Sure Champ® In The Classroom Gets A Makeover

If something isn’t broken, there is no need to fix it; however, there is always room to make improvements in the tried and true. That is what has been happening this winter and spring as the Sure Champ in the Classroom website received a makeover to provide more user-friendly information that is easier to find, broken down by both topics and species.

Sure Champ in the Classroom is an online resource designed to help young people #preptowin in life. The online resource offers educational information about basic animal husbandry, livestock evaluation, preparing a cover letter and resume, preparing for CDEs and more.

“The Sure Champ in the Classroom resource page has especially been targeted to help agriculture educators and advisors thrive and develop their lesson plans in the classroom. With the progression and popularity of ‘virtual’ resources, we have come to realize that education doesn’t just happen in the classroom – it can happen anywhere. We revamped our resource page to be more user friendly for all demographics: teachers, students, advisors, 4-H and FFA members alike,” said Jessie Judge, BioZyme Marketing Brand Manager for Beef and Show Livestock, who manages the website. “These resources cover a wide scope of topics to help teachers in the classroom, support students getting started with new livestock projects, provide tips for career development endeavors and more. We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘the best learning happens in the barn,’ and that same principle drove our decision to overhaul our resources – the classroom can be ANYWHERE. Learning isn’t confined to just the classroom.”

BioZyme® feels that it is important to have well-educated young people involved in agriculture as they become industry advocates. The company also wants these same young people to succeed both in the show ring and in and out of the classroom. The makeover of this site divides learning activities by species so someone with a pig can easily go to the pig resources to find information about selection, nutrition, reading ear notches, commingling animals and a checklist of equipment needed when showing pigs. If you are preparing for a livestock judging contest, a variety of judging classes with placings, cuts and reasons are posted under the Judging Classes and also divided by species. Finally, a host of educational topics live under the educational posts that range from reading a feed tag to preparing for an internship or job interview.

“Equipping young people in our industry with the tools they need to win and be successful in life is vital to the success of our business because these young people are the future of our industry. When they surpass the show ring, many of them will seek careers in this industry and contribute to our progression as an agriculture industry at large. It is important for Sure Champ to make an impact on these young people early on through means of education and leadership opportunities not only to leave a lasting impression and emphasize our Care that Comes Full Circle vision, but to ensure they are prepared to go into the career field and thrive in supporting the industry we serve,” Judge said.

If you have a young customer who is new to livestock showing or who needs material to study for an FFA or 4-H project, guide them to the Sure Champ in the Classroom page. There is a wealth of information there that will help them #preptowin in and out of the show ring!

Letters From Lisa – May 2021

“Upon the subject of education. . . I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in.” – Abraham Lincoln

Too many companies seem to believe that ignorance makes for the best customers. Actually, the more informed and empowered customers are, the more satisfied and confident they are with their choice of you. And that kind of confidence almost always leads to loyalty. In the end, isn’t that what all of this is really about?

By only reaching people to convert them into customers, you are limiting your potential to generate new customers. So, if you want to change how people perceive you, you need to distinguish yourself as a leading educational voice.

Customer education doesn’t just boil down to one or two small benefits. Its positive effects are numerous. They’re also intertwined, and when done well, it feeds a much bigger machine, helping to fuel your business’s growth.

To begin assessing the needs of your customer education initiative you must know your customers’ pain points, then you can develop a plan to help overcome these. For this, you’ll need the right tools and resources to help.

There are a wide variety of first-class tools available through BioZyme in our Online Dealer Center. These will help you deliver efficient and effective training. The below graphic is a good visual to keep your education track on course.

CHANGES COMING IN MAY 2021

NEW PRODUCTS

  • On May 1, BioZyme® will launch two new Vitalize® products. Vitalize Blazin’ is a product developed for horses to support normal recovery from heat stress and exertion. It is available in a 64 oz and 32 oz bottle. Additionally, Vitalize JumpStart will be added to the price list and serve as a nutritional boost to support the immune system of foals, weanlings and young horses. It is available in a 1-gallon jug. Blazin’ and JumpStart will be offered in a liquid form, designed to be used as a top dress and drench, respectively.
  • On April 1, BioZyme launched VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with Clarifly®. This product will only be available in registered states. The states we have received approval for are: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

