provided. Feed VitaFerm Concept•Aid Protein Tub. The tub provides the same nutrition as the protein meal but adds the convenience of the tub form.

Feed VitaFerm 30-13% Protein Tub. This VitaFerm product offers the highest level of protein, but vitamin and mineral levels for maintenance during times of year when nutrient requirements are not as high.

Feed VitaFerm Conserve® Protein Tub. This economical vitamin and mineral supplement for beef cattle that supports the health and condition of the whole herd with 20% protein.

Letters From Lisa – September 2021

The food an average American family wastes translates into about $2,500 per year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), beef is one of the least wasted foods, with only 20% spoiled or not eaten. If beef waste were cut in half, the sustainability of the whole industry could be improved by 10%.

Not only is beef delicious and nutritious, but the beef industry continues to implement numerous proven sustainability practices throughout each step of the “pasture-to-plate” process. Though the path to sustainability is never complete, it is a continuous journey.

To the beef community, sustainability comprises much more than environmental considerations. Today, a sustainable food supply balances efficient production with environmental, social and economic impacts.

BioZyme’s Gain Smart ® line was developed for stockers to help them enhance what they do best; turn grass into the beef we all love to eat. Throughout the beef cycle, each sector makes efforts to improve sustainability. Stockers are no exception. So please help us by helping them and remember to include Gain Smart in your conversations with those raising sustainable beef.

A sustainable beef herd is like a sustainable company – one whose purpose and actions are equally grounded in financial, environmental and social concerns. I am not very experienced in beef sustainability but in a company, I feel like I can offer a few ideas. Below you will find five ways to help you shape a more sustainable future for your company.

  1. Do not stand still, embrace change When you change and act fast, you can be the biggest, boldest and brightest unicorn, but if you remain still and don’t change and adapt to a situation quickly, you are closer to extinction than sustainability.

For instance, in the 80s, IBM got close to extinction. In fact, they were featured on the Forbes and Fortune magazine covers along with dinosaurs. So, the idea is there’s no standing still, or you will petrify just like the dinosaur. One may have a great idea that works, but it doesn’t matter how big the idea is, if you can’t find ways to take it to the market quickly you aren’t driving sustainability.

  1. Focus on creating the customer’s value proposition, not yours Don’t ever lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day the business purpose is to drive value for the customer. Focus on creating high value, high capabilities that are useful for your customer base. This doesn’t mean that you need to be an expert at everything; it’s about creating value on the top end with existing resources.
  1. Remember growth and comfort don’t co-exist We are no longer in the 50s, 60s, and 70s era. For example, if you are a banker, your new competitors are completely different. If you are in retail, now everybody is a retailer. Similarly, if you have been in the mobile business, then you can see that it’s no longer an industry; it’s a platform, it’s a capability. This is uncomfortable. But growth comes from businesses that focus on delivering value in innovative ways for their customers, even when it is uncomfortable.
  1. Focus on excelling in an area It’s no longer about one company delivering value to every client at every place; it’s about being a part of an ecosystem. If you are not part of the ecosystem, then you are limiting yourself. You might have a successful start, but eventually it starts becoming difficult. Further in the bigger ecosystem, you are going to become a part of many ecosystems. In some, you might be a significant player and in others, you might be a small player. But in the end, it’s all about the contributions you are making in each of those ecosystems. So don’t try to be a big player in every ecosystem, rather look at how things work to drive incremental value in your ecosystem.
  2. Focus on constant reinvention When you are part of a company, then it’s all about constantly reinventing what you do, it’s about reimaging how you do it and at the same time retaining your above core belief system because you want your employees, your clients, and your partners to work with you and for you.

Sustainability – believe you can make a difference and keep pushing.

Dealer Spotlight: Shoberts Feed Supplements

Sharing personal experiences that they’ve had with products has helped Shoberts Feed Supplements of Hennessey, Oklahoma, excel as a DuraFerm® dealer. Chad and Amy Charmasson, owners of Shoberts also own Charmasson Club Lambs, where they run 200 ewes, and have had had a fantastic experience with the nutritional products from BioZyme. Their experiences combined with positive experiences of existing customers, helped propel them to the number two DuraFerm store front dealer in the company in 2020.

