Cutting through the fluff: 2021 chemical programs

Shay: And it all comes down to this. Two on, two out, bottom of the ninth. The Farmers lead by one.

Ben

Blair: Full count, here comes the play at the plate, and it's the Ag View Pitch!

Shay: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. Today you have Shay Foulk with Ben Blair. And Ben, I was hoping you could give me, uh, just a quick background on, on who you are, what you do, and where you're located.

Ben

Blair: Yep, my name is Ben Blair. So I work in central Iowa, Maxwell, Iowa, just south of Nevada here. We have a few different entities going on. We spoke briefly with Chris on the farm side of things, talking about shrink factor and phantom yield loss. I also work with our retail division, which is MaxAg. We're an independent chemical fertilizer seed seller here for the past 25 years or so. Um, so I do work with that. I also kind of build out our programs that we use for pricing to our customers.

Shay: And that's one of the key things we're going to touch on here today is looking at those programs. And not sure what I'm going to title this podcast yet, but what I had in mind was kind of cutting through the fluff, right? We have a lot of stuff going on out there in the industry, and as you have things changing not only on the trait and genetic side very frequently, we also see that on the chemical side. As part of producers' decisions, and there's a lot to be thinking about. So I was wondering if you can just kind of highlight, you know, what the industry looks like today, what kind of programs are out there, and then we'll dive into some of the specifics of each one of them.

Ben

Blair: Yeah, I mean, the industry obviously is changing, especially, you know, when you look at some of the new things popping up. I mean, as far as label registration and some of the things that have been redacted there and kind of navigating through those waters. But you've got new genetics coming out all the time. I mean, now we've got a triple stack that's, you know, Liberty, Dicamba, and glyphosate. I mean, they just keep stacking on top of each other. So it's good to keep a handle on what traits are out there, what's going to work best, you know, on your farm ground. And then on top of that, we're also kind of navigating the waters of your bigger manufacturers that are, you know, they're obviously looking for market share. You can't blame them. But I mean, our growers and growers across the nation are seeing a lot more direct marketing coming from them.

And they'll hit you with big buzzwords and fancy graphs and stuff. And, you know, all of a sudden it's 10% off, free money everywhere. And, you know, so it's, it's sitting down, figuring out what works on your farm and just kind of navigating through what that, what that program is going to do to your bottom dollar.

Shay: So, and I think some of the biggest considerations here for producers listening to this podcast or watching the video here to consider is, you know, One, are we spending more money to save a little bit of money through some of these programs? So how does that look for your specific operation? And if you are getting some of these rebates or cash dick discounts, what does that look like on where can you spend that money and where can you get that money back out of the system? And it's different for each individual program. So, you know, are you locked into a specific section of products? How does that affect what works in your farming operation. And the other thing too that I'd like you to hit on is that these are very regional decisions, particularly when it comes to seed products and then the chemical programs associated with them, and then also the efficacy.

So you're coming to us from central Iowa, you know, a producer in my area in northwest Illinois or in south-central North Dakota might have different management programs. So those are all key decisions, right?

Ben

Blair: Yeah, yeah, most definitely. And it's, you know, it'll circle back. I'll hit on it here, but I think the most important thing to take away is, you know, know who you're working with. Get a CCA or sales agronomist that works with you, that wants to know your ground, that, you know, wants to be effective and, you know, not pushing an agenda or particular product portfolio where it may not match.

Shay: Do you have any recommendations on if someone's maybe working with a sales agronomist that, uh, they're maybe not as comfortable with, whether it's someone new into the facility or it's someone that they maybe just haven't had good luck in the past. We're in such a global world, global market here today that you can kind of work with people in different sections of the country. And of course, we've seen some real national players. So, you know, for someone that's out there maybe looking at a different sales agronomist or trying to find the right person in their operation, what are, what are some of your recommendations for that?

Ben

Blair: Oh, that's, that's an interesting question with a few different layers there. You know, that question kind of stems from right now in the industry. I mean, especially sales agronomy, we hear it all the time. There's a large turnover right now. I mean, because you see a lot of guys, I mean, we're right in the middle of dealing with generational turnover. I mean, that's happening at, you know, the co-op or retailer level too, where those older sales agronomists are moving out, and then you start turning through, you know, Individuals that are just out of college may not be quite as experienced. But on the flip side of that, I don't think it's all bad news because like you, like you said, this is becoming more of a national scale as well. And so there's more resources out there.