PRICING UPDATES

  • According to the March 31 Wall Street Journal, makers of everything from diapers to cereal are starting to feel the strain of higher prices on literally everything. Cheerios™ maker General Mills said it will raise prices to partly offset higher freight and manufacturing costs, in addition to rising commodity prices. J.M. Smucker Co. said it recently raised prices for its Jif® peanut butter and that it might do the same with pet snacks because of higher shipping costs. Global supply chains, which were already experiencing a crunch due to the Covid-19 pandemic, have seen additional supply disruptions. The February freeze that triggered mass blackouts in Texas led to chemical plant shutdowns and caused a shortage of the raw materials needed for almost everything. As a result, prices for polyethylene, polypropylene and other chemical compounds reached their highest levels in years. The maker of Gillette® razors and Tide detergent cited rising costs for raw materials, such as resin and pulp, and higher expenses to transport goods in their price increases. The point is that almost everything is going up in price. BioZyme has been hit hard by these same dynamics. We received notice this month that things that rarely change in price are all going up. This includes bags, mineral oil, ink, labels, ingredients, fuel surcharges, pallets, the plywood in between the tub layers (this one has gone up this year from $13 to $95) and the list goes on and on. We are trying to do everything in our power to keep these changes under control, but you should know that this is an unprecedented time in our history as it is for all of us. So, hang in there with this and we will all survive together and remember it is not how we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but how we stand during times of challenge that really matter.

SHIPPING UPDATES

  • EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: Due to consistent service delays, high damage rates and a change to their freight claim reimbursement policy, BioZyme, Inc is no longer shipping products with Dohrn Transfer Company. Customers and Area Sales Managers [ASM] can still choose to use Dohrn Transfer Company for shipping LTL orders. However, both the Customer and the ASM must sign a Release of Liability for each order for which Dohrn Transfer Company will be used.
  • FREIGHT CLAIM REMINDER: Please remember that you MUST notate what was damaged and sign the DRIVER’S copy of the delivery receipt in order to submit a freight claim. The freight companies deny our claims when the delivery receipt is not signed, and we cannot provide a credit on denied claims.

EMPLOYEE UPDATES

  • Carrie Butley has joined BioZyme as the new Concetti Bagging Operator.

CHANGES COMING IN JUNE 2021

ORDERING UPDATES

  • Starting on June 1, 10 lb. bags of Vitalize® Digest More® Plus can only be ordered in a case quantity of 4 instead of as single bags.

CHANGES COMING IN JULY 2021

PRODUCT UPDATE

  • On July 1, the Vitalize® Alimend® and Vitalize® Alimend® K9 labels will be getting updated to comply with NASC standards. Though the presentation of the labels will look different, the formula and ingredients will remain the same. The feeding directions will be changed to mL (instead of ounces), but the feeding rate will not change.

Dealer Spotlight: Maryville Vet Clinic

Vets Provide Year-Round Nutrition Plan

Care that comes full circle is more than a motto. It’s the way we live, taking care of the livestock and animals that take care of us – livestock that provide a livelihood and protein products to feed the world and companion animals that provide joy and friendships to many. An ideal candidate for a BioZyme® dealer is a veterinarian – they are providing care to animals in multiple ways – both preventative care to keep the animals healthy and restorative care when an animal needs healed.

Maryville Vet Clinic, LLC, Maryville, Missouri, has been a BioZyme dealer since the 1980s. Dr. David Frueh and his original veterinary partner were dealers, and when Dr. Frueh became a single-vet practice, he liked the products so well, he continued to sell them. Today, all three veterinarians within the practice, Dr. Frueh, Dr. Patrick O’Connell and Dr. Gina Stoll, like the benefits of the products and recommend them to their clients.

“Here, we try the product first. We never want our customers to be the guinea pig. So, if there’s a new product or a different product we feed it to our own cattle. Dr. Frueh has seen how products like the Concept•Aid® has increased conception rates and how the condition of his cows has benefitted from the mineral. He’s a believer in the product. Once you see how the product works, it really sells itself,” said Stacy Liebhart, Office Manager of the Clinic.

Liebhart said that 90% of their practice is large animals, and a majority of those clients are cattle producers. Therefore, they have formulated a nutrition program they recommend their customers stay on throughout the year to maximize their herds’ health. Their program includes the VitaFerm® HEAT® mineral.