“The DuraFerm products have proven themselves over and over for us. It’s not hard to sell a product that has such great results from a production standpoint in terms of healthier ewes that are in good breeding shape. Our conception rates are better, and that helps make it easy for us to sell this product,” Charmasson said.

He added that not only does he talk about his own flock’s health and reproductive status to potential customers, but he also feeds off of the results that his customers have had with the DuraFerm products and shares those results. Potential customers want to hear about outcomes, especially when they might already be using a product and not be getting good results.

He said the majority of his customers are not new to a mineral program. They have simply used a competing program that doesn’t work.

“They are willing to try something new, and BioZyme® products have a good reputation based on consistency. It is extremely important to me that these products are backed by science. I like the idea that research trials have been conducted and nutritionists have formulated the products to benefit our industry,” Charmasson said.

He said the easiest product for him to show instant results on is the DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT® mineral because regardless of the time of year, the sheep don’t stress much due to the hot temperatures when they are on the HEAT formula. However, he said the DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid Protein Tubs are probably the most popular product he sells as many producers choose to leave those out year-round, except for maybe right at weaning.

Charmasson advises that dealers that are acquiring new DuraFerm customers tell their customers to be patient and explain that since their sheep or goats are likely mineral deficient, they will consume a lot of the mineral at first. The animals are just regulating themselves, but once they even out, the DuraFerm program will be a cost-effective mineral program.

“Too often, the customers see their animals overconsume the DuraFerm mineral and think it is too expensive, but once they level out, the producers will actually spend less money on the DuraFerm products and have healthier ewes and does that are in better shape with higher conception rates than they were when the fed mineral from the competition,” he said.

Happy, healthy flocks and herds are made of nutritionally sound animals backed by the Amaferm® advantage. Thanks to dealers like Shoberts Feed Supplements, flocks and herds are being taken care of by the Charmasson family who show care that comes full circle!

Capitalize on Marketing DuraFerm®

The number of sheep and goat producers in the United States might be on a decline, but the demand for the red meat and natural wool fibers is on the rise, making supplies tight. When supplies are tight, prices tend to increase, providing producers the incentives to raise the highest quality meat and wool they can. Now is when these producers need a high-quality nutritional program that all of you have access to sell: DuraFerm®.

Now is the time to capitalize on marketing DuraFerm as a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for sheep and goats that emphasizes reproductive performance. With producers aiming to have healthy lamb crops and vigorous kids, now is a great time to market a high-quality supplement to sheep and goat producers.

With the goal for both ewes and does to breed and settle and to give birth to twins, there is a DuraFerm Mineral right for both ewes and does for all times of the year. The Marketing Team has been making a concerted effort to market these DuraFrem products to a variety of audiences.

Promoboxx:
Don’t miss out on the content that is created specifically for dealers to share on their social media pages. This content meets up with national and regional campaigns, so your local messages have a cohesive look and feel.

Event Partnerships:
Members of the BioZyme staff recently attended the Midwest Stud Ram Sale in Sedalia, Missouri, and are preparing to attend the Texas A & M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Expo in San Angelo. By attending these industry events, we can contact a wide array of producers who might not be aware of DuraFerm and point them in the direction of a dealer in their area.

Media Placements:
With both paid advertisements and press release coverage in industry print and online publications, we are helping to share the message of DuraFerm and how it helps keep the flock or herd nutritionally sound while keeping females bred. A few of our media partners include The Goat Rancher, Livestock Weekly, RingSide, ChampionDrive, Integrity Livestock Sales and some breed publications.

As a dealer, the Marketing Team and your ASM is here to assist you to market products like DuraFerm, that might not be as familiar to you. Reach out to your ASM or the Outreach Support Center if you need specific tools and materials to help you market DuraFerm. The time is now to take advantage of the market that exists.

