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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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You know, make step changes, make advancements. We've got nurseries in Florida that, you know, so we can do year-round winter nurseries. To not only to, let's say, take some lines that are proven performers. You know, we don't bring a parent line into our lineup unless it's a proven performer. We call them million acre marks.
You know, if we got some parent lines that have been on acres and hybrids over a million acres, there's something there, right? So there's some proven past performance.
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It's time for another farm. I looked over there. The camera is not. Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. I'm trying so hard in the new year to open these shows in a different fashion. We want to say happy belated birthday to Dave. Mr. Whitaker had his birthday yesterday. If you picked this out on the first day the episode got dropped. 49? He's 48 and a half.
Yeah, something like that.
Just old.
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Chapter 2: How do off-patent genetics impact seed pricing?
But we knew there was a demand for that just from our customers asking those questions. So when we got that call in the fall, again, who's now our breeder, it really piqued our interest because we go, we're hearing this from guys. Obviously they're looking for something different. We didn't know what different looked like, but we knew the demand was there.
Sometimes things come together at the right time, right place, right people. Our breeder, we live, we're from Omaha. I live up in Omaha, but you know, everyone was up there and we sat down with the breeder and had lunch one day and said, What does this look like? What are you talking about? What are you offering really?
And after about a 30 minute conversation, of course, longer than that, and many others after that, it was like, there's something here that's being missed. You know, there is something we can offer to the farmer, which again is good genetics at a good price without all the BS, without the fluff, without six, you know, district sales managers running around and new pickups.
We knew there was a market opportunity. for corn in a simpler fashion. And that really then led us down the path to start Hybrid 85, build out a brand, and offer corn throughout the US. So started conventional. We've been doing non-GMO conventional since then. We just recently launched a glyphosate tolerant brand, Override Ag. which is just single trait glyphosate tolerant.
Many of the genetics, you know, the base genetics crossover, just one being non-GMO, one being glyphosate tolerant. And from there, the rest is kind of history. I mean, we've grown at a pretty astounding rate, if you will, because farmers were looking for something different. And of course the meat of our product, if you will, is our breeder. He was in the industry, you know,
Bred for Monsanto for 20 plus years, other companies prior to that. So it was, you know, we kind of joke, we call him a corn savant, kind of even if he didn't get paid to do this, he would do it anyway because it's what he does. And ever since then, just been growing and trying to bring better hybrids to market every year.
I think Dave's an auctioneer savant. Even if he wasn't getting paid to do it, he'd still do it in the shower and in the car.
Whether you want to hear it or not. Whether you want to hear it. That's right. So you have a breeder. You're not just going and buying, not buying, you're not just growing stuff off patent. You're still crossing things.
Oh, a hundred percent. So I would say this, you know, we get this question a lot. Like, is it just off patent? Is it just old hybrids? What we start with is off patent genetics. The reason for that is, you know, the best breeding programs in the world are very small. Most of those genetics trickle down from there.
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Chapter 3: What are the advantages of non-GMO corn in modern farming?
Need to be hybrid arm. Hybrid arm. Hybrid arm. That's what you need. It might be adjusting.
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Learn more at www.agexplorer.com. That's A-G-X-P-L-O-R-E.com. I think the biggest difference, Dave, between – except for age, right? They might be taking some older parents that were good and bringing them – the new companies are trying to – they might have some older stuff but mix it with new. It's new, new technology, new hybrids. What is the traits and the cost of licensing?
I mean what is a typical like – we have – Roundup ready is one trait.
Okay.
And then, but then we have doubles. We have above ground protection and then sometimes multiple above ground. And then we have below ground protection and sometimes multiple. And then we got RNA AI and that's just all the seed coding, isn't it? No, no, no, no, no. This is genetic. This is the GMO part.
Okay. Right.
So like, so you got Bayer licensing to Corteva, Corteva licensing to Bayer and all this back and forth. Like that is how much percent of that is the seed costs?