From January through about March or April, during the bulk of calving, customers are recommended to feed VitaFerm Concept•Aid® 10; then during grass tetany season, they advise switching to VitaFerm Concept•Aid Mag/S. During the hottest months of the year, which can vary from May or June to September or November, it’s HEAT season, and that is when they sell and advise their customers to use VitaFerm HEAT. Once the temperatures consistently cool down, they put their cows back on the regular VitaFerm Concept•Aid.

Just like with any new product, Liebhart said the doctors tried the HEAT line when it was introduced. She said they were conservative with their first order of HEAT mineral to feed their own cows, but it didn’t take them long to see the benefits and wanted to get more to offer their clients right away.

“It only took one pallet of mineral and they were like wow this stuff works, and now that’s all we recommend during the summer months. So just like all products we had to make sure it worked before we recommended it to our customers,” she said.

Liebhart said their dealership is unique as their main source of income isn’t from supplement sales; however, those sales have made the animals that the doctors take care healthier and more productive over time.

She also recommends for every dealership, regardless of its situation to stay current on all the BioZyme products, which she says is her responsibility. She often recommends the products that she knows will work well to the doctors during various seasons because she is the one who makes the time to keep up on all the training. For instance, during calving she often recommends Vita Charge® Clench Gel to accompany treatments for scours or Vita Charge Gel when a calf is has digestive issues or Vita Charge Drench at weaning.

From preventative health care to making an animal feel its best, veterinarians are busy people. They work on animals big and small, and they make great BioZyme dealers, providing that care that comes full circle. Thanks for being fantastic dealers, Maryville Vet Clinic!

Beat the HEAT this Summer

Depending on where you live, the temperatures are probably starting to heat up, and the grass is starting to green up, sure signs that spring has arrived, and summer is right around the corner. No matter what your customers raise, we have products to help those animals fight heat stress and deter insects this summer. All HEAT® products help animals maintain normal body temperature at temperatures of 70 degrees or warmer and include garlic, a natural insect deterrent.

HEAT for your breeding program:

HEAT for your whole herd:

HEAT for your stocker program:

HEAT for your sheep:

HEAT for your show livestock:

Effective Action: No Reason for Summer Slump

Alan Jackson might have claimed “there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues,” but that is probably because the VitaFerm® HEAT® mineral didn’t yet exist when he sang that number one hit back in 1994. With ingredients like Capsaicin, Amaferm® and garlic, the HEAT package found in many BioZyme products is the perfect solution to your company’s and your customers’ summertime blues.

The full line of HEAT products will help your customers’ animals thrive during the summer temperatures and while grazing on fescue. With the Amaferm advantage and Capsaicin, both research-proven to lower body temperature, which can improve conception rates by maintaining pregnancy, HEAT is an ideal supplement for both cows and ewes during the summer months. The included garlic helps deter insects. In addition, the HEAT package is available in Gain Smart® Stocker HEAT. It is also readily accessible for show livestock of all species during the summer months in products like Sure Champ® Extreme, Vita Charge® Climate Control Gel and the Vita Charge® Stress Tub with HEAT.

Often times, the results that others see with their BioZyme® products will help sell them to others. Like this testimonial from Steve Olson in New York:

“I’ve seen some great results since starting to use the BioZyme® products. The product I really like is the VitaFerm HEAT mineral. When Jack [Oattes] told me about the product with chili powder and garlic in it, I’m half-Italian, so I knew it would help repel insects. The HEAT definitely helps with fly control. I can go out and see my cows in the pasture and tell which ones are eating it based on the lack of flies on them compared to the cows that haven’t eaten it that are bunched up and have flies landing on them.”

Or this one from Carter Ward in Missouri:

“Prior to using Sure Champ® EXTREME, we exclusively used Climate Control Paste (transitioned to Vita Charge® Climate Control Gel July 2019) on our cattle to keep them cool through the summer. While at Hereford Junior Nationals, I got a bucket of Extreme to try out. I put our Angus cattle on it just prior to the Junior Nationals a week later and saw a HUGE difference before even leaving for the show. Despite the heat, our cattle were eating more, consuming more water and even their hair coat really came on in the last few days. We were huge advocates for Climate Control Paste and now even fans of Extreme. It’s a new staple in our feeding program.”

