news for all mba consultants, staff and...

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BioBioBioBio-- -- Consultant News

Consultant News

Consultant News

Consultant News

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L. 17,

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Dec. 2014

This is a Midwestern BioAg in-house publication, and pages 1-6 are NOT to be copied and/or distributed without permission.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE on PAGE

From our CEO’s desk 2

News from Around MBA 3

Sales Tip of the Month 4

Dec. 16 meeting agenda and other details 5

Latest Update: 2015 winter meeting schedule

Research program report

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6

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Happy Holidays fromHappy Holidays fromHappy Holidays fromHappy Holidays from Midwestern BioAgMidwestern BioAgMidwestern BioAgMidwestern BioAg

Bio-Consultant News Dec. 2014

Dear Team Members,

The year is nearly over! How

time flies. I hope that everyone

had a great Thanksgiving holiday

and you are well prepared for

Christmas and the other winter

holidays. I know that I still have

a lot of shopping to do.

As you heard, on November 5,

2014, we formally merged our

Iowa and Kalona operations with

the rest of the company. It is an

exciting time as we pull more of

the team together under one

roof. The integration has been

going well and I want to thank

everyone who played a role, and

continues to play a role, in pull-

ing this together. In particular,

Jen Hasburgh has been extraor-

dinary in managing this proc-

ess. It is a real challenge to keep

all of the details together and to

push, pull, prod, lure each of the

managers and team members to

complete their assigned

tasks. She did it with a firm hand

and a graceful presence. Thank

you Jen!

We are starting a major new

advertising campaign. We have

created an advertising campaign

that is based around the concept

“Farm to Your Full Potential” – a

focus on talking to farmers about

what they can do to increase

yields and overcome obsta-

cles. The other key element in

this campaign will be an ac-

From the CEO’s desk... knowledgment

of how we

work with

farmers – call-

ing it our one-

to-one soil

management

program

where we

work individu-

ally with cus-

tomers to help

them under-

stand the op-

portunities to improve their soils

and increase the potential of their

farms.

At the heart of the campaign

will be what we call a micro-

website dedicated to the cam-

paign. It will be called

Farmtoyourfullpotential.com. The

microsite will allow potential cus-

tomers to find information about

consultants in their region. We

are looking to put forward a more

personal face to our approach to

new customers on the web. The

campaign also includes print, ra-

dio and online ads and will be

intensive through this winter and

spring. We envision that it will

morph as we go along, shifting to

a different emphasis in the sum-

mer and fall. It should be the

start of a much more active ad-

vertising and branding ef-

fort. Please let us know what

you think!

We are also upgrading our pres-

ence at the various winter and

spring conferences, winter meet-

ings and other venues. There will

be new banner and booth materi-

als that will be available for con-

ferences. I think that we will ex-

pand the number and kinds of

conferences that we attend, in

particular to reach more of the

larger conventional farms that

might use technologies like zone-

till that are particularly well

matched to our fertilizers.

I look forward to seeing many of

you at the Dec 16, 2014 dealer

meeting. We will be trying out

our new video conferencing sys-

tem to see if it improves the

visuals and sound to the people

who attend remotely. We will

also have to see if it fixes my

“jinx” where the microphones

misbehave when it is my voice

that is being broadcast!! This

new video conferencing system

has hard-wired machines at each

of the blending facilities and

seems to do a great job in making

remote meetings more comfort-

able and clear. This will be the

first attempt to use it at a remote

location.

Finally, please remember to set

aside January 9-11, 2015 for the

Company Appreciation Week-

end. I am really looking forward

to seeing you all there. We have

much to celebrate about this past

year’s successes and we have an

exciting future ahead of us. Have

a wonderful holiday!

Cheers, Tony

Anthony “Tony”

Michaels, Ph.D. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Midwestern BioAg


Tony Michaels


Minnesota

It was a short fall season—

winter has arrived early in Minne-

sota. “We’ve been wrapping up

our fall spreading sea-

son” as weather al-

lows, says Travis Mathi-

son, and are now tran-

sitioning to filling the

shed. Prepay is also underway.

“Guys are talking about shaving

News from around MBA every penny they can on ex-

penses,” says Travis, especially

the corn and bean guys will find it

challenging to make cash flow.

“They will be looking at every

possible way to save a buck or

two.”

Most crops have been harvested.

Iowa

Iowa is finishing up the final de-

tails of merging that operation

fully into Midwestern BioAg,

which officially took

place just last

month, and Bob

Yanda takes on the

tasks of VP for business develop-

ment.

During the warm spells be-

tween the cold and snow Iowa

has been spreading fertilizer as

they finish off the fall work.

