Dealer Spotlight: Cottor Farms Excels in Diversification

“We wish we would have gotten started with BioZyme® products sooner,” said Leo Sanftner, of Cottor Farms, Osceola, Wisconsin.

That’s a pretty strong sentiment from an 11-year veteran dealer who sells everything from VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® for breeding success to Vita Charge® Liquid Boost® to show rabbit customers, and even mixes AO-Biotics® Amaferm® into their own custom layer feed.

Sanftner, long-time employee of Cottor Farms, said he was first introduced to the BioZyme family of brands by former ASM Dorothy Orts at a bull sale when she recommended the Vita Charge tubes to jump start newborn calves. As they say, the rest is history.

According to Sanftner, once they saw how well the calves responded to the Amaferm in the Vita Charge, they started expanding their product offering to other BioZyme brands. Today, he said they have a majority of their customers on the fly control mineral for the summer. Cottor Farms mixes their own feed and serves both Wisconsin and Minnesota, being so close to the state line. They will average three tons of layer feed per week that includes Amaferm.

“We have very few dairy cows up here. Most of our customers have beef cattle, hogs and chickens. We cater to the smaller customers. We are smaller; they trust us,” Sanftner said.

Their mission is to go above and beyond when it comes to customer care. Sanftner said he will deliver feed up to 100 miles away for customers who need it, primarily larger customers and those who have show animals. They have also created signs for their show livestock and show rabbit families with the same statement: “Go above and beyond with Cottor Farms.”

Cottor Farms also supplies Maple Hill Feed & Farm Supply in Maple, Wisconsin, with their BioZyme products, including Backyard Boost® products and layer feed they needed for a recent Chick Days event. He said they will also conduct horse and beef clinics at the store; however, most of the promotion and education comes from him visiting personally with customers or through their social media. A new website is in development to be launched early this summer.

From chickens, rabbits and hogs to cattle and horses, there are no customers too big or small for Cottor Farms when it comes to showing care that comes full circle. Thank you for being leaders in species and brand diversification and hitting the target on one of BioZyme’s core goals!

Dealer Spotlight: Kentucky Distributor is Family Focused

If there’s one word to describe Central Farm Supply of Kentucky, it’s family. This family owned-and-operated BioZyme® distributor is based in Louisville, Kentucky. However, as a wholesale distributor to more than 700 stores from Kentucky to Virginia and points in between, its family has grown immensely since it was first established.

“We’re family owned, but every one of our dealers is part of our family. Our company was built on service, and that is still our strong suit,” said Larry Manning, Sales Manager, whose brother, Tommy, started the company in 1985.

Central Farm maintains a fleet of 10 tractors and 25 trailers. The fleet of trucks along with their 10 drivers allows them to be in control of the service they provide to their dealers, which has always been one of their strengths, but has become even more evident in the last few years in the midst of all the supply chain and distribution issues everyone experienced due to COVID.

Although Central Farm Supply of Kentucky has a long history in the agricultural industry, it is in its fifth year as a BioZyme dealer. Manning said incorporating the VitaFerm® line, and subsequently other BioZyme products, provided their customers with a premium product to offer their customers. He said with so many dealers that they distribute to, the need exists to have a product for every level of producer.

“We have to be able to offer products that fit every cattleman in our market. The VitaFerm products are premium cattle supplements that fit a lot of our cattle producer customers,” Manning said.

He suggests that every dealer discovers their market and knows who their customer is and what every customer wants in order to find success. Some will be happy with a salt block, some want the cheapest mineral they can buy, but those who truly keep records on their cattle operation will immediately see the results of using the BioZyme products.

Central Farm views their relationship with their dealers as a partnership. In order for Central Farm Supply to continue to be successful that partnership also includes their vendors. Since the early days, Central Farm has fostered the relationship between the dealers and vendors, by offering a buying show each October, so their dealers can come to Louisville to meet with their top vendors, exchange ideas and participate in “trade show specials” offered that day. Manning said it is truly a family event where dealers bring the entire family, including kids and grandkids for food, fun, entertainment and great deals during this one-day event.

The business actively uses BioZyme’s and other companies marketing tools, like Promoboxx and participates in quarterly dealer mailers. They also have four sales reps.

“I’d give BioZyme an A-plus in the marketing of their products when it comes to creating brand awareness and tying those brands to the dealers and distributors. Marketing is their real strength,” Manning said.