However, if you are looking for other ways to help promote the HEAT package to your customers, the Marketing Team is always prepared to help you. One very effective way to promote products seasonally is through the mailers that BioZyme sends each quarter. In Q2, the mailer will have a HEAT message to remind your customers to prepare for summer stressors and contact you for your mineral needs.

The quarterly mailer program is available to all dealers. You can simply opt-in by contacting Ashley Fitzsimmons, Regional Marketing Coordinator, and providing her with your most current customer mailing list. The deadline for the Q2 HEAT postcard is 5 p.m., CST on Friday, May 7. Fitzsimmons reminds dealers that there is no limit to the number of times you update your mailing list, and there is no limit to the number of quarters a dealer participates in the mailer program.

Other ways that you can promote HEAT products to your current and potential customers is with Promoboxx. The Marketing Team will have a plethora of campaign material on Promoboxx that you can add to your own social platforms, saving you the time of creating content. Of course, if you are looking for a unique advertisement, billboard or mailer, the Marketing Team has the creative talents to help you. Contact your ASM for more details.

With a little bit of marketing effort and some word-of-mouth success stories, the HEAT line up of products can help take away your summertime blues and get you over that summer slump!

Making a Premium Product with the Same Amaferm® Advantage

Progress. We define progress “to grow or develop, advance,” and at BioZyme®, we work daily to progress in the products that we offer to the animals that we serve. That’s why you’ll likely notice a change in the feed-through pesticide that we are including in our cattle products. Instead of the traditional Altosid IGR that has been in the BioZyme brands, you will now notice ClariFly® is now included in several of our product names.

ClariFly is now found in the following products: VitaFerm® HEAT® with ClariFly®, VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S with ClariFly®, VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly® and VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S CTC 3G with ClariFly®, Products with ClariFly are labeled for limited for sale in specific states.

ClariFly is a four-fly larvicide that prevents house flies, stable flies, face flies and horn flies from developing in and emerging from the manure of treated cattle. ClariFly interrupts the lifecycle of the fly through the active ingredient Diflubenzuron that inhibits the synthesis of chitin, according to Casey White, Director of Product Development at Central Life Sciences.

“Chitin is a major component of the exoskeleton of an insect, and as an insect grows and will molt, it will have to reform their exoskeleton. One component is that they deposit chitin to be able to form that exoskeleton. Without a properly formed exoskeleton, that insect immature or not fully mature, will die,” he explained.

The primary benefit of the ClariFly compared to the Altosid is the fourfly versus the one-fly claim for the two products. Altosid was labeled to protect only against horn flies and their larvae. White said it is not economically feasible to increase the dosage of Altosid to obtain a claim to control the other pest fly species. ClariFly includes added claims against face flies, stable files and house flies.

White explained that different fly species become pests in different management scenarios. Horn flies and face flies are typically bigger nuisances in the pasture because they seek out fresh, undisturbed manure piles to lay and hatch eggs in. Conversely, house and stable flies are peskier in confinement areas like pens, corrals or barns, where manure build up exists and wet organic matter like feed or hay is available to lay eggs in and hatch.

Feeding a supplement with ClariFly is very similar to feeding Altosid, from a timing approach, as you want to prevent the larvae from developing. White suggests the 30/30 approach to feeding the supplements with Clarifly. Start feeding the supplement in the spring 30 days before your last hard freeze before the temperatures warm up to the mid-60s. Continue to feed ClariFly all summer long and 30 days past the first freeze in the fall. Feeding to that end point in the fall will actually help with fly control in the spring of the following year.

Adding ClariFly to the VitaFerm HEAT and VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT makes two of our products even better for producers, eliminating even more stressors. Provide your customers the best vitamin and mineral supplements available this summer. Provide them with the HEAT package and ClariFly to take away their summer stress!

Position Concept•Aid as a Mineral Program Not Just a Product

When it comes to nutrition, you don’t want your customers to cut any corners. Sure, everyone is trying to cut costs and reduce their inputs, but a quality nutrition program is an investment in health, and healthy animals lead to increased conception rates, more pounds of gain and more dollars at sale time.

Maximizing nutrition within the herd will maximize your customers’ bottom line. That is why it is important for you to market VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® as a program, not just a breeding time mineral.