Bob’s consultant tip: “Farmers

are still making decisions. Guys

are still fairly positive,” he notes.

Midwestern BioAg

10955 Blackhawk Dr,

Blue Mounds, WI 53517

1-800-327-6012

———————————————

Wisconsin

1-800-228-2189 ———————————

Black Creek, WI

1-855-347-7645 ———————————

Minnesota

1-866-485-4300 ———————————

Michigan

1-888-825-9373 ———————————

Iowa

1-888-465-3503 —————————

www.midwesternbioag.com

Utica


MBA Calendar

Dec. 2-4: MBA booth at the

Northern Ag Expo


Greater Peoria Farm Show

Dec. 4-6: Acres USA confer-

ence, Hyatt Regency Hotel,

Columbus, OH


Nebraska Power Farming

Show


Northwestern Illinois Farm

Show

Dec. 16: MBA Consultant

meeting, Ten Pin Alley, Madi-

son

Dec. 25: Merry Christmas

Jan. 1: Happy New Year

Jan. 5: Prepay deadline for

dry fertilizer orders

Jan.7-8: Northern IL farm

show

Jan. 9-10: Midwestern BioAg

Company Appreciation Week-

end, Wisconsin Dells, WI

“Don’t get hung up on the doom

and gloom.” Stay positive. “If fertil-

izer dollars get tight, it makes even

more sense to use the right materi-

als and balanced nutrition.” Fine

tune the system that goes into

growing the crop. Farmers can’t

afford to lose yield.

Wisconsin

AcresUSA and Peoria, IL kickoff

MBA’s winter trade show schedule.

We have several goals for attending

these events: to promote our logo

and name recognition and generate

qualified leads. “Acres is always a

fun show,” says Tim Williams.

“We’re well known there” while

Peoria is a newer event for

MBA.

“There’s still lots of

corn to come off. That’s

really slowing things

down,” reports Tim of field condi-

tions in Wisconsin, especially the

central and northern parts of the

state. Many farmers are still focus-

ing on getting crops off the field.

Corn and soybean farmers are nerv-

ous and concerned, while dairy

farmers are in a better position.

Tim is seeing “a lot of (dairy) farm

improvements are taking place be-

cause of milk prices.” They’re re-

placing worn out and outdated

buildings and equipment.

Every consultant is encouraged to

have a winter meeting of some

sort. If you’re not hosting a full day

event, then small groups or round

tables are excellent alternatives. A

noon meeting and an evening meet-

ing can be scheduled for the same

day, utilizing the time and travel of

the same speaker.

Consultants can also take select

customers and/or prospects to the

(Continued on page 4)


Throughout my sales career one thing I found extremely help-

ful in being a success in growing

a business is consistency. Estab-

lishing an area or territory and

committing to revisit that area on

a rotational basis is one key to

sales and customer relationship

building.

“Repetition Builds Reputation”

is the catch phrase to remember.

Staying on a schedule, be it

weekly, bi-weekly or monthly

shows the prospects in that area

you are committed to their opera-

tion.

During my sales

management tenure

at Crown Battery

Manufacturing I es-

tablished an overnight

sales route that was

new territory (we sold

batteries to parts

stores, marinas, repair

shops etc.). Ron

Losier was the route

salesman. He agreed to do the

route within his time frame.

So, every two weeks Ron

would spend two days through-

out the area. His first experience

of responses to him stopping was

“not interested”, “who are you

with never heard of them”, “did

you say clown battery”? Well

that kind of response went on as

Ron would continue to call on

new prospects. However, he was

accepted and was not told to

stay away so he continued to

work the territory.

Everyone became more com-

fortable around Ron when he

would stop. He would present

new products, specials, etc. and

once in a while would sell a little.

Then one day he came into my

office and said “Matt, I don’t

think this is working out. I just

can’t get the business.” I said

let’s give it one more month. He

agreed.

Well the next time he returned

from the two day route he began

to pick up nice accounts. He was

excited. I asked him what hap-

pened and he replied, “they

wanted to see if I was going to

stick it out and not quit before

they committed.” That is true in

most every business.

“The hard ones to get

are the hard ones to

lose.” I think it is impor-

tant to realize the poten-

tial customer is not one

to quit his current sup-

plier unless he or she is

truly unsatisfied with the

current program, is look-

ing for more than their

current supplier is offer-

ing, or has an accounts payable

issue.

Getting to know prospective

customers on a regular basis

helps us sort through their individ-

ual problems, issues, successes.

You are building a relationship

first.

As new staff consultants join

the MBA team and work new ter-

ritories, be sure to manage your

territory so your customers and

prospective customers trust you

in the knowledge of Midwestern

BioAg’s programs as well as your

commitment to their farm.