Family is important to Central Farm Supply of Kentucky, and it is important to BioZyme, too. We are certainly proud to have you in the BioZyme family, continuing that care that comes full circle!

Dealer Spotlight: Oklahoma Dealer Shares Passion for Products

Some might call it fate. Others might say it was destiny. However, it came to fruition, Wood Cattle Company, Vinita, Oklahoma, is sure of one thing – the timing was right, and they are glad to be BioZyme® dealers.

Patti and Chad Wood are long-time users of the VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® products. They had used them for years on their registered Red Angus herd in Wisconsin. When they relocated to Oklahoma, where the feedstuffs and forages were totally different, they were instructed that they would need to switch up their mineral program.

“We didn’t use it for a while, and the Genex rep who breeds our cows for us, told us to go back to the VitaFerm to see if we noticed changes. It was a night and day difference with the Concept•Aid. Not only in our conception rates, but in our feet, in our hide and hair. Down here in the heat and with the fescue, the HEAT mineral makes a world of difference, too,” Patti said.

No one nearby consistently kept the mineral on hand. Patti’s father-in-law was also bringing them commodities to mix their own feed. That is when they discovered an Umbarger dealer close to him. However, once they tried and decided they liked the Umbarger feeds, that dealer decided to quit his business, too. So, the Woods family took matters into their own hands.

They contacted Umbarger and became a dealer and opened a feedstore on their farm. They have been BioZyme dealers since 2018, and according to Patti, were thankful for the timing with the pandemic hitting just two years later.

“We never intended to have a feedstore. We moved from just outside Madison, Wisconsin, where there are lots of people and activities to Big Cabin, Oklahoma, which is very remote. Some of our best friends are the people we have met through our feedstore. We were busy through the pandemic, and this just fell into our lap,” Patti said.

She added that the products sell themselves, and she would never sell anything she doesn’t use or hasn’t tried herself, one of the reasons she feels like her sales have grown. She was hesitant about the Backyard Boost® line until she tried it at first. Now, she carries it and highly recommends it.

“Backyard Boost Defense is simply amazing! I picked up chicks from the post office. They were lethargic, droopy eyes, and I thought I would definitely lose some. I dipped all their beaks in water, and they fought me. I then took the water and added Backyard Boost, I walked out and left them. I came back 15 minutes later, and all the chicks were drinking and had drunk half of the water I put in with the Backyard Boost in it. All my chicks are alive, healthy and happy,” she said on one of her social media posts.

Patti relies on social media and word of mouth as her primary marketing tools. She also offers service and advice whenever needed. If someone comes in asking for Concept•Aid, for example, she will ask specific questions to learn their challenges to discover exactly which mineral they need. She also offers delivery, lives right at the farm so if someone needs “emergency mineral” can get it for them on a weekend, and her customers can see the Vita Charge® Stress Tubs in her kids’ show calves pens so they might ask questions, leading to more education and sales.

Her ”old school mentality” of service helps her gain customers and sales. Since her family does show, she will look for customers at the shows and offer them advice and help, as she wants to see everyone succeed.

“We’ve used the products. We know they work, and we believe in them, both from a seedstock operation and show program perspective. We have a passion for them, and for dealers to be successful, they need to be able to share that passion, too,” Patti encouraged.

Thank you for your passion, Patti. You are an example of care that comes full circle!

Dealer Spotlight: Reiss Seed Inc

Seeing is believing. That is what it took for one Western Kansas livestock producer to determine if he wanted to become a BioZyme® dealer or not. Val Reiss, Reiss Seed Inc., Weskan, Kansas, had heard about the products that BioZyme offered. He decided to try them on his own cow herd to see what the hype was about, and he chose the drought year of 2020 for his trial run. 

“I didn’t want to sell anything that I hadn’t tried or believed in. That year, our cows held their condition, and I give the credit to the Amaferm® in the mineral. Since I have been feeding VitaFerm® Concept•Aid®, my pregnancy rates and A.I. rates have been up,” Reiss said. 

Once he was convinced the products worked, he realized BioZyme products would be fairly easy to sell out in the heart of cattle country. As neighbors and other producers drove down the road, they could see his cattle perform. They looked in more optimal condition, and when using the HEAT® products, they weren’t bunched and had fewer flies on them.  