You already know the benefits that Concept•Aid offers in addition to Amaferm®, which impacts intakes, feed digestibility and nutrient absorption for optimum health and performance:

  • 2.5X NRC for quicker impact
  • High levels of Vitamin E for reproductive tract repair
  • Organic trace minerals for more stability and higher bioavailability.

With nutritional advantages like those and a variety of formulas to meet a multitude of management styles and feed resources, it only makes sense to encourage VitaFerm Concept•Aid be part of a year-round mineral program.

Enter VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT® and VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly®. Now, cattle producers can get the same high-quality mineral package they have come to know and expect during breeding season during the heat of the summer. There is no more trying to “guess” when they should switch from Concept•Aid to HEAT, especially for those breeding for spring calving herds.

“I was so excited when they came out with VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® because for us in the upper Midwest, you wanted to feed Concept•Aid and get your cows bred back up, so you couldn’t feed the HEAT mineral. It was like tugging strings, which one was going to be better for you? So, by being able to have the two in one, it really helped us out up here because we breed our cows in the heat in the summer. It is a very beneficial product. Concept•Aid 5/S is our staple mineral. I was pretty excited about the 5/S with the HEAT. We spent most of the summer months on the 5/S HEAT. You’re still going to have some flies, but it does reduce them drastically. It helps keep the cows spread out more and grazing more,” said Justin Maus, Maus Angus Ranch, North Dakota.

As Maus said, the primary advantages of the VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT and the new product with ClariFly is that producers will be confident that they are getting the best vitamins and minerals for their herds as a critical production time and still benefitting from the HEAT package. The new VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT with ClariFly should keep even more flies away from the cattle, with a four-fly claim, and keep those cattle more comfortable than ever before.

Take your marketing mindset from a product to a program. With the variety of Concept•Aid formulas including those with HEAT, your producers will be glad that they don’t have to make choices anymore when it comes to a summer grazing mineral. Sell them the mineral that helps get their cows bred, keeps them bred and keeps them cool while out in the summer heat. Then, watch your business grow.

Letters From Lisa – April 2021

Don’t let Summer Stress You or Your Business

Just because some beef producers think that green grass means less need for supplementation (this is totally not true), doesn’t mean your business needs to slow down in the summer. Here are some ideas to make the summer work for you instead of against you.

Find other ways to bring in revenue
Your sales don’t have to grind to a complete halt during the off-season. Diversify your business offerings and see if you can sell related or complementary products and services. Determine the other needs of your customers and find ways to fulfill them even when your main business isn’t in season. May I note that most horse owners love to supplement their “pet” all year long, so please consider the Vitalize® brand. We’ve been through this diversification drill in these letters before; note, I won’t give up on helping us all remember to do this.

Build your community
Social media gives you tons of opportunities to connect with people all year, so keep your blog and social accounts active. Keep publishing blog posts and posting updates on all of the channels your customers follow. Use your downtime to come up with great content that can educate your customers. Doing so helps you build authority, strengthens your community and ensures that people will remember you when it comes time to do business again in the fall.

Reach out to the media
Publications usually plan their articles months in advance, so if you want to land a magazine feature just in time for the peak season, you’ll have to reach out NOW.

Attend networking and educational events
Use the slow months to broaden your knowledge and network. Virtual conferences and even local business events can help you gain new partnerships and skills that you can use in your business, so don’t pass up the chance to attend them.

Get feedback
The off-season could be the perfect time to get feedback and reviews from your customers. Consider getting in touch with people who purchased from you and ask them what they thought of your products.

Business may be seasonal, but your commitment to it shouldn’t be. Put these tips into action and find ways to thrive. I find summer to be one of the most inspiring times of year. It’s a great time to allow yourself to create things you might not normally create—or make progress in directions you wouldn’t otherwise prioritize. For me, summer has always been about picking goals that are less directly correlated with professional success, and more about self. It’s my way of maintaining some sort of connection to that child-like feeling of “summer vacation.”

VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT with ClariFly is Now Available

You asked, we listened. The ultimate summer breeding mineral is here! VitaFerm Concept•Aid 5/S HEAT with ClariFly is now available and ready to order! This mineral package combines the benefits of Concept•Aid to get cows bred with the proven effectiveness of the HEAT package for summer grazing and NOW added 4-fly control with ClariFly! ClariFly helps control horn flies, face flies, stable flies and house flies in the larval stages.