Planning is Vital to Tracking Today’s Livestock Show Schedule 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. . .yes, people are gearing up for the holidays. But in the show livestock world, they are also preparing for livestock shows.  

Yes, jackpots are now basically year-round, and the winter majors are happening soon. The livestock show schedule is a crazy, never-ending loop. So, how do breeders and exhibitors prepare? It all comes down to planning. 

Regional Livestock Show Schedules 

Livestock show schedules happen on a somewhat regional basis. In many parts of the U.S., including the Midwest, plains states and coasts, county and state fairs happen in the summer through the fall. This allows young people to take advantage of the summer months, when they are not in school, to work with their animals and attend weeklong county fairs and junior nationals. 

However, in Texas, the leading state for livestock shows based on number of animals shown, the well-known “Texas Majors” happen in the winter through spring. The Southwestern Livestock Exposition, commonly known as Fort Worth kicks off this string of multi-species major livestock competitions in January. 

Other southern states like Georgia, for example, start showing new projects just like they do in Texas in November and December. These first-time projects are getting their start now and will wrap up in late spring. 

Check out our list of shows at the end of this blog HERE.

Impact on Breeders 

Regionalized livestock show schedules allow for some breeders to have year-round marketing outlets. For instance, those who raise show pigs can breed for and farrow summer pigs for those in the south who need pigs that will finish in the winter and spring. Since sows have a shorter gestation length than a cow, they can have on average 2.57 litters per year. Thus, realistically a sow will have two litters of pigs, which means show pig breeders will have the opportunity to market to two different sets of clientele.  

Of course, cattle breeders don’t have that luxury; but cow-calf producers either fall or spring calve, and there are always options available for exhibitors. 

Livestock Show Schedules Run on Exhibitor Ages 

For most breed associations and youth programs like 4-H and FFA, there are age minimums and maximums for the participant. Depending on the organization and the location, most of the ages are by January 1. However, some of them are set by the actual show date or another date, like September 1. Always be sure to read and know the particular show guidelines set forth by the show or organization.  

You don’t want to get to a show and realize that your son or daughter is not the correct age to show, after you have invested the expense and time into a show project. Read and reread the rules carefully and keep them with you in case you have any questions or concerns. 

How Can Dealers Help Exhibitors Power Champions? 

It is important for dealers to help their customers power champions by keeping a full line of Sure Champ® products stocked during your particular show season. If you live in an area where shows happen year-round, you want to keep the staples like Liquid Boost®, Sure Champ® Joint Juice, Sure Champ® Cattle and the gel products on hand.  

If you have shows in primarily the summer months or live in a warmer, southern climate be sure to have Sure Champ® Extreme with ClariFly® stocked, as that multi-specie product is a crowd favorite in the heat when flies become a challenge. 

Take Advantage of Tools For Success 

Need help promoting these Sure Champ products? We have got you covered there too! Visit the SAMM Center to request all your marketing materials and literature. 

Do you use Promoboxx? Promoboxx is free to our dealers, and we have social media posts already created for these products. Use these to your advantage! If you don’t have Promoboxx, sign up today. It simplifies your social marketing and offers you posts across all of the BioZyme family of brands. You can find more information about Promoboxx under the Marketing Tab in the Online Dealer Center

Tracking livestock show schedules in your area can be a challenge. However, with proper planning you can help your customers power their champions by providing the products they need from Sure Champ. You can also provide a list of upcoming shows. Nearly every show has a social media site, so follow or like the show on Facebook or Instagram so you can keep up with deadlines and dates, and perhaps post those dates on your own social media as a service to your customers. Although many states have a show of some kind on every weekend, we have provided a list of national shows for you to have handy for you to track.  

Effective Action: Care that Comes Full Circle Comes from the Heart

Have you ever wondered about the phrase “care that comes full circle”? It isn’t just a fancy little catch phrase that BioZyme® throws around. It is the company motto that the company and its employees live by each day. Where does the care come from? It comes from the heart.

One of the things that sets BioZyme apart from other companies is this care that comes full circle. It’s in our people. It’s in our products. It’s in our research. President and CEO Lisa Norton compares it to a boomerang that is properly thrown.