Help your sheep and goat customers strengthen their stock and have healthier, higher performing, growthier lambs and goats. Help your customers reach their full potential, and your DuraFerm sales will reach its potential. That’s care that comes full circle.

Reach for New Audiences to Promote DuraFerm®

Commercial sheep and goat producers often depend on the income from their livestock for their livelihood. Wouldn’t it be nice to help them improve their bottom line while increasing the overall health of their herds and flocks and even helping them get more lambs and kids on the ground?

It might not always be easy to break into this demographic of commercial breeders. However, they are usually hungry for information on animal health, nutrition, parasite and predator control and reproduction and will reach out to experts in their areas for this information. Since the challenges and opportunities vary so much in each region, it is important for producers to build and cultivate relationships with their veterinarian and local or state Extension sheep specialists to learn information about specific regions.

Just one way BioZyme® is making strides to reach out to more potential DuraFerm users in the largest sheep and meat goat producing state – Texas – is by sponsoring and having a booth at the Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep and Goat Expo, August 20-21 in San Angelo. This event is supposed to draw attendees from all across the country who want to hear experts talk about ways producers can improve their bottom lines, and we knew we didn’t want to miss it.

“Sheep and goat producers are thirsting for knowledge, and these are great events to create awareness that we offer sheep and goat nutritional products that are science-driven. We’re choosing to get involved in these programs not just to market products, but to lend a helping hand to producers, which is living our company motto of ‘care that comes full circle,’” said Sam Silvers, BioZyme Area Sales Manager in Texas and New Mexico.

Although not all states have an Extension sheep specialist, many do. And, as part of their Extension and outreach mission, these specialists host either a state-wide or regional educational workshops annually. Look on their websites or Facebook pages to discover when these are. Contact them to see if they are looking for a sponsor. Chances are, they will be excited you are willing to offer to have a booth or information table, as a lot of Extension funding has been depleted. The more interaction you can have with the attendees, the better. Remember to reach out to your ASM to see if he or she might be able to help you.

Even if your state doesn’t have a state Extension sheep and goat specialist, chances are that your local or area Extension office will have a field day or expo that you can participate in.

“Extension Service centers and their corresponding field days/expos are one of the best places within communities, and states as a whole, to find the ideal BioZyme product customers. Attendees are typically progressive stockmen looking to always see what is new and upcoming in their respective industries, those who are always looking to make the best decisions for their operations based on current economic decisions, but also futuristic projections and opportunities. Extension offices provide a huge benefit and asset to their states and communities and are a great way to help support the future of the industry,” said Ashley Fitzsimmons, Regional Marketing Coordinator for BioZyme.

Partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. Look for partnerships in educational outlets where you can not only educate producers about the Amaferm advantage and the high-quality nutrition program of DuraFerm but establish relationships with commercial producers. Build these partnerships and watch your business grow!

Sheep, Goats are Economical Grazers, Browsers

During a time when Mother Nature wreaks havoc on the climate, it can be challenging to provide adequate forages to cattle. However, regardless of if you are in dry climate where resources are dwindling or if you are in an area of excess rain, sheep and goats often compliment the grazing system.

It is important to point out that these small ruminants will often eat different parts of the plants than cattle and are more efficient at converting their forages to gain. Sheep and goats vary from cattle in the types of forages they prefer. They will eat the shorter forbs or shrub-like plants before they eat the taller grasses. They typically will go for the most nutritious parts of the plants first, the leaves and anything that is soft before they eat the stems or even grass. It is best to have a variety of plant species and turn your sheep and goats out when those plants are in the vegetative stage instead of a more mature stage to receive optimum nutrients from the forages. It is essential to have forages that are high in digestible fiber and at high enough levels of crude protein to keep their rumens functioning properly.

Especially in a drought situation like many producers are currently facing, sheep and goats would make more economical sense to raise. They will still help with pasture management while providing protein and a source of income with a relatively good ROI, depending on your overall investment in the livestock and fencing materials.

