Carrie’s Animal Health Relies on Word – of – Mouth Marketing

Carrie Brewton is no stranger to the cattle business, and she knows the importance of keeping cattle healthy and performing. She and her family have always provided mineral for their herd in north central Louisiana. However, challenges in getting their mineral combined with SuperiorLivestock partnering with VitaFerm® and Gain Smart® in their value-added programs, made it easier for her family to change up mineral brands.

Although her family wasn’t unhappy with the mineral they had been using on their cow-calf operation, it kept getting more challenging to get product and keep it stocked. When Superior partnered with the BioZyme® brands, and John Jeffrey talked to them about the Amaferm® advantage, it seemed like an straight forward decision to add to their mineral program.

Carrie’s Animal Health is a family-owned business near Clarence, Louisiana, with the primary customers being Carrie’s dad, brother and brother-in-law. The news of positive results they have experienced had spread to others in their area, and Carrie’s business has branched out to others. She said the products work and help with weight gain and overall health.

“I really like the Vita Charge® products we use. We get in quite a few yearlings and have been successful when we start them off with that product,” Carrie said.

Carrie’s primary customer base is comprised of cow-calf producers who feed the Concept•Aid® products. She also sells Gain Smart and Vita Charge–a winning combination for weaning and backgrounding calves prior to selling them on Superior.

With her dad, brother and brother-in-law all working as Superior Reps, it made sense to promote, use and sell a nutritional product that Superior recommends and partners with. Carrie and her family are glad she made the decision to sell BioZyme. And they are thankful for the positive results that others are having too. Carrie’s Animal Health is one dealer that shows the value of word-of-mouth marketing.

Meet the BioZyme Family

Team: Quality

Leader: Theron Cooper

Number of people currently on your team: 8

List of each team member and role they play at BioZyme:

Lori Cruz – Quality Manager Lori leads the quality aspects ensuring that the facility is compliant with cGMP practices and maintains OMRI, SFSF, FAMI-QS quality systems. She ensures accurate and properly documented records are maintained for all certification audits.

Ryan Hoefling – Senior Manager of Sampling and Testing. Ryan oversees the sampling and testing of BioZyme products. Ryan ensures the analytical equipment is calibrated and reporting accurate results. In addition, he coordinates testing results with process continuous improvement opportunities and assists in production processes such as fermentation. Ryan also focuses on knowledge development of new products with improved properties and their uses.

Kelsey Goforth – Lab Manager Kelsey assists in the collaboration of the fermentation and production process by preparing the AO inoculant for the fermenters at the Easton facility. She also conducts microbial screenings to ensure the inoculant and fermentation batches are free of contaminating organisms.

Jakey Lian – Sampling and Testing Manager Jakey is the Sampling and Testing Manager at Stockyards and conducts sampling, testing, and inspection of all inbound materials and finished products manufactured by BioZyme. In addition, he maintains and manages the retention of samples.

Kelly Cortez – Housekeeping Manager Kelly manages the housekeeping staff and implements the overall house keeping plan of the facilities in accordance with the BioZyme weekly Norty Score card evaluations and the related SOP’s and checklists.

Sam Fones – Sanitation Specialist Stockyards – (Front) Sam conducts housekeeping and sanitation tasks at the Stockyards Front Warehouse zones and keeps our front warehouse areas clean and orderly.

Jordan Ide – Sanitation and Utilities Operator – (Easton) Jordan conducts housekeeping and sanitation tasks to keep the Easton facility clean and orderly. In addition, Jordan assists the night fermentation operations.

Theron Cooper – Director of Quality Theron is responsible for establishing quality, testing and reliability standards and ensuring they are implemented across the Supply Chain.

How does your team help with “Care that comes full circle” for BioZyme customers:

The Quality Team helps with “Care that comes full circle” for BioZyme customers by helping the broader BioZyme Team in the production of Safe, Accurate Products with reliable and proven performance that our customers can rely on.

TELL EVERYONE: 4 WAYS TO SUPPORT YOUTH THIS SUMMER

Summer is just around the corner. For young people involved in livestock projects, summer is a busy time of the year through many parts of the country. Jackpots, county and state fairs, along with junior nationals make summer an active time for young livestock enthusiast.

Since youth make up the future of the industry and future spokes people for the livestock industry, it is important to support them and their endeavors as much as we can. Here are four simple ways to support the youth in your community this summer.

Show and Nutrition Clinic

Getting both the animals and exhibitors prepared for the showring and hopefully the backdrop doesn’t happen overnight. Many young people look to their local feed store or nutrition source as an expert for all things. So, with this in mind, why not host a fitting, showing and nutrition clinic. If you are not comfortable talking about all subjects, collaborate with others in your community. You can provide information about feed, water and overall health. Someone else can detail the fine points of skin and hair care and halter breaking. Finally, another person can demonstrate proper show-day prep with fitting and showmanship techniques.