Good selling!

Matt Neumayer

large meetings. “Fill your truck

up. Pick up three people and bring

them to a meeting,” suggests

Tim.

Call and remind them of the

meetings and get a yes or no an-

swer— and remember that maybe

means no. Your enthusiasm, or

lack of it, is contagious, “If you

can’t get excited telling them

about a meeting, they won’t get

excited about coming to a meet-

ing,” says Tim.

Seed news

Travis Mathison has taken on an

expanded new role in MBA’s

seeds division. His tip for consult-

ants to remember when selling

seeds is “everyone needs them.”

Our emphasis is matching seeds

that complement our soil fertility

program.

With the addition of a line of

corn grain hybrids, BioAg now

has a full seed line to offer our

customers. We have the entire

package!

Winter newsletter

The Winter 2014 issue of

MBA’s customer newsletter, From

the Ground Up, will be mailed in

January (a separate mailing will

promote MBA’s winter meeting

schedule).

Please be sure all of your cus-

tomer will receive this issue of

the newsletter, either via e-mail or

regular mail. Ask your customers

if they are receiving this excellent

source of good information about

our company, our system and our

products. Send names and ad-

dresses for the newsletter to

Mary or Megan at the Blue

Mounds office.

(Continued from page 3)

Sales Tip of the Month By Matt Neumayer Sales Manager, Michigan


You are building a relationship

first.

Repetition Builds Reputation

….MBA news



took a quiz, introduction of De-

cember’s material

—Research data update: L-CBF

on alfalfa

— Discussion of Soil Microbes

and how they benefit from cal-

cium

—Gary Zimmer: highlights from

this year’s winter meetings and

other items of interest

— Seed program update: Travis

Mathison and Duane Siegenthaler

Web watchers

If you are unable to attend this

meeting in person, watch for an

email offering log-in instructions

to watch via the internet. We are

hoping this location will provide

us better video and audio quality.

Overnight accommodations

If this is a long drive for you and

you need overnight accommoda-

tions, we have some rooms re-

served at the adjacent Country

Inn and Suites on Nesbitt Road.

Contact Jessica at Blue Mounds

to RSVP.

Our next Midwestern BioAg

consultant/dealer meeting will be

held on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at a

new location. Ten Pin Alley is on

the edge of Madison off Hwy

18/151 which is also called Ve-

rona Road. The address is 6285

Nesbitt Rd, Fitchburg (a Madison

suburb).

From the west (18/151) go

past the Verona Exits. You will

see Quivey’s Grove restaurant

and Ten Pin Alley off to your left,

but continue on to the McKee

Road/Hwy PD exit (at the stop-

light). Turn LEFT on McKee Rd.,

then the first LEFT which is

Nesbitt. Ten Pin Alley is about

3/4 of a mile on Nesbitt Road on

the left.

From the Beltline: (Hwys.

12/14/18/151) from the north

south or east, take the Verona

Road, Hwy18/151 exit south

(toward Blue Mounds and Dodge-

ville). There are several intersec-

tions with stoplights before you

reach McKee Road (there is a

stoplight here, also). Turn RIGHT

on McKee Rd., then take the first

left which is Nesbitt Road. Ten

Pin Alley is about 3/4 of a mile on

Nesbitt Rd on the left.

We’ll start at our usual 8:30

a.m. and be done by 4 p.m.

Items on the agenda include:

—Tony Michaels – CEO update

—RootSurge® product discus-

sion

—Fertilizer math worksheets

(follow up on Bob and Duane’s

examples from previous meeting):

How do products fit chemical/

physical/biological and balance

concentration recovery?

—Marketing: Discussion of

which brochures and marketing

tech sheets need revision or

changes.

—Marketing update: how to

get people on the list for mailed

or e-mailed newsletters.

—LMS update – how many

looked at the current material and

New location set for Dec. 16 meeting

Dec. 30—Ben Adolph, IL (own)

Jan. 5— GZ, Bob Y; Iowa

Jan. 6— GZ, Bob Y; Iowa

Jan. 7— GZ, Bob Y; Iowa, Washington Co. Fairgrounds; Don

Messer

Jan. 8-- GZ, Bob Y, Iowa

Jan. 13—GZ, Waupun, WI; Pizza Ranch; Roger Drews and

David Stephens

Jan. 14—GZ, Monroe, WI; Moose Lodge; Ron Gifford

Jan. 15—GZ, Caledonia, MN for Dee and Brandon Meiners;

Bob Y, Fennimore WI; St. Mary’s Church; Scott

Wood

Jan. 19—GZ, Plainwell, MI; Comfort Inn, Tom Shibley

Jan. 20—GZ, Canada Watson & Scheele

Jan. 21—GZ, Bad Axe, MI; Expo Center;