“When you throw a boomerang properly, it will always come back to you. If we make supplements at BioZyme that help animals perform to their fullest, then that care we provide to them will ultimately, come full circle and put food on our plate. Now that is care that comes full circle,” Norton said.

Simply put, caring comes from the heart. This is true if you are talking about making nutrition products for a chicken with a with a rather short lifespan or a newborn child who depends on you for its every need.

Caring about what you do and how you do it always starts with the heart. If you start from the inside out – with the heart – not only will your care shine bright, but that care will boomerang back or “come full circle.”

Our research shows care. With more than 100 published studies, BioZyme never introduces a product until it has been carefully and fully researched. Research starts with a team of scientists and continues to real-life scenarios. Our proprietary fermentation processes are backed by 70 years of research – both in the lab and applied.

Our products show care. It’s no secret that the products that we market and sell do what we say they do. With a research-proven prebiotic like Amaferm® that has been studied and used for more than 70 years, you and your customers can rest assured that the products are carefully manufactured. Amaferm is made one place in the world – St. Joseph, Missouri.

Our people show care. Our people care about the products they make, the way they promote them and the people they work with. They are carefully trained in production best practices and safety manufacturing. They keep safety for themselves, others and the product top of mind.

Not only do our people show care about products and people within the BioZyme family, they extend that care into the greater community. They are active in civic organizations, community projects and helping neighbors. They know that care that comes full circle is a boomerang effect.

From the research, products and people, our care that comes full circle starts in the heart. We know that our dealers have heart too. We hope that you never forget your heart and how to give, and receive, that care.

Nutrition Company Gives Back to its Customers

Working in agriculture is a natural gamble. Producers take a chance every day with the markets, weather, breeding and feeding decisions. Since we know that livestock producers are natural risk takers, BioZyme® Inc., makers of Vita Ferm® and Gain Smart® nutrition products, want to reward that risk this summer with a Lucky 7 Promotion. 

This promotion is one way to show livestock producers that we understand the challenges they are facing during these unprecedented times, and we care. For each of 7 weeks this summer, 77 winning tokens will randomly be placed into bags of product manufactured in the Saint Joseph, Missouri-plant. The “lucky” winners will receive prizes that range from caps to gift cards to $777 cash. Seven weeks x 77 tokens each week means 539 prizes.  

“Our company motto is ‘care that comes full circle,’ and this is 100% the reason we are doing this for our customers,” said Lisa Norton, BioZyme President and COO. “It’s a way to give back to producers who are feeling the effects of market volatility and supply chain instability.”  

Starting June 1, the 7 products below will have a special “Lucky 7” sticker on the outside of the bag. These specially-marked bags may contain a winning token:  

  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm Conserve® Garlic 
  • Gain Smart® Stocker HEAT® 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S with ClariFly® 
  • VitaFerm® HEAT® CTC 3G 
  • VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S HEAT® with ClariFly® 

The tokens are biodegradable and will not hurt the livestock if ingested or the environment if not found when pouring out the mineral.  

Winning tokens must be claimed via the Lucky 7 website https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7 to receive a prize. Each winning token depicts the specific prize won and the corresponding prize number.  All prizes must be redeemed by Dec. 30, 2022. 

“My late husband Bob always loved to give back. As we continue to give back, we honor Bob, honor the company he loved and the customers he cared so much for,” she said. Bob Norton, CEO, unexpectedly passed away in April.  

For a full list of rules and eligibility for the BioZyme Lucky 7 promotion, visit: https://biozymeinc.com/lucky7.  

Effective Action: Let’s Lend a Hand Every. Day.

Have you ever noticed how people show up in times of crises or particular times of year? Food and toy drives ensue during the holidays for those in need. Elderly and disabled were encouraged to post a red, yellow or green sheet of paper in their window during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place to indicate if they were fine or needed assistance. And blood drives are ramped up during particular seasons. All of these are great causes and worthwhile efforts, but what if we provided a helping hand year-round and really demonstrated care that comes full circle.

Be present.

During times of uncertainty, perhaps the most important thing we can do is be present. Now, maybe this doesn’t happen if you’re in isolation or separated by miles from friends or family. However, technology has made it possible to keep the lines of communication open and even “see” each other. Technologies like FaceTime, Zoom, Facebook Messenger and Marco Polo allow you to “chat” virtually like you’re in the same room with your friends or customers. Sometimes just a simple check-in, even via a phone call, with someone to see how they are doing will brighten their day.