And that doesn't have to be manufacturer direct resources, but there's a lot of information being published. There's podcasts. I mean, like what you do, you know, releasing good information. There's a wealth of knowledge out there to tap into. That can maybe substitute while you're quote-unquote breaking in a new sales agronomist or something.

Shay: Great. No, I appreciate that perspective there. So I know you have a just kind of a brief PowerPoint for those who are listening. We're going to talk through some of the stuff that you have there. I was hoping you could maybe just kind of pull that up here and we'll, we'll hit through some of the points you have laid out.

Ben

Blair: You see that okay, Shay? Yep. All right, so we're doing kind of a split audience here. So for those of you that are watching this downloaded video later, streaming video later, you can kind of follow along, but I'll do my best to talk through it here too. So I won't take up a ton of time. You know, I've just titled this Know Your Program, so I'm going to give you kind of a few initial thoughts and then a brief overview of some of the main menu manufacturer programs that are available in 2021 here. So under initial thoughts here, you know, Shane, I think did a good job of just touching on that where, you know, working with a CCA or sales agronomist that has your best interest in mind.

I mean, you know, someone that wants to know your ground, that wants to give you the products that are going to work best, even though that might not be the cookie-cutter approach, you know, whether it's tackling an especially resistant weed with a different mode of action or something else. When it comes to these programs, just understanding program structure and where to take advantage, you know, like Shane mentioned, you know, is this a deal where you got to go all in with one of the major manufacturers to actually reap that benefit, or can you mix and match and do what's best on your acre? Within these, they do get complicated. I mean, quite a few of them, you get— they'll send out a 6-page report on what the actual program is after the big headlines and a couple spreadsheets to help you navigate through it type deal.

So a lot of it's just understanding use rates, minimums, and acres— what they qualify as an acre and an acre match. Uh, one of the big things, um, you know, that we tell people to take advantage of is the 0% interest that's offered through a lot of these supplemental financing deals. So like John Deere Financial, in some cases, uh, Rabo Bank. Um, you know, I listened to Chris talking to Joe Bakovic, and that's, you know, That's one of the big things to keep in mind that maybe sometimes get lost is on that, you know, 0% money. Well, that's either freeing up working capital, you know, preventing some opportunity cost loss there, or, you know, it's something that doesn't go on your line of credit. You want to take advantage of that as much as you can.

Another thing, you know, with resistance and everything else that we have right now, one thing to be aware of is modes of actions and sites of action within your plan. Crop protection program is very important. And really the bottom line is the bottom line, it's know what your low net cost per acre is. Shay, do you have anything to add there? Do you want me to start going through some of these programs here?

Shay: One thing that I'm going to be really curious on that I'll pick your brain on here is just specifically on those minimums and the acreage match because, you know, we work with operations of all sizes all across the country, you know, from a couple hundred acres to tens of thousands of acres.. And I think some of these programs maybe fit better in, in either camp, so I'll be curious when we get there. But, uh, keep on with what you have there, Ben.

Ben

Blair: All right, yeah, we'll keep going through. I'm going to hit on about 4 different kind of major ones. I'm going to start with, I guess, the most straightforward first, which is FMC. Um, here we use a fair amount of their Bean Freeze. They've got some real strong chemistry. Um, but the overview, it is straightforward, it's straight rebate for product use. So it's listed as a dollar per acre rebate in their literature, and right on the list, the pro— either, you know, it lists the default rates of use for the product to qualify as an acre. So essentially, you know, hey, if you use 10 ounces of this, that is 1 acre qualification, and we're going to give you $2 per acre type deal. It's straightforward, it's pretty easy. So no minimums on that. They also offer JDF 0% financing. That does come with the tag that it's got a $10,000 minimum purchase from— of FMCP. Products.

Shay: Pretty straightforward, I like that.

Ben

Blair: That one's easy, we're gonna baby step into this here a little bit. So next one up is BASF, a very good chemical company. We use a fair amount of their products. This is a little more complicated but one of the easier kind of pair-up programs. So I've got it listed here as a simple pair-up program and they have qualifiers and matching products. So Liberty and Ingenia herbicides are their qualifying products and then you pair certain herbicides with these qualifiers for $2 per acre rebate. And again, I mean, you'll hear this over and over, but the qualifying pair-up acres are based on product use rates that are listed in the literature. Also, they offer 0% JDF financing with only a $5,000 minimum. So that does catch some of your smaller growers too.