Reiss said he also had two friends who unknowingly to him were VitaFerm users but had been driving 100 miles one-way to purchase their mineral. One was about to quit the VitaFerm products until he discovered that Reiss had become a dealer. Living in a rural area, he is glad to provide a quality product to the people who are looking for it. 

With another extreme drought year in 2022, he can’t stress the importance of selling Amaferm as a tool to help cattle when feed supplies are low. In addition to using Amaferm as a selling point, Reiss said the reputation that VitaFerm has is second to none. The fact that BioZyme provides options to producers is huge for dealers like him. 

“A product like VitaFerm Conserve® opens up a ton of windows for people who want to try Amaferm and give their herd vitamins and minerals. Once they see how well that product works at a lower price point, they are sometimes willing to work up to Concept•Aid, thinking the higher price will work even better,” he said. 

Reiss uses a variety of marketing tools that BioZyme provides. He appreciates the fact that his ASM has also fed the products and understands their value. He also is a big believer in producer meetings as a networking tool and a way for other producers to learn from their peers. 

Seeing is what it took to get Reiss to believe in the BioZyme products, and this Master Dealer hasn’t slowed down since signing on. His strong belief in the product helps him share the benefits. He also knows that not every operation is the same. His advice to newer dealers is to learn the desires of the producer and focus your marketing on what they are looking for. 

“Each operation is different. Some are looking for a Cadillac. Others are looking for a Chevy Cruz. Taylor to each cow herd and the desires of the owners.”  

Thanks for believing in the BioZyme brands, Val, and for showing your customers the care that comes full circle!  

 

Dealer Spotlight: Boyce Feed & Grain Corp

Boyce Feed & Grain Corp in Waxahachie, Texas, is more than your average feed store. They are a full-service feed mill and distributor with a concentrated focus on marketing. In their 16th year as BioZyme® dealer, they have grown the business exponentially and even changed ownership with Andrew Lucas and his family buying the business last January; however, a few things remain constant. Boyce continues to carry BioZyme products, and they focus on helping their customers.

“We’re not just another feed mill or distributor. Our goal is to continue to grow and while doing that we want to help other feed stores. We are a feed store, so we know their struggles too,” Lucas said.

They offer their leadership and assistance in a variety of ways across the Lone Star State, delivering products to at least 250 other feed stores. This spring, they worked with their Area Sales Manager and the BioZyme Marketing Team to wrap a semi-trailer with the Boyce and BioZyme logos and a Sure Champ® and VitaFerm® message that serves as a traveling billboard as the company makes its deliveries. They are hoping to wrap a second trailer with a VitaFerm and Vitalize® message this spring.

“We’re running up and down the road, and customers see that truck. We are creating marketing with very little push,” Lucas said.

Marketing is key for Boyce, and the business actively promotes across various channels including radio, social media and weekly mailers. Lucas said about 300 invoices are sent each week, each time with a different product or brand featured in the envelope to their customers.

All these efforts take a team, and Lucas encourages anyone getting started in the nutrition business or with any business makes sure they have a good support system to succeed.

“Make sure you have a good team behind you. Create strategic partnerships quickly,” he suggested.

The partnerships they have made and the ways they continue to help their partners and customers succeed by providing them “high-quality and consistent” products show that Boyce Feed truly exemplifies care that comes full circle. We’re glad to have them on the BioZyme Team.

Dealer Spotlight: Darlington Feed, LLC

Show us a dealer with ambition, a wide network of diverse producers and a willingness to use the tools provided, and we’ll show you Darlington Feed, LLC. Matt Weigel at Darlington, Wisconsin, has been a BioZyme dealer for nine years, and says the best thing about the BioZyme products is that they always do what they say they will.

“I’m not selling them anything. I feel like I am helping my customers,” he said. “Whenever I am talking to anyone – in the store or somewhere else, I ask them ‘how are things at the ranch?’. They will always tell you what is wrong, then you know what to offer them to help them. It’s a simple conversation starter to help them.”

Weigel and his staff are helping a diverse group of producers. He said his team does a great job and is always confident selling the BioZyme products, knowing the products will do what they are needed to do.

One of his most popular products is VitaFerm® Concept•Aid® 5/S; however, the Vita Charge® Clench Gel is also increasing in demand with the dairies in his area. Dairy producers like to keep 2-3 cases of Clench Gel on hand when calving.