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Chapter 4: How does Hybrid 85 differentiate itself from major seed companies?
Go ahead. I'll keep it quick. And, you know, kind of Tori, you hit on it. What works in central Nebraska, it's going to fall on its face in Southern Georgia, right? They're just, those are two different environments. And two different hybrid types that fit in those environments. So that's kind of why we need a robust lineup. And we're always trying to make it better, right?
Just like the big boys, we want to be better every year as long as that is better for the farmer. If it's not better for the farmer, then we're looking a different direction. So, Tanner, not to interrupt you.
Well, what was blowing up on X that we kind of referred to in the introduction of this episode is the forethought of what can I give up, right? Is this a risk, one, which I want to get out of you? Is it risky to go with the types of traits the Hybrid 85 offers?
By trade, do you mean lack of traits?
Yeah, correct. Your product line, is that a risk for Corey to sign up for, or is it enough data, enough proven record that you can make a farmer comfortable with the results that they are expecting?
It is a multifaceted question, and I'll answer it simply. Could it be a risk in certain environments? Sure.
Sure.
If you're 20-year corn-on-corn dairy and you have a hellacious corn rootworm problem, not having below-ground traits might be a little bit risky. But even in those situations, because we work with those farms, we work with a lot of dairies that are 15-, 20-year corn-on-corn, as long as that is a calculated risk with a plan in place to mitigate that, it's really not that risky.
Now, I would say for the bulk of the farms out there, how many of them have grown conventional corn in the last 20 years, right? They wouldn't even know if it was a risk or not because they haven't even entertained the idea. So, you know, when I was young, right, you drive through, you drive at night in the summertime, your windshield would be covered, you know, nailing moths.
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Chapter 5: What trade-offs should farmers consider with off-patent seeds?
So that is why the core of what we do, the base, I should say, the foundation starts there because you can go back and have a 20-year track record and say, what was the best of the best, right? Out of 100 inbreds, what were 10 that were across the board, everywhere, dominated in acres, right? What sort of different combinations were they in and how can we make improvements?
And that's really the magic of what we do, right? We could be, you know, again, you can start from scratch and there are companies that do that. I don't think that gives you a leg up. It gives you a good talking point to say we are truly, you know, these are our genetics from, you know, your old Missouri line that we brought up and changed them. But I don't think you get
Like, how are you going to beat out a company that's invested hundreds of millions of dollars? Right. They know what they're doing. Right. If you've done some of that research, you know that there is a robust research behind those lines. But there's also some good improvements that can be made. And we again, we have a breeder that's a partner in the company. this is what he does.
This is his love, his passion. It's what he thinks about on a Sunday and has worked with them intimately. So you take that knowledge, you take the foundation of really good parent lines, and then we pick up that sword, if you will, and run from there. So, you know, we get a lot of people, you go on ag talk or whatever, they're just peddling old genetics. And that is not true. Right.
I mean, again, in some cases, yeah. If the farmers in a region, hey, this hybrid was the best we ever had. Can you bring this back? And it makes sense. Sure, we can do it. We will do it if it makes sense. I can't tell you the amount of times and I'm sure you guys have experienced this. Hey, had a hybrid that dominated for 10 years. The next one came out that was supposed to be better.
It was never better. So farmers know there's something to that. But short answer, 20 years is what you get.
I just typed into the old Google machine when the U.S. patent for 1197 comes off patent, and it's giving me the answer that the adjusted expiration date is 2042. So apparently you can play around with that because I bet you it was not freshly patented in 2022.
But here's the deal, though. There's two parents that make that, and you could take one of those parents, right? So that's the patent you need to find, right?
Well, so again, that's why I say the base. We don't need to know all the little – because like our stuff, we can patent our stuff, right? We can go to the patent office and say, hey, this is a unique cross. Here's how we prove that. We want 20 years protection. But I would say this, kind of like Elon – you know, whether you're a fan or not, I'm not saying I am, but Elon Musk has said this.