Also, something to keep in mind that we take advantage of a lot here as JDF merchants and working with BASF is that if you submit BASF fungicides for financing, you are also allowed to prepay or submit aerial or ground application costs at 0%. So that's kind of some extra money you can put on there, and you know, it really, it can help you down the road to freeing up room on line of credit or just using that somebody else's money. So I will say on BASF, you know, this is simple, you know, it's not an elaborate program, but simple better in some cases. I mean, you do get a bonus for pairing up a couple of their big name brand herbicides, but otherwise they've stripped most of the rebate and grower direct stuff off of there, and you get a nice farmgate price right, right out of the gate.

Shay: One thing I want to hit on with the matching with some of those other products, it's, it's common, I think, on a few of these different companies to do something to that effect. I was talking with the local chemical provider here in our area this morning actually about how that match looks, and it— those dollars can add up really quickly, whether it's the aerial application or some of the other adjuvants or additives that are coming along with that. It can make a big difference on the bottom line if you start talking 30 or 40% of the additional products. As a 0% financing option.

Ben

Blair: Yeah, that's definitely— yeah, and you can, you know, kind of combine those. I mean, different manufacturers offer their supplemental, you know, they're, they're paying the interest for you. But yeah, you can, you can— I've got guys that more than half of their total chemical prepaid bill is on JDF, or even more in, in some circumstances. So no, it's a great, great tool to utilize.

Shay: Awesome, sounds good on BASF. Who's up next?

Ben

Blair: All right, now we're gonna get into a little bit of muddy water here. We're going to go through a quick overview of the Bayer Plus Rewards. Um, so Bayer Plus Rewards really started last year, and they did— they made a splash with it. They got some market share out of it, and again, I don't blame them a bit for doing that, but it falls to the retailer to help growers kind of navigate through that. And it's not the most simple of process. So, uh, the Bayer Plus is essentially a 4-category pair-up program. So your first one, your big one, is your product portfolio incentive. So what that is, it's, it's a ranked pair-up with increasing per acre rewards for every tier on a selected product list, right? And so when I say a ranked pair-up, what they're doing is it's kind of a cascading deal.

So if you've got a Bayer product that's 600 acres and you've got another at 600, so those are 1 and 2, and then you've got one at 400, that's 3rd, you know, 100 acres, it's 4th. Essentially, you can stack up to 5 products like that starting with the highest acre qualifier, and from there, you know, you generate per acre rewards. Uh, something to note on that, DeKalb and Asgrow seed, uh, does count as a product in that list, um, but Channel Seed, though a bare product, does not. So that's something to keep in mind when you're working through it. Kind of the next category for this is the Roundup and Xtendimax incentive. And what those are is a per-acre reward for pairing up Roundup or Xtendimax with product portfolio herbicides. So it kind of sits out of the product portfolio sector.

And but if you do have certain herbicides in that product portfolio, you're going to get a bonus, you know, $1 or $2 an acre. Based on the combination of them. So it's kind of a, an add-on there. And the next one is an agronomic add-on. These are primarily seed treatment, seed treatment products, but there's per-acre rewards for using those products. One of the stipulations on this is you must qualify for the product portfolio or Roundup Xtend and Mach incentives. So you, you either have to already be receiving rebates from one of those two categories to qualify for the Ag Add-ons. What else?

Shay: Go ahead. Treatment products there, Ben?

Ben

Blair: We can kind of go through them later there, but it'd be any, you know, upstream or downstream seed treatment that's done. So I mean, anything from F&I to finishers, different stuff on the seed. So, okay. And those are like 50 cents per acre matchup deals. So I mean, the— it's not— it's one of the smaller aspects of the program, I guess. The last part would be the partner product incentive. So they brought this in kind of during Pre-Pay last year, but it's a per-acre reward for using certain partner products, which primarily those are Baylent products. And the stipulation again there is you must qualify for product portfolio incentives to be eligible. Eligible. So you've got to be in that kind of big group first, and then after that, you know, you can pair it with an eligible Valent product and earn just a straight, you know, $1, $2, whatever it is per acre from that.

Shay: So the last comment that you have there at the end is on listed use rates. So when it comes to what they consider an acre on that, if I understand it correctly, it's whatever is on the label for that. Is that correct?