Sponsor a Show

You probably get multiple calls through the year asking for show support. The best advice we can offer is to set some boundaries or you could be sponsoring literally every event in a six-county area. Your parameters can be driven by location, customer base, financial need or anything you choose. If you have one location in one county, perhaps you only sponsor shows in that county. If you have customers in multiple locations, maybe you choose to sponsor events where your customers are. Or perhaps you are the type of person that decides you will sponsor an event only if a young person solicits the sponsorship. Once you’ve decided what level you will serve as a sponsor at, decide how you will be a sponsor.

Will you give monetary support for prizes? Do you want a trade show booth? Do you want to sponsor back tags with your dealership name or Sure Champ® on them? Perhaps you want a banner in the showring. Maybe there is an advertisement opportunity or a combination of more than one available. Whatever you decide, be sure you get some company recognition.

Be a Buyer

Much like sponsoring a show or event, there are always ample opportunities to support livestock shows. First, you must know what your budget is and how you will divide it. Some sales want the buyer to actually purchase the animal; some offer just the premium, where you are buying the ribbon and recognition. Other sales ask for a donation and clump together people into buyers’ groups to support young people. One thing is certain. Most young people will always remember who purchased their animals, and their family is often going to support that business or group of businesses, so this is a great investment in youth with a rewarding ROI.

Be a Mentor

Every young person needs at least one solid mentor in his or her life. This chance to give back to a young person is an investment in time and will typically be the most rewarding. Is there someone in the area that is interested in sales or marketing? Do you raise a particular species and share that passion with some young 4-H or FFA member that could use some guidance? Reach out and offer your time and direction. Nothing is more valuable than having a respected figure in the community reach out to serve as a mentor. Who knows where this relationship could lead.

Supporting youth is a great marketing tool because they are the future. They are going to give you the recognition you deserve, and often the young people and their parents will turn into customers if they are not already. The support you give is just one way to show that you care, and that care does not go unnoticed.

How Should Your Customers #Preptowin This Summer?

SURE CHAMP + VITA CHARGE WILL HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS #PREPTOWIN

#PreptoWin applies to more than just the showring. As the makers of Sure Champ® and Vita Charge® products that help livestock exhibitors prepare their animals to excel during times of stress like traveling, being in different environments and climates and also times of transition, BioZyme® knows how important it is to help young people #PreptoWin in life as well.

This month we want to spotlight several products and programs available to exhibitors to help them move from the barn to the backdrop – and that backdrop might be with their winning animal or a winning speech.

#PREPTOWIN IN THE RING

Sure Champ is a line of livestock show supplements that work proactively to assist with the challenges created by the show environment. Sure Champ uses only the highest quality components and proprietary ingredients to generate high-yielding results.

#PREPTOWIN ON THE ROAD

Vita Charge is a perfect complement to the Sure Champ line prior to travel, when you’re on the show road and when you get back to your home barn. Vita Charge is a fast-acting, multi-species supplement for use during stressful times when livestock need protection or assistance in recovery. The products offer versatility in many forms making application easy, depending on what is best for your animal.

Vita Charge Liquid Boost, Vita Charge Gel, Vita Charge Clench Gel & Vita Charge Climate Control Gel

#PREPTOWIN IN LIFE

Sure Champ offers a variety of resources to help young people succeed outside of the showring as well. Sure Champ in the Classroom is an online portal for beginner and experienced exhibitors, parents and teachers to learn. It offers basic tips about animal selection, care, nutrition and preparation. It also provides blog posts about preparing a cover letter and resume, getting ready to give a speech and even offers several how-to videos for cattle and pig care. Of course, the Sure Champ Classroom is also home to the very popular “Mark That Card” series, providing judging classes, with placings, cuts and reasons.

#PREPTOWIN THIS SUMMER

It won’t be long, and our team will be hitting the road for its Sure Champ Summer Tour, where we are excited to work with several youth organizations across the country to support several Junior National Shows. This is a great way for us to engage and interact with the future.We also hire interns each summer to help us promote our products at the various events, just another way that we are giving young people an opportunity to explore a career path. This summer you can find us at:

•The Exposition – Des Moines, IA

•Maine/Chi Junior Nationals – Louisville, KY

•Charolais Junior Nationals – Grand Island, NE

•Simmental Junior Nationals – Madison, WI

•Hereford Junior Nationals – Louisville, KY

Two Minutes in Ag: May

The other day I saw a meme on social media that said, they call it May because, it “may” rain, it “may” snow, the sun “may” shine, the wind “may” blow. Honestly, I felt that “may” have been the most accurate thing I have seen online in a week or two. I know I am ready to plant veggies and flowers, but May Nature sure isn’t ready for that, so instead, we’ll celebrate with my favorite protein.

May is Beef Month. That is definitely worth celebrating! Although many protein choices offer great flexibility and choices, beef is always a great choice. And the researchers associated with the Beef Checkoff are always one step ahead developing new recipes. Just last weekend, I was looking for some new ideas for the endless supply of ground beef we have and couldn’t believe all the options at https://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/ recipes. Check it out for some new ideas, quick recipes and more. I know my family was excited to try something besides tacos or burgers!