Another event that has grown for Darlington Feed is Chick Days, and Weigel has seen the benefits of putting Backyard Boost® in his chicks’ water.

Not only does he recognize the diversity and quality of products that he gets from BioZyme, but he also appreciates the presence that the marketing and sales staff offers from the tools they provide from signage and training.

“Everything is there for you to use. You just have to use it,” he said.

In 2022, Weigel was able to build his own store, giving customers a brighter, neater shopping experience. He said the investment shows his customers there is security in his business, and he intends to be able to provide them service for the long haul.

In addition to building his own store front, he has partnered with Eastland Feed, who has the ability to manufacture feed for him and adds Amaferm® to rations when customers request it.

BioZyme is proud to have ambitious, young dealers who use the tools that are offered to them to provide care that comes full circle. Thanks, Darlington Feed, for being a BioZyme dealer!

Dealer Spotlight: Maddock Sales

In the northern part of North Dakota, there is a BioZyme® dealer who doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. He raises livestock, works for the local school district, sells and rents a variety of equipment, and he sells BioZyme products. Greg Maddock, owner of Maddock Sales, said VitaFerm® is his number one seller and with results that a customers can see with their own eyes, it’s easy to sell. 

Greg’s involvement with the BioZyme products all started with a family friend, Dorothy Orts, former BioZyme ASM whose husband was also the ag teacher in Maddock, North Dakota, where Greg and his wife, Marla, live. Greg recalls that they were experiencing a bad drought, and he had started feeding his cows large, square hay bales. Dorothy had encouraged him to try the VitaFerm mineral, and he gave in, buying 10 bags. He knew exactly what his cows had been eating. 

“When I started them on the VitaFerm mineral, they cut down on their consumption. The cows did well on the mineral; they looked good on it. I was sold,” Greg said. “There were no dealers in our area, and Dorothy convinced me to become a dealer. If you know Dorothy, you knew she bled VitaFerm.” 

Believing in the product and sharing the results is the most effective sales tactic that Greg employs. He shares his business on his Facebook page and also has a website. For newer dealers, he encourages them to try the products first so they can see the benefits for themselves, and if they don’t have livestock, he suggests having a neighbor try the products and watching their livestock change and improve. 

“It’s an easy product to believe in, and it sells itself. BioZyme has a great line-up for the whole season from conception to fly control to weaning time,” he said. 

And just as the product line is diverse, so are Greg’s other livelihoods. He is a bus driver and maintains all the buses for the Maddock School District. He also runs about 100 Angus cows and backgrounds their calves. His herd also includes 35 Bison cows. He has developed a niche market for the Bison meat and offers trophy hunts for the older bulls ever few years. And yes, the Bison also get the VitaFerm. 

“I’m a big believer in diversification and specialty farms and ranches,” he said. 

We’re glad you’re a big believer in BioZyme and its product lines, Greg. It’s always good to hear from one of Dorothy’s friends who turned into a dealer. That’s the care that comes full circle. 

Montana Veterinarian Shares the Amaferm® Advantage with her Clients

Seeing is believing. And that is exactly what happened in 2010, when Beth Blevins, DVM, and her daughter Michaela experienced their first BioZyme® products at the National Junior Angus Show in Denver. Michaela had hauled a steer and heifer two states south of her native Montana and as luck would have it, her steer decided to quit eating. 

“Dennis Delaney was working the BioZyme booth and gave us some Vita Charge® capsules to try on him. He went back on feed and started drinking. We saw some impressive results. That fall Dennis came to Montana for some meetings, and we decided to sign up as dealers,” Beth said. 

Beth and her husband own and operate a registered Angus ranch near Ronan, Montana, and Beth is also a veterinarian, owning All Creatures Mobile Veterinary Clinic. She specializes as a large animal veterinarian and says that the precision nutrition that BioZyme offers helps her help her clients. 

“VitaFerm ® Concept•Aid® is totally amazing at helping cows get bunched up at breeding time, and calves will start eating it when they are about a week old, so it helps prevent scours in them. I sell a lot of DuraFerm® to goat and sheep producers and am actually getting more meat goat breeders all the time. And the Vita Charge Clench gel is one of the best products to help with diarrhea,” she said. 