Ben

Blair: Yep, yep. And so that's kind of a theme through all these. So generally their qualifying acre is label rate on it, um, and it is good to keep in mind too, and I'll show you a little later when we get into kind of the cheat spreadsheet on this deal, is, you know, say instead of, I don't know, 20 ounces of something, well, in your area you need a little more residual, so you're running 24. You actually have more qualifiers or more pair-ups, you know, it's not a single acre even though you're putting that $24 versus $20 on 1 acre, you're qualifying for more. Um, that'll become a little more apparent, but that's definitely something to keep in mind because instead of $2 an acre, you could be getting $2.20 on a pair-up deal or something.

Shay: No, that's good to know. Uh, one thing that I'll say on the Bayer Plus Rewards that I've seen, and we've had several people in our area comment on, when you talk about direct marketing, Bayer Plus Rewards has, has really been heavy on direct marketing. They have the resources to do it, and they're really looking to push the products, who's the right fit for this program? If you had to paint a picture of what a farm operation that might really benefit from this program, you know, who might that be and what does that look like?

Ben

Blair: You know, it's tough to broad stroke that, I guess. You know, first thoughts, I mean, a Dekal-Baz-Grow guy, you know, if he's buying that seed already, he's already got that first tier done in his product portfolio incentive. So then at that point, the first bare herbicide he adds to it, he's already in the money on. Um, so that's definitely something to think about. Um, I can build a really strong program from bare chemicals. There is good chemistry there. Um, you know, but at some point when— if you go too far down that rabbit hole and you're just chasing, you know, the fifth tier of that product portfolio is $5 an acre, guys see that and you're throwing product after product at it, you know, to try to get to that.

Well, just based on some of the value that's held in those brand name products, and also, you know, you got to be cognizant of making sure, you know, you're hitting that acre with the right modes of action and a good variety of chemistry. Um, you know, so it's— I don't know if I can tell you the perfect customer, but it could be a good fit for a lot of people.

Shay: So one more thing I want to hit on before we move on to the next, uh, program here is you mentioned brand name products. And so, you know, it's no secret in the industry that there are some products out there that are labeled differently, same mode of action, called by a different name, used by different companies and different chemical providers. There's a, there's a lot of confusion when it comes to some of that stuff. Are there any, any key watchouts for producers when it comes to a cash and carry market versus being involved in some of these programs on those?

Ben

Blair: No, and that is, that is a really good question. To try to take that from the top, yeah, I mean, you've got your brand-name products, so that's gonna come from your big manufacturers, you know, their patented product on it. There is a very, very robust market of generics. I mean, same formulation in most cases, but same active ingredients, same ratios, same everything else. Now, you know, generics can definitely have, have a role in a program. I mean, there's a lot of upfront cost savings to have on that. Some of the caveats are some, you know, some of the things you give up is, you know, it's not going to be a warranty product. Most of your pre and post herbicides, you know, with those branded products are going to have respray support if you end up back out there.

What you have to step back and look at is, okay, well, a standard respray on, say, a post corn pass might be $5 to $7. Well, if I'm saving that up front,, you know, for the same actives, you know, maybe, maybe that doesn't make the most sense. Uh, when it comes to generic, and you talked about cash and carry chemical, there's a lot of generics there that are either made by a well-known essentially chemical manufacturer just without, you know, the Roundup name or, you know, something to that extent. But the, the big thing to watch is you know, talk with whoever you're buying from or somebody you trust on it because there will be certain formulations that might not mix as well as something else and you need someone to be kind of watching out for you on those. But there's a really robust line of generics out there that can be a really good fit.

Shay: So thanks for hitting on that. Let's move on to the next program here.

Ben

Blair: And this is, uh, the last one I'm going to touch on. There are, are some others out there But this is the next big one that people are going to see, and they're going to see advertising in front of them, and they're going to need to navigate through. Unfortunately, it's not the easiest one to navigate through either. So this would be Corteva Agriscience. So basically what this is, it's a 4-pound or 4-part discount program. So anyone who buys Pioneer seed, you know, from their seed dealer, they're going to hear, hey, you've earned Corteva Cash by buying Pioneer seed. So The first section of this discount program is the Corteva Cash. So the grower is given a percentage of net seed invoice as Corteva Cash to be used on selected Corteva products.