Anytime you or your customers are grazing small ruminants like sheep or goats, don’t forget they still need mineral. During the drought, especially, the Amaferm® in the DuraFerm® line, will help stretch your feedstuffs to get the most nutritional value out of your forage. Amaferm is a research-proven precision prebiotic designed to enhance digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply for maximum performance. It is designed to increase the energy available to the animal resulting in more milk production as well as the ability to initiate and maintain pregnancy and fertility.

During the summer heat, your sheep customers will want to use DuraFerm Sheep Concept•Aid® HEAT®, specifically designed with the HEAT package to help mitigate heat stress anytime temperatures reach hotter that 70 degrees. The combination of HEAT and Amaferm help maintain that core body temperature, keeping the sheep cooler and helping reduce heat stress, which in turn helps get ewes bred and keeps them bred if breeding in the summer and early fall.

Goats are referred to more as browsers than grazers, because although they do graze like sheep do with their heads down, they also like to climb up a structures and trees to get leaves and greens that are up high, too. If you or a customer has goats, be sure to provide them with a DuraFerm Goat Concept•Aid Protein Tub. This convenient tub offers 20% protein, especially important during a drought when protein might not be so readily available. The other ingredients in Concept•Aid are key to reproductive success of the herd.

Smaller animals take up less space. They also will eat some of the less popular forages that cattle will leave standing. Sheep and goats make economical sense from a grazing standpoint, especially during a drought. Contact your local extension personnel if you have questions about grazing sheep and goats or even comingling them with cattle. However you graze your pastures, don’t forget the Amaferm advantage in DuraFerm.

Letters From Lisa – August 2021

Diversification is a key component of a long-lived, healthy business. Diversification is the process of a business enlarging or varying its range of products or field of operation. Personally, I don’t think of diversification as a process, I think of it as a conscious decision to prosper. Diversification is a proactive growth strategy. Adding new products and services to your business can gain you entry to an attractive new industry full of new customers and high sales potential. It can also kick-start growth again with your current customers.

At BioZyme®, sales diversification is one of our five corporate goals. As a high growth, innovative company not diversifying is not really an option for us. Of course, the tricky part is determining where and how to diversify. Adding the small ruminant brand wasn’t all that tricky, but it has been a pretty easy way to accomplish diversification.

It all started with end-users asking why their sheep and goats could not get the Concept•Aid® line like cattle people could. Being taught by Dr. Francis Fluharty that sheep and goats are not the same and that they are way different than a cow, I wanted us to create products for each of these small ruminants instead of a one-line-fits-all approach. While the population numbers make you think you would put them together, my educator taught me to realize that would not be best for the animal. As an animal lover, having both sheep and goat products in the DuraFerm line became the only way to go for me.

The population of sheep and goats in the U.S. has been stable over the last few years at around 8M head. This is just about the same number as the population of dairy cows and horses. In all cases, we should be focused on a targeted sales approach with salespeople that have time to focus on the diversification, a specific marketing strategy for the diversification effort and a thorough follow-up effort on both to keep the pipeline funnel moving correctly.

At the risk of being long winded, I can’t pass up the opportunity to expand on how diversification brings up the importance of knowing your customers’ demands. To deliver value to your customers, you must have a clear understanding of their needs. This doesn’t change if they are a sheep, goat, dog or horse customer. However, it is probably more important to acknowledge it as a business owner when one is trying to diversify.

A customer need is a problem that a person is trying to solve, which motivates them to seek a product or service to do so. Another way to understand customer needs is to think of them as jobs to be done. The jobs to be done (JTBD) theory was first introduced by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen. In the online course Disruptive Strategy, Christensen asserts that customers don’t really buy products; they “hire” them to get a “job” done. In Disruptive Strategy, a JTBD is defined as “a circumstances-based description of understanding your customers’ desires, competitive set, anxieties, habits and timeline of purchase.”

Based on this definition, customers hire a product or service based on how well it fits their job description. If you understand the jobs your customers are hiring your product or service for, you can create a winning value proposition and drive innovation within your organization.