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Chapter 6: How does direct-to-farm distribution work in the seed industry?
How many acres are we putting in the ground before we've even finished up our sales season? That's stressful, right? Even our breeder is like, come on, like... Where are we sitting? You know, and we don't always know. So there is just like a farmer does. There is a level of risk that we have to take of we're going to produce this many bags. But we don't even know what our sales season ended at.
But. You know. We pretty much get close to selling out every year if not sold out. So it's that balance of you don't want to over leverage. If we over leverage, we have to raise prices to increase margin to make sure we're covered. But we also don't want to run out of inventory. Finding that line, you know, is like trying to walk a straight line after a 12 pack. You know, it's tough. It wobbles.
That has been difficult, but also, right, that's part of the game. That's what you got to do. So it would be easy if we were just pulling from someone else going, hey, send another truckload, send another truckload. But we're making those decisions that that ultimately affect our bottom line and can either make or break us.
So we try to be somewhat conservative as far as not over leveraging so we can maintain low prices, but also meeting demand, which has been a good struggle. You know, it's a good problem to have.
Yeah. And I've looked at your business model and it looks like you're doing a lot of all that you can to keep those costs low. So you don't have to raise them. I mean, selling direct to the farmer. This is you're ordering seed online. I mean, our episode next week is going to have some similar feelings to this. You're using technology to your advantage.
And frankly, you know, there's this part, right? This is a different age than 20 years ago, right? Online purchasing is not foreign to people. it's kind of, it's newer on the farmer side, but the proof's in the pudding, right? Just because you're purchasing online and not from someone sitting across the dinner table, um, right. There's value to that.
We obviously believe in personal connection, but how much, you know, is that worth an extra $200 a bag? A lot of guys are finding out, no. Um, you know, you, Purchasing inputs online at farm scale isn't as foreign as it was 15 to 20 years ago, right? So sometimes right time, right place. Like, was 2018 a good time to launch an online seed company? Probably, right?
It kind of follows suit with, right? You guys probably have the Amazon truck roll up to your house probably more than you'd want to. That is just becoming... it's ridiculous. You like open the door and you trip and like kick them out of the way. Um, and it's convenience, right?
There is a part of leftover cardboard this time of year though.
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Chapter 7: What risks are associated with using Hybrid 85's seed options?
Right. Whether that's bringing that seed back now, it doesn't really happen per se. But if it were to, we stand behind that a hundred percent.
It doesn't happen yet. But I mean, if you continue to grow, it will because it happens in the big companies. Right. And they test the crap out of it. So all of a sudden you get it and go, hey, that was 75 percent germ. That should not have gone out. Now they're recalling it. Oh, it's already in the ground. Hmm. That's not good.
Do you care if people resell your product?
They can, but it's hard to resell when we're direct to the farm. That's a good question.
But I mean, if I can get it in bulk from you, you're kind of the wholesaler for me. And if Corey still wants a relationship and he says, well, I'd like to order from them, but I trust you, Dave. Can I mark it up 10% and sell it to all the people that trust me?
I mean, I do a lot of relationship business and people just, I mean, I'm guessing somebody's asked that question to you before to try to resell it. Yeah, we have.
And we offer small dealer opportunities. Again, it's tough to sell something at a markup if you're not adding value to it. So what we do there is we offer dealers the ability to make a little margin in it. Not a ton, but promote it to the customers that are looking for it. We save them a little bit of money on freight as kind of a benefit to go through the dealer instead of directly through us.
But for the most part, we are direct to the farm. And again, we do have a dealer network, right? You get into some communities. The Amish community is not online a lot, or at least they're not telling you they're online a lot. So in that case, it makes sense to have a dealer in that area. They may find out about us. But again, it kind of goes back to we're here for the farmer, right?
So if a dealer makes sense in an area, we do support that. But at the end of the day, if it's raising that seed 10% to go through a dealer to hit the farmer, you know, quick Google search and the farmer can give us a call and Monday through Friday, someone's going to pick up that phone.
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