Another way you can get Corteva Cash, they just released this, this year with their Enlist herbicides, where if you pair Enlist herbicides with eligible Corteva soybean herbicides, You can generate Corteva Cash. The big note on that is the Enlist Ahead program is Corteva Cash for the 2022 season, which I don't think has been very well communicated as of yet. Um, some of the fine print that comes along with that: to unlock your Corteva Cash, a grower must deposit and use $7,500 within their True Choice account. So even if you've got a $100,000 seed bill for Pioneer that you paid, you generate $2,000 in Corteva Cash. Well, you have to fund a True Choice account in your name with $7,500 to unlock that Corteva Cash to be able to use it. Also, something else they added this year: Corteva Cash may not be used on glyphosate or pasture products. So another thing to kind of keep in mind there.

The next section here would be prepay savings. So that's big on the advertising, you know, save 10% off off your crop protection. And we see, you know, we have growers talking about that walking in the door all the time. We're in a very heavy, uh, you know, Pioneer Seed area. Um, prepay savings. So by funding a True Chance account, growers are given an additional bonus percent. So this bonus percent varies based on funding date and funding type, whether it's cash finance and what date you fund that account by. So essentially you put in money and they give you a 10% they add 10% to your deposit, or 5%. So it's 10% cash, 5% on financing for the first date. Uh, the next one that was added this year is Select Savings. It's a pretty straightforward per-acre rewards for using certain products. I think there's about half a dozen products it applies to.

And so if you buy those products, you get a rebate on it, or you get an invoice credit on And then Enlisted Ahead, I touched on that talking about the Corteva Cash for 2022. Also, there is about a 50-cent select savings you can get with that as well. This again comes with the stipulation that all these go back to qualifying acres being based on published use rates.

Shay: So anything else on the Corteva Cash, and then I got questions for you.

Ben

Blair: No, no, why don't you go ahead. There's a lot of subtext to this here, but I mean, these are kind of the highlights of it.

Shay: So a common sentiment that we hear with farmers, uh, all across the country, not just in the I-states or in the Midwest, is it would be so much easier if we just had straightforward pricing, uh, you know, whether it's straightforward volume pricing, straightforward discount pricing. Getting into some of this stuff can get really complex. And you mentioned a market share on what they're looking for, and you can't fault them for that. I mean, that's what the companies want to do, is they want to be a whole source provider to these farm operations, where is the farmer at an advantage, or what I should say is, where is the farmer at a disadvantage by using these, these programs and these products as opposed to ordering chemical independently or working through a just a straight local retailer and not working on any of these incentive programs?

You know, what's the benefit to maybe steer away from some of these?

Ben

Blair: Well, and there is the, the thing is, if, if you're outside the cash and carry market, the cash and carry market is going to have this stripped off up front, but you're going to lose a lot of, one, the recommendations, the support on it, returnability. I mean, that's a, that's a different animal there. Um, you know, if you get rained out and you end up having to switch chemical for a reason, I mean, you're not gonna be able to return that. You're gonna have to sit on it, order a different chemical. So the cash and carry market's a different situation, but it does have everything stripped off up front, and you're going to get the lowest farmgate price that way, more than likely. That being said, I mean, working with local retailers, I mean, like us, you know, our job is to walk you through some of these programs because the fact is they exist, they are here.

Everyone wants market share, it's understandable. But we spend a lot of time and resources here building these into our builders so that we can kind of walk guys through it, give them the bottom line of, hey, this is what it actually looks like when all these programs shake out. So yes, I mean, even from the retailer aspect, if we could just have everything off up front, you know, here's pricing, whether it be volume-based or just straight up, you know, that's more at the retail level. But yeah, it could be simplified, but there's a lot of money and moving parts going on to try to gain that market share. And our job is to navigate it, but really to make the best decisions on our acres.

Shay: So yeah, and I really like what you said there. From a regional seed business that I run with my father-in-law in Northwest Illinois, when these programs get rolled out, they are presented to us as the local provider and the local retailer as, hey, this is the way you can provide value added to your customers. And I know at the local level it's different with how everybody handles that because some people say, well, you know, we know the programs, we understand ourselves, we don't need your help. There's other farmers out there that just get real caught up in what's going on and, and it's just like swimming in a sea of uncertainty with all of these different programs. So I think what you said there is finding the right people at a local level to work with that can help describe the programs.

If you're not getting that from, from your chemical or your seed dealer, find someone who can help you wade through these waters and make sure you have a good point of contact on that.

Ben

Blair: Yeah, no, I think that's, I think you nailed it on the head there. That's, that's exactly right.