Although she specializes in large animals, she said her ranch clients have ranch dogs that have taken to the Vitalize® K9 products, and she has also helped a Husky owner whose pups suffered long-term diarrhea until she treated them and got their stomachs back to normal with the Vitalize Dog Gel. 

She said the litter of three pups had suffered from diarrhea for most of their first four months of life with no break. Beth treated them with a five-day fenbendazole deworming treatment accompanied with the Vitalize Dog Gel to restore the normal gut flora. She said that particular owner is now a Vitalize believer too.  

Additionally, Beth said that although dog is often man or woman’s best friend, their nutritional needs are often neglected. Ranch dogs are notorious for munching on the placentas after calving, which can cause stomach upset, and she often suggests Vitalize Dog Gel for ranch dogs who aren’t feeling their best. She also said many of her equine clients have seen amazing results with the Vitalize Alimend® and have also tried the Vitalize Alimed K9 for their dogs. She has personally experienced great results with the dog food with Amaferm®

“We have two pugs, and when I switched their feed, gave them the same amount that I was giving them before. They gained five pounds in three weeks! I had to cut their portions down by one-third. I have a friend with labs, and she said with the larger dogs, to cut their food down in half to prevent weight gain,” Beth said. “Their coats are shinier. The coats are the window to what is going on inside of the body.” 

Regardless of if Beth is selling VitaFerm mineral for cows, Sure Champ ® for a show customer or Vitalize Dog Gel to a small animal that has had too much afterbirth, she said word of mouth is often her best marketing tool. She said the products generally sell themselves once people see the results, just like they did for her and Michaela more than a decade ago. 

“You sell the first bag of mineral, and the cows will sell the rest,” she said. 

She has taken advantage of other marketing tools BioZyme offers and encourages others dealers to as well. She has had clients buy products after receiving the quarterly post card in the mail. She also shares the Promoboxx content and likes that it is available for her to use on her own social media. 

As a vet, she said a quality nutrition program and a good vaccination program go a long way in keeping animals healthy and being proactive is best. 

Thanks Beth for being a long-time dealer and sharing care that comes full circle!  

Dealer Spotlight: Results Lead Lazy SK to Believing in Amaferm ® Advantage

Seeing is believing. That’s what it took to get Spike Buffington hooked on the BioZyme® products. Spike, a Montana rancher, who has been involved in the cattle business his entire life, had never heard of the products five years ago. But when he went to work for his wife’s uncle and saw the way it worked on that cow herd, he became a became a believer. 

“I liked what I saw. The cows seemed healthier, and they looked healthier. I studied about the Amaferm® in the VitaFerm products. That seems to make a big difference,” he said. 

Since there wasn’t a dealer very close to his family’s ranch, Spike decided to become a BioZyme dealer, under the name of Lazy SK LLC, to be able to access the products more easily near Miles City, Montana. He said with a ranch to tend to and four kids, he wasn’t looking for another full-time job, but more of a sideline.  

Even as a “sideline” business, Spike has been able to grow his BioZyme dealership as word spreads from rancher to rancher. In the big country where his located, larger herds of commercial cow-calf operations exist. He interacts with the ranchers and shares the benefits of the Amaferm in the VitaFerm line, his most popular products. He has diversified to offer DuraFerm® and Vitalize®.  

“The results are noticeable. If a guy hasn’t fed a mineral for a while or is a new customer, they will notice the visual things right away. The hair coat quality is better and on black cattle, the color turns a true black,” Spike said. “Overall, my customers find their herd health is better and with the Concept•Aid®, their conception rates are better.” 

He shares a story about a customer who switched to Concept•Aid, who saw a 10% jump in his herd’s conception rates and weaned off calves 25 pounds heavier than previous years – during a drought. Both Spike and his customer credit the nutrition program with those results since that is the only change that ranch had made in at least two decades.  

Spike uses the resources and tools that BioZyme offers and suggest that other dealers do as well. From the marketing support to ASMs, he said the people are professional and have helped him promote a good product. 

“Lean on your ASM. If they don’t know the answer, they will find it for you. The Marketing Team does great, professional work and is easy to work with. Everyone just wants to see you succeed,” he said. 

When seeing is believing, and that is backed up with results – that defines “Care that Comes Full Circle.” Thanks for being a great promoter of Amaferm and the BioZyme products, Spike! We’re glad you’re part of the BioZyme family.