Listen and watch.

Agriculture is a rocky road, and many of your friends and customers are likely struggling. When you do check in with your customers, friends and family, take time to really listen. And more importantly, watch their actions. We can all agree, agriculturalists are a humble group who don’t like to talk about themselves, so if they are having challenges, you might be able to tell that just as much by their actions and what they don’t say. And, if you sense a genuine concern for their health, reach out to them or someone else close to them to try to help them.

Offer resources.

Yes, food drives around the holidays are great. But, what about the other 10 months of the year? As summer approaches, fresh garden produce is typically bountiful, so why not share in the bounty. Maybe you have a place for a garden, but not the time, offer your garden spot to someone to use in exchange for some veggie sharing. Perhaps you’re like me and love to garden, but don’t like to can. Offer your garden goodies to friends and neighbors for the picking. And although fresh produce is nice, make sure people have other things they need year-round.

Give back to the youth.

It is nice to show appreciation to the youth who buy their feed and supplies from you. Likely, many of their parents are your customers too. Hopefully, summer shows will not be canceled like so many late winter and spring shows were. Offer a show supply credit if they buy x-amount of show feed or supplements. Or if the summer shows are canceled, offer to buy one of their animals to supply your own family (and maybe others) with some fresh protein.

Volunteer.

There are always ways to give money and resources; however, one resource that most everyone has to offer is their time. No matter how big or small your community is, there is likely a way for you to give your time. Volunteer opportunities exist through community, school, church and civic organizations. They can be short-term or long-term. Giving your time can be one of the most rewarding things you do. Be sure you are giving to something you genuinely care about and that you volunteer with a good motive and not just self-recognition.

Care that comes full circle. It’s not just a motto, but it’s a simple way we should all chose to live. You can make a difference in your neighborhood or community 365-days a year by giving of your time, talents and resources and simply being present. In many of our rural communities, people became more friendly during the “shelter-inplace” time. People waved and smiled as they met you on the road. They reached out more. School kids wrote letters to shut-ins. The world became friendly. Let’s keep these smiles going and continue to lend a hand, every day.

Community Involvement Leads to Business Awareness

Giving back to your community and the people within it usually leaves the giver with a great sense of accomplishment and good will. However, if your business and its employees take time to get involved in community events, it will spread that sense of giving even further and spread brand awareness and business loyalty within your community.

While you and your business are making a societal impact, you are also actually doing good things for your business and employee morale. Studies have shown that a business’s involvement in community outreach will actually strengthen employee retention, especially with younger employees who have been taught the value of giving back through school and other organizations. And, while employee retention might not sound like a big deal, it is actually huge when it comes to the cost of replacing an employee. The recruiting, hiring and training process can cost a company thousands of dollars. Here are four other ways you can make a positive impact on your business while helping others in the community.

Increase Brand/Business Awareness

When you get involved in community events, you represent not only yourself, but your business. Introduce yourself that way. Others that you are working with will likely be curious about what you do/make/sell. And chances are, someone you are volunteering with that day will have a need for some good or service you offer. Remember, a majority of households have pets, and BioZyme ® markets canine products. You can also use the opportunity to promote your good will on your company website or social media. Take photos of your employees giving back and put them out on social media or make a display board in your store. Local customers are more likely to do and continue business with companies that are involved in the community.

Connect with the Community

It seems obvious that if you are participating in community service events that you are making connections. But your connections can lead to an amazing network of professionals, potential customers and employees. Maybe you have been thinking about engaging in social media, but don’t have the time, patience or skill set to post everything you want on your company Facebook or Twitter. When you are volunteering your time, you might just find someone who is capable of working on social media on a part-time basis, or you might be able to find other ways to connect by joining professional organizations or service groups.

Make a Difference

In a day where the nightly news is filled with so much bad isn’t it time to make a difference? You never know what the impact might be of a meal served to a shut-in or volunteering for a community Easter egg hunt will mean to a child who might not ever receive an Easter basket. Although giving back is sometimes thankless, the small smiles, hand squeezes and simplicity of knowing you made the difference to at least one person should make you want to give your time and efforts.