Shay: So So I think this, you know, you said this was the last thing you wanted to cover on, on the program basis. You have a tool here that you built out that I'd like to have you give an overview on. And of course, if you're listening to this on the podcast, we're going to talk through what's in front of you. You're going to be able to find this online and we'll steer you in the right direction for that. But maybe we switch over to that now, Ben.

Ben

Blair: Yep. Sounds good. Let me get it switched over here.

Shay: For those listening too, we'll, we'll have the link here at the end, but if you go to maxag.us, you can find the website and it'll be linked under the programs. Ben will have this tool posted here in the next couple of days for you all to take a look at, maybe run some comparisons with different programs and see how it could benefit your farm.

Ben

Blair: Yep, and I'll pull up some quick links and stuff at the end just so it's on there, but yeah, I'll get that tool live and I'll kind of talk through what I've got going here. Can you see that spreadsheet okay, Shay? Yep. Okay, so we'll try to kind of do this in two parts here. So I'm covering listeners and watchers here. What I've got pulled up here is kind of a stripped-down version of what we have created for one, our in-house sales guys, sales agronomists, and CCAs to use, and also some of the partners that we work with. Wholesale level. And what this is going to do is it's got essentially all the products we're currently offering. There's constantly stuff being added to this. So this is kind of the 2021 starter here. But it's got an area where you go ahead and pick your product. And what it's going to do is it's going to pull over all the default rates.

But you can put in your carrier rate, your acres, you know, you can change to an alternate rate if you want. But essentially, it's an area that lets you go ahead and build out chemical programs. And it does a few things from there. One, it'll give you your cost per acre. Over on the side here, it also has— it flags all the mode of action groups that come with each of those chemicals. So you can get a nice visual representation of, hey, you know, how many different modes of action, what different chemistry am I throwing at this acre? Is it sufficient? Is it the same thing I did last year? Do I need to mix it up? And it also will throw out links to the label so you can go investigate a little further there.

So it's like I said, it's just a tool that, you know, has been used for a sales tool, but this has been one of those guiding tools to help our growers kind of walk through what their cost actually is, you know, what benefits they're getting out of this. And within that, when I talk about, you know, us devoting some time to this, those chemical programs, manufacturer programs that I just went through, are built into here. So as you change acres, you know, rates, uh, different chemistry, it's going to start flagging everything that you qualify for and taking that into account on a, on a loan net level.

Shay: It's a really awesome tool, and I think, uh, you're not able to do this from where you're listening, you need to go check it out, particularly on the mode of action. I think that's phenomenal, having that visual representation. Uh, you can get caught up in how many different products are out there, maybe not realizing what exactly it is that you're using, and particularly if you're maybe at the point of switching between different chemical providers or between different local service agencies too. If they have different names between these products, you might not even realize that you're using the same mode of action. So the clarity on that is great.

Ben

Blair: Yeah, definitely. So for this, for kind of demo purposes here, I've set up a few different tabs down here. So I've got kind of a mix manufacturer that's got generics in there. I've got a Bayer-heavy demo, BASF-heavy demo, and Corteva-heavy demo. So, you know, since we've got split listeners and viewers here, you know, I won't, I won't drag too far into this. But what I set it up as is 500 acres of corn, 500 acres of soybean. I'm also saying both of them are clean-till, so field-cultivated two-pass systems. On the beans, everybody but Corteva, I'm doing the Dicamba pass. So Dicamba-tolerant beans. On Corteva, with their Fexapam not being labeled, I did Enlist beans on theirs. But so quickly, kind of just going through here, you know, you can kind of see the different mode of actions there. You see your program gross, so per acre.

If I jump down here to the soybean one, you can see that coming through. And over on the right here between the mode of action and where you're making your selections, you'll see a couple flags start to pop up. So there's a JDF symbol there and also a red R, meaning In this case, our pre that we're using is Authority Supreme. So that's back to the FMC product. We talked about their program. Theirs is a straight, hey, if you use 9 ounces of this, we will give you a $3 rebate. So you can kind of see that starting to pop through, and it's also flagging it since it's over $10,000 total on that 500 acres, uh, you're qualifying for JDF money there. So that's followed by BSF Dicamba Zone Ingenia program. With Outlook. Now in this one, since you're pairing Outlook with one of those foundational products or the qualifying products in Ingenia, you know, you're flagging another $2 per acre rebate.