By aligning your company with JTBD, you can tailor your offerings to deliver value to your customers, achieve differentiation in the market, and avoid disruption. There are a number of ways to learn about your customers’ jobs to be done. Here are three ways to develop an understanding of your customers’ needs to better serve them with your products and services.

  1. Reflect on Your Experiences
    The first method for identifying jobs to be done is to reflect on your own behaviors and experiences, identifying patterns in your decision-making process. You yourself are a customer and, in the absence of other data sources, self-reflection can be a helpful starting point.
    • What motivated me to make the purchase?
    • What other options were available to me?
    • Why did I choose this product over the other options available?
    • What goal did the product help me achieve?
  2. Observe Behaviors Around You
    In addition to reflecting on your own experiences, you should observe the behaviors of those around you. If possible, look for opportunities to observe people at each stage of the buying process—from the time the job to be done arises to the final decision. Observe how people use the product or service to understand what goals it helps them achieve or challenges it helps them avoid. Look out for compensating behaviors or actions people take when a product or service doesn’t exist to fulfill their needs. Understanding the JTBD at the core of inconvenient alternatives can help you identify an underserved need in the market and inspire ideas to satisfy it.
  3. Order some DuraFerm
    Force yourself to diversify and figure out how to get the job done!

Dealer Spotlight: Kenneth Regnier

Kenneth Regnier Builds Business on Trust and Reputable Product

For long-time BioZyme® dealer Kenneth Regnier, having a quality product to help his customers is a top priority. The product combined with a strong relationship built on trust and loyalty is what has kept him selling BioZyme products for more than 20 years.

“I like people and I like to talk to them. I’m going to keep going as long as the good Lord will let me,” said Kenneth, who turns 74 in August. Kenneth, who runs his own cow-calf herd near Kinsley, Kansas, started as a BioZyme dealer in 2,000 because he had heard that VitaFerm® carried a superior product, and he was unhappy with the nutrition company’s product that he had previously sold when they made a corporate switch. He started selling the VitaFerm, took his existing customers with him and has never looked back.

He said the quality of the VitaFerm products that he sells speak for themselves, and he has had numerous customers share their reviews with him. If he has a potential customer approach him about the products, he suggests they try the VitaFerm products on just one set of their cows and keep using their current mineral and compare where they are in six months. That will usually get them hooked.

“One customer on the HEAT mineral told me he can see that the HEAT is working. His cows are out grazing, and he drove by two groups of his neighbor’s cows and they are grouped up and not out grazing. That is all it takes to know the product is working,” Kenneth said.

Helping others is important to Kenneth, and the loyalty he’s given his customers has been returned to him. He said he is now selling products to the second generation of producers. His customers’ kids who used to help him unload feed are now his customers.

Service and trust are important traits to Kenneth. He still delivers most all of his product to his customers with his one-ton Ford pick-up and a flat-bed trailer. Often times he doesn’t even see his customers, but they know he will use their skid steer loader and have their VitaFerm in place when they get in from the field or pasture.

An annual producer meeting each spring allows Kenneth to share new product information with his customers, gather customer orders for the next few months and provide fellowship among area producers. It’s something he and his wife and business partner Jacque have been hosting for years.

“Our producer meeting is a way to show we care. We give them a steak meal, and everyone can get around the table and talk. It’s the fellowship of doing business. It’s a good time for them to order their summer mineral,” he said.

And with typically dry summers in Southwest Kansas, the HEAT products are very popular; however, with a wetter than normal spring, flies are heavy. Kenneth is glad to have a product with ClariFly® to offer his customers this year. His own cows have been eating the HEAT with ClarFly and he notices that there are no flies on them.

A love of people and a love of good nutritional products for cattle and horses is what drives Kenneth Regnier to keep selling the BioZyme products. He said the business has been a good outlet for him to “slow down” since he quit farming and also since a bad ATV accident in April 2020 that required physical therapy. As long as he can keep helping people help their animals, he’s going to keep on keeping on. We’re certainly glad to have you in our Dealer Network, Kenneth!