Grow Internal Relationships

At the beginning of this article, it was mentioned that employee retention is just one benefit of community involvement. However, if your business can devote a half-day or day to the community, it will give your employees a chance to build greater bonds, come together outside of work and appreciate one another as humans and not just co-workers. Having strengthened relationships outside the company will increase employee morale and leave a positive impression on the employees, giving them a great sense of ownership in a company that supports its community.

Giving back. It’s good for the soul, and it’s good for business. Not only does it feel good to give your time and talents, it might just help you increase company morale and grow your business at the same time.

Host a Holiday Open House

It’s the time of year for holiday parties, Christmas cookies and egg nog. Sounds like a great reason to host an open house at your business. An open house doesn’t need to be extravagant, costly or time consuming. However, it is a great way to open your doors to the community, your customers and spread some extra cheer during the winter.

If you have an actual store, especially in town or on the edge of town, perhaps hosting an open house makes a lot of sense. It is a chance to promote your business and share in the spirit of the holidays. Often, smaller towns will have a holiday parade, dedicate one night a week when they are open later for shopping or have a community bazaar. These are ideal times to hang a little garland, turn on the coffee pot and host your open house.

If you are an on-farm dealer, you can still host an open house; it might just take a little more planning and preparation. You might put more effort into promoting your event and issuing invitations. You can tidy up the shop or barn where you store product, and still put on the coffee and show your appreciation for your customers – your community.

First, you need to establish a date when you will host your open house. Find out when other events are happening and if it makes sense, plan your open house with those. If there are not a lot of other community holiday events, plan your event during a time when there are not other local community events like a basketball game or concert. Promote your event through local advertising, your store sign, a poster on your door and your social media channels. You might even want to make some phone calls to key customers or potential customers.

Next, plan what will make your open house special from regular store hours. Will you offer food and beverage? What will that involve? Are you thinking sugar cookies and punch? Meat balls in the crock pot with cheese and crackers? Or something more substantial like sandwiches and chips? Whatever you do plan, make sure you have plenty to offer. Nothing is worse than having an event and running out of food.

Provide a learning opportunity. Especially if you are a storefront, maybe not everyone in the community knows what products or services you offer. Make yourself available to share your story or have some type of game or entertainment to showcase the products. Think a store scavenger hunt or BioZyme® Bingo.

Give back to the community. Perhaps you can have a toy drive for local kids or a pet supply drive for the local animal shelter. Make it interactive – bring in a toy or purchase a bag of dog food to leave for the pet shelter and get a $5 off coupon toward your next purchase. There are a variety of ways to give to others this time of year.

If you are an on-farm dealer, your open house might resemble that an open house where you get together with friends, neighbors and customers. People are always looking for a good reason to slow down for bowl of soup and good conversation. And remember, you can also take part in community opportunities and spread the cheer.

For more ideas on hosting a holiday open house, contact Ashley Fitzsimmons at afitzsimmons@biozymeinc.com or (307) 575-1082.

Community Support Comes in all Sizes

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

This quote by Helen Keller epitomizes the spirit of community, especially at this “most wonderful time of the year.” It is often hard to think about those less fortunate in our communities and how we’d like to help them, especially with the agricultural economy in its up and down cycle. We are busy paying our own bills and trying to provide a nice holiday for our families. However, if we come together with our coworkers, friends, a church group, or another organization we can make a difference without breaking the bank.

One thing that BioZyme® did during November is gather food for community food banks. That’s right; employees across many locations including St. Joseph, Mo., Haskell, Texas, and Area Sales Managers and other remote workers gathered nonperishable food items for local food banks. Between the St. Joseph and the off-site workers, employees had the potential to donate to 30 banks in 16 different states from Pennsylvania to Texas to Montana to Missouri.

One employee visited a local grocery store where she purchased two cases of canned vegetables, four cans of chicken, a large tub of peanut butter (think non-perishable protein), a box of crackers, a jar of meaty spaghetti sauce and a box of pasta for less than $25. If each person gives similarly, that can feed several people for several meals. And in that employee’s mind, that is two trips through a fast-food drive through for her family or roughly four “foo-foo” coffees for when she gets to the big city – not a major sacrifice for others that are truly in need.