So that's reflected down below, and then it gives you a net after rebate. Um, the cool part about this is when you get down below, it'll give you a breakdown on your corn and soybean acres, how much you're spending on herbicides, adjuvants, you know, if you build in your fungicide and insecticide, things like that, it'll show on there. And then it's got kind of a combined total expense, your year-end rebate you're waiting on, which is $2,500 in this case. And then also your net and your net per acre. So that's got that all built in there for you. And then down here is JDF financing availability. So on this 1,000 acres, the products we selected, you're available for $19,000 in and 0% GDF money. I'm making sense, Shay, or do I need to slow down a little bit here? No.

Shay: You're making sense. The amount of compri— as comprehensive as it is, just very, very impressed with the tool. It's hard to come by something that is this comprehensive yet simple to use. And I think that's important. You know, we see a lot of times we can have what we call information overload.

Ben

Blair: Oh yeah.

Shay: You know, whether it's on yield data or marketing information or product selection like is in front of us, you can just get overwhelmed and lost in the sauce on kind of what's going on. So I really like the simplicity of this. Is there any major differences between your Bayer BASF Corteva heavy tabs that you have there, or is it all pretty much about the same.

Ben

Blair: Well, we'll, we'll kind of flip through those. And something to keep in mind, uh, when you're doing it too, is up top in the corner it's got an estimate total, right? So that's cash out of pocket. So that's what you're paying right away. So some of the things to take in mind is the more heavily you're relying on those pair-ups and those year-end rebates, you're going to shell out more money on your line of credit out of your operating capital up front. So that's one of the things to keep in mind. The other thing, this program in particular, one I've got set up here, is a very robust— there's a lot of mode of actions going. It's a solid program. So on some of the others, it might be price competitive, but you've got to go back and look at those modes of action and make sure, you know, you're apples to apples or you're being as effective as you possibly can.

So just to speed this along here, this program here is $3,750 an acre, is the average between corn and soybeans. And I will note this pricing is, I mean, take it with a grain of salt. So this should get you kind of in the Midwest into like if you went into a co-op or, you know, a lot of local retailers, this is full-service product, fully warrantied. This, these price points will get you in the ballpark. I wanted to include it just so that you kind of had a grasp on some of the budgeting and, you know, what stuff's actually going to look like. So don't take this as final. Final offer or anything like that, but it'll get you in the ballpark. So this program, corn and bean average is $3,750. We'll flip over to the bear-heavy one here. Same exact setup as far as acres and kind of management practice. You know, we're running a Balance Flexx with a lotus post on it.

So you go there and it's interesting to the top where the corn is. It takes this stuff in order. So you've got most of your qualifying up in your corn program, so you're not seeing a ton of pair-up hitting yet. But as soon as you start putting in some of those products for the post that are Bayer products, you'll start triggering more and more, you know, rebates. You know, so this bottom, this soybean program's got $7 per acre in rebate coming back. Again, you know, pretty darn solid chemical program here. You will notice looking at mode of actions, you know, in your corn program, you might not be quite as diverse as you were in the previous one. So it's just, you know, something to be checking back on. Um, but anyway, so you get down to a net of $41.81 after all rebates and everything's taken into account.

So that $41.81 versus $37.50, you know, you're only $4 away, or, you know, whatever it works out to. So there might not be a huge per acre difference, but it's also some upfront money, and it's also maybe a little bit of mode of action variety difference there too. So let's see, BASF, we'll flip over to you again. This is going to be pretty solid program here, essentially a Verdict followed by Armazone on the corn and a Zidua followed by Ingenia on the soybeans. So good chemistry there on the corn, you're getting about $2 an acre rebate. On beans, you're getting $4 an acre. Again, BASF, you know, they, they don't have which I appreciate, a huge rebate program. So we aren't relying, relying quite as heavily on those year-end rebates. Um, so essentially it boils down to a net per acre of $40 essentially on a heavy BASF program and a pretty darn solid program as well.

Shay: So is it listed out anywhere within the tool on what some of those partner products are? So when we looked at, you know, your key components Does— is it listed anywhere in there on, hey, these are some of the partner products that pair for the rebates, or is that something you just have to look at the literature on that?

Ben

Blair: Unfortunately, that's going to be a go-to literature or talk through it, you know, with your, with your retailer. Because essentially there's about— I don't— I couldn't even tell you how many. I don't know, about 50 different columns up here hidden that takes all that information into account, compares it to, you know, the charts that are in there and spits it back out. But I will put links and stuff into that literature, but I don't have anything easy to pull that up here. So maybe that's something I could add in the future though.