Now is the Time to Enroll in CRP. USDA is accepting more than 2 million acres in offers from agricultural producers and landowners through the Conservation Reserve Program general signup, the first of the program’s multiple signups occurring in 2022. Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says about 90% of enrolled acres were accepted, and the agency hopes to encourage producers to consider additional enrollment options in the Grassland and Continuous signups, both of which are currently open.

“Our conservation programs are voluntary, and at the end of the day, producers are making market-based decisions as the program was designed to allow and encourages,” says Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in a statement. USDA has been under pressure by some to allow for early release of contracted CRP acres to encourage additional production with potential Ukrainian shortfalls. An estimated 3.4 million acres of enrolled CRP acres expired this year.

Cattle on Feed. . .were up 2% from April 1, 2021, to the same time this year to 12.1 million head. This is the highest April 1 inventory since 1996. A lot of that supply was in Texas and the west and could be attributed to the prolonged drought.

Letters From Lisa – May 2022

This month’s focus is on Sure Champ® and Vita Charge®, two product lines that have experienced growth. What has created this success? Supporting young people involved in livestock. I know you are wriggling your nose right now, and thinking this lady is nuts. Nuts since we all know that helping young people doesn’t grow sales or pay bills. While whether I am nuts or not is debatable, my response is not. Economics are not all that matters, even in business.

BioZyme®, under the leadership of Bob Norton, started supporting youth in livestock back in 2007 when it became the title sponsor of both the National Junior Hereford Expo and the National Junior Angus Show. Why did we do this? Because these events and junior programs help create and shape youth that matter. As I was writing this note to all of you, I took a moment and asked Bod why he started making this a focus. His response was pretty simple, “The people in the industry are a lifestyle worth working to sustain. Livestock families are unique and special and extremely important to the welfare of the community, the state and the country.”

Darcy from the blog, Success is Reason Enough, lists the following facts about youth people who show cattle, but in my opinion, it applies to kids who show any animal.

  • They wake up early before school, to feed and care for their animals.
  • They stay up late in the evenings working hair, feeding rations and making sure their steer is rinsed one more time before they head to bed.
  • They know how to respect others.
  • They know how to receive critique, how to ask questions and how to push just a little bit longer.
  • They know how to evaluate their own cattle and others; and how to defend themselves verbally in front of a judge.
  • They know that one little tweak in a showing can be the difference between a championship slap…. or nothing.
  • They know that whatever you placed first or last…. you still need to shake the judge’s hand.
  • They can load up a trailer and set off to a show halfway across the country by themselves, because they know how to care for their livestock and budget their money, so they still have enough for diesel on the way home.
  • They know that those around them are trying to beat them in the ring…. but when they walk out the gate, if a fellow showman needed the proverbial shirt off their back, they’d hand it to them in a heartbeat.

That sounds like the perfect applicant for every position we have at BioZyme. And without this type of workforce in out future, the USA will never reach its full potential.

If you are still asking why we do this, let me reiterate that these young people are our future. More importantly, they are agriculture’s future. And for them, the experience of showing matters. And making kids feel like they matter; well…. it matters to us.

Changes Happening In May 2022

CHANGES COMING IN MAY 2022 Known at this Date

SHIPPING & PRICING:

  • In April, BioZyme was forced to make the following changes due to an extremely volatile supply chain, highly fluctuating market pricing and fuel surcharges:
    • Beginning with all orders placed April 4, a ship date of 3 days will be automatic; extended requested ship dates will not be available.
    • There will be no custom price list. Any order for a custom requires a call to the Outreach Support Center (ORSC) to request a price. These requests will take a minimum of 24-hours to be processed and confirmed.
    • A SCMV (Supply Chain Market Volatility) charge is listed as a separate item on the invoice. The rate for the SCMV charge will be evaluated weekly and adjusted with the fluctuating market, so you are not paying a fixed rate if the cost goes down. Utilizing this charge, rather than raising product pricing for the entire month, allows us to follow the lows in the market and pass the value on to you.

Please reach out to your Area Sales Manager for more information.

  • LTL Calculator
  • This tool and its results are for estimation purposes only. There are no guarantees these rates will be accurate when a shipment is rated and booked. If the carrier has Interline on the calculator this could take an additional 6 days or more to receive your order. The Logistics Team usually picks the lowest cost unless it is Interline. If you would like to keep the lowest rate on freight and would like to go interline, please reach out to Ashley Jones at ajones@biozymeinc.com. (interline- a shipment that is transferred between two or more carriers for movement to final destination).

EMPLOYEE CHANGES

  • Patti Long is the Executive and Leadership Business Administrator.
  • Justin Packard has been hired as the ASM in Oklahoma.
  • Samantha Albers is the Marketing Manager – Small Livestock (DuraFerm & Backyard Boost).
  • Kylie Patterson has transitioned from sales to the Marketing Manager – Show Livestock (Sure Champ).

CHANGES COMING IN JUNE 2022 Known at this Date

PRODUCT UPDATES

  • Watch for a new product to join the Backyard Boost line in June. We are very excited to grow this product offering. Look for more information to be forthcoming in the Dealer Center and via email.