Perhaps your town has a local soup kitchen. Those places are always looking for volunteers to make and serve a meal. Would it really hurt business to shut down to a skeleton crew for a few hours one day to go and serve the community? Perhaps leave a few employees at the store to serve your customers but take the rest to the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter to help prepare and/or serve a meal. The gratitude levels do vary, but your personal satisfaction in knowing you made a difference will soar.

Several organizations typically have an opportunity to “adopt a family” by providing gifts and holiday meals for families that might not otherwise have a nice holiday. Adopting a family as a company might seem daunting or not in the budget, but if your company and its employees work together to adopt a family it can be a little easier on everyone’s checkbooks and make a lasting impact on a family. I remember when I worked at another company, we adopted a family with four or five kids one year, and they all needed winter coats and wanted bicycles. Well, we worked with the local Wal-Mart and K-Marts in town to get bikes at reduced rates when we told them what we were doing. Several of my male co-workers who didn’t really want to “shop” all pitched in a set amount – probably around $20 – and we made sure that family had bikes and warm coats. I signed up to help with the delivery that year. And even though we contacted the mom to see if she wanted to have the bikes be from “Santa” she refused. She wanted her kids to know that kind people gifted her kids those bikes. I’ve never seen 7 and 8-year-olds cry tears of joy for coats and bikes, and it was truly one of the best Christmases I’ve ever experienced.

Giving back. It is more fun to do as a group and the impact is often greater. It doesn’t have to put a big hit on one person or company’s checkbook if we all work together to make a few sacrifices to give to those less fortunate. And together, we can do so much more.

Get Involved in the Community

For business people there is no better way to receive recognition within your community than to become involved in the community where your business is located. That is especially true if you are a smaller or specialized business that not everyone might have a purpose to support on a regular basis (like a feed mill or feed and farm store.)

Taking an active role in your community is important for a number of reasons. Here are 5 ways we encourage you to get involved in your community, year-round; not just during the holidays. You might just meet some new customers while you’re at it.

Community Boards. Most communities have a plethora of boards that are always looking for people to serve on them. These can include school boards, hospital boards, extension boards, 4-H boards, FFA alumni boards, cattlemen’s boards and the list goes on and on. Remember, pick organizations that you are truly passionate about helping, and don’t spread yourself too thin. A volunteer that has too many irons in the fire is often not as helpful as one would like.

If you have never used the hospital and you are a normally healthy person who doesn’t think you’ll ever be in the hospital, perhaps that board isn’t for you. However, if you are a cow-calf producer, trying to educate consumers on the benefits of eating healthy, lean red meat, then perhaps a role on the county cattlemen’s board would be ideal.

Volunteer. Volunteering shows that you are willing to give your time – one of your most valuable assets. You might volunteer with the local ag groups like 4-H and FFA to help them with educating youth or running a judging contest or clinic. Or you might volunteer to coach youth wrestling, teach Sunday night youth group or help with a cause like Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Whatever you volunteer for, make sure it is something you are passionate about doing and have time to make a priority. No one appreciates a volunteer that is always “too busy” to meet their commitments.

Build partnerships. If you are getting involved with your community, building partnerships would seem logical. Perhaps you are building a partnership with a local feedlot to run a mineral trial. Or maybe you find a way to build a partnership with a local high school ag class. The opportunity for agricultural businesses to partner, share promotions and advertising budgets and even costs for producer meetings are endless.

Offer internships. Young labor is typically inexpensive and hardy. Are you looking for someone to help in the store after school and on weekends? What about one of these young “techno-kids” that could help you with your social media presence. Young people are always looking for “real-world” experiences, and often are willing to work for little money or the experience they can list on their resumes.

Host & participate in events. As livestock nutrition suppliers, it would make sense that you would host and participate in events, like judging clinics, livestock shows, barrel racings and ropings. However, you chose to participate in these events, be sure to get your company name exposed as much as possible so others in the area know who the title sponsor is.

Getting involved in the community – it’s probably something you do anyway. Take the time to make a difference in someone’s life and the future of your community. You might just meet a new customer along the way.