Duane S, Lena, IL; Mike Dietmier

Jan. 22—GZ, Grayling, MI; Rachel Dick & Jonathan Graham

Duane S, Union, IL; Wayne Meissen

Jan 23-24—GZ at Michigan Small Farm Conference

Jan. 27—GZ, Cashton, WI; Danzinger, Klinkner, and

Schmidtknecht

Jan28 – GZ, Chippewa Falls, WI; Glodowski; RSVP for loca-

tion

Jan. 29—GZ, Wausau, WI; Best Western Midway Hotel;

Mark Klish; RSVP

Jan. 30—GZ, Black Creek, WI; Romy’s; Clem Griesbach and

Terry Dvorachek

Feb. 2—GZ at Sauk Centre, MN; Elmer Z; Josh Elsing, Dave

Meidl, et al

Feb. 3—GZ, Owatonna, MN; Cabelas; Mike Lovlien, Josh

Elsing, et al

Feb. 4—GZ, Winona, MN; Winona Area Veterans Centre;

Mike Lovelien, Josh Elsing, et al

Feb. 5—Firman Hershberger, Memphis, MO; (own)

Feb. 6—GZ at Missouri Organic Conference

Feb. 12—GZ, Hillsdale, IL; Hillsdale United Methodist

Church parsonage, Bob DePauw

Week of Feb. 16-20—GZ, Ohio; Al Kauffman 2 meetings;

Pennsylvania, 1 meeting

Week of Feb.23-25—GZ, Idaho; Pat Lozier

2015 Winter Meeting Schedule Update Winter meetings updated as of Noon, Dec. 2 (does not include round table or small group meetings)


As one of the newest employees of

MBA, I’d like to introduce myself,

give you an idea of where the

research program is headed, and

ask for input regarding the re-

search we need to do.

I’ve spent the past 20 years

working on the science of agricul-

ture, both in industry and aca-

demics. I come most recently

from the University of Wisconsin-

Madison, where I managed a cen-

ter focused on production of cel-

lulosic biofuels. We studied eve-

rything from production of bio-

mass through production of fuel,

with a heavy emphasis on envi-

ronmental impacts. I have a

strong background in genetics,

and in the microbes that interact

with soils and crops. I am very

excited to be joining MBA, where

I can work with all of you to un-

derstand the sci-

ence behind the

technology, and

improve the per-

formance of our

products.

The Research

Team will have

three broad areas

of work:

1) New product

development,

2) Testing of cur-

rent products, in-

cluding field trials and on-farm

demonstrations, and

3) Basic research on the cropping

systems that MBA promotes.

This last category will help to

understand exactly what types of

changes occur when an MBA-

prescribed program is imple-

mented to improve soils. It will

provide data you can use to ex-

plain why MBA’s programs lead

to sustainable improvements in

soil health, crop quality, and crop

or dairy yields.

We plan to keep the in-house

research team small (probably 3

people, myself included) and part-

ner with universities and other

companies to

get the work

done. That per-

mits us to ac-

cess exactly

the expertise

needed to an-

swer a particu-

lar question,

while remain-

ing flexible

enough to

address new

questions as

they arise. The two additional

people will have strong back-

grounds in both agronomy and

research, and will focus on run-

ning experiments

and working with

consultants to

identify and per-

form research and

demonstration pro-

jects with our cus-

tomers.

And that brings

me to the final

point. It’s critical

that the research

program provides

the knowledge

needed to develop and sell great

products. We will look to every-

one in the company for ideas on

what questions to ask, where to

perform research, which people or

companies would make good

partners, and any other research

issues pertinent to MBA business.

We are here to support you, so

please take the opportunity to

work with us.

I look forward to meeting all of

you.

Midwestern BioAg

Company Appre-

ciation Weekend January 9th - 11th, 2015

Midwestern BioAg is gearing up

for our annual Company Apprecia-

tion Weekend next month. All of

our staff and dealers are invited

to bring their families and join us.

We will kick things off with a

Friday night reception and follow

with our annual awards cocktail

reception and banquet dinner on

Saturday night. The reception

and banquet dinner are for adults

only; children are invited to the

hospitality suite for dinner with a

babysitter provided.

Cost of the hotel room for both

nights as well as Saturday night

dinner will be covered by Mid-

western BioAg.


It’s critical that the research pro-gram provides the knowledge needed to develop and sell great products.

Don’t forget!!!

MBA Two day

meeting

Feb. 10-11

plus a dairy day

on Feb. 12

Location still to be determined.

Watch for updates!

Research Department By Dr. Steve Slater Vice President for Research and Development

Steve Slater

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