Shay: Yeah, no, that's great. And then the other question that I had is, you know, we referred to like aerial spray application. If that's not built into the tool, just another thing for producers to keep in mind that if you are going to have some of that additional stuff that will fall on your JD financing or as part of that package deal, it's not necessarily reflected, reflected in the tool but could have a huge impact on the bottom line.

Ben

Blair: Yep, yep, most definitely. And that, I mean, that application deal is definitely something to take advantage of. It's something that I also wasn't able to build into this program, but you know, there's enough lines here too. You can build your full corn program and also include, you know, your fungicide, insecticide your adjuvant you're using with it. So it's definitely, it's got a home to get all that, but that's an excellent point where, you know, there could be another, call it $10, $10 to $15 an acre worth of financeable application you can put on there too.

Shay: So sounds great. Anything else that we need to talk through on this tool here? Any last examples that you want to run through real quick?

Ben

Blair: Um, I'll hit the very last one here just because I want to kind of explain how this sheet handles Corteva.. So I won't drag her out here, but here's a Corteva-heavy program, essentially Resicore and then Sonic followed by Enlist since they don't have the labeled dicamba to make it apples to apples. The big thing is I will jump down here to this section. There's a section in the sheet that's TruChoice and Corteva. So I put in there, there's an entry box for Pioneer Seed invoice amount. That is a key piece of information you have to put in there. So in this case, on this 1,000 acres of corn and beans, I put I think I used $100 per acre on corn and $60 on beans. So I put $80,000 in there. So what it will do from there is it spits out— well, it goes and looks up top for all the Corteva product. So it gives you eligible Corteva product.

It gives you how much Corteva cash was generated from your Pioneer seed purchase. It also gives you that select savings. So those are the upfront discounts on certain products. So we qualified for some in this program. And so it boils down to a net Corteva products after you use your Corteva cash and get the invoice credit from your Select Savings. And then from there you pick what date you're gonna finance by. So I've got the 1/15/21 date, and I've got it selected that we're using cash. So it'll spit out your optimal True Choice prepay, your funding. So you would fund your True Choice account with $38,990., and that would turn into with the bonus, your, yeah, $43,322.

So if you look here in this grower totals where I've been pulling those net per acres, so it's got your total expense and then the total value that you earn from the, you know, your, your seed Corteva cash, your upfront discount for financing, your pair-ups, your, yeah, it's got everything in there. So it's got the TruChoice Corteva value and then your net, and this one works out to about $46.14 an acre, which, you know, it might get a little more competitive from there. But I think, you know, when you look at the advertising on that and it's free money from the seed and it's, hey, I'm gonna save 10% on my crop production, you actually put that all in there, you know, you're not going to get a ton of variation from other programs, I guess. And again, one of the big things is go back, look at those modes of action, sites of action, you know, the Atkins in there.

Shay: So one question that I have that might be a little, uh, into the weeds on this, but let's say you have a father-son operation, they're running different acres, they're each making their own managerial decisions on seed selection and stuff like that. With these programs, I mean, are you— do they see that as completely separate if you say have your Corteva Cash on separate invoices but then you're purchasing your chemical together, or how might that look?

Ben

Blair: So, you know, that it does get into the weeds there. It's an excellent question, but there's a lot of different situations that could stem from the situation you're talking about. So if they bought seed separately, yes, they're each going to have their Corteva cash. But if they're buying chemical together, what you can do as a certified— like, we're allowed to go in and submit on a grower's behalf and use their Corteva Cash. Well, on that invoice I could apply, you know, John Smith's Corteva Cash as well as Paul Smith's, so I could get that Corteva Cash burned up under their, their single crop protection.

Shay: I didn't know if you have an answer for that question, so I'm glad to see you're on top of it.

Ben

Blair: Yeah, no, like I said, we're, we're navigating through this, and, you know, the past week is kind of when these programs get finalized and we finally get pricing. So yeah, we're kind of in the trenches right now working through some of that. But, um, there is different ways. Again, you know, be working with the right person, they'll, they'll jump through some hoops for you to make sure, you know, they maximize the value you're getting.

Shay: So, so I was hoping we can just kind of take a minute here, uh, let's, let's take a step back, give a 30,000-foot overview. You know, we have, we have a bunch of different programs going on right now. It's a complex environment. You've designed a great tool that will help producers, farm operations, even local providers a resource to help make some of these decisions. Anything else from your standpoint, from your guys' business there that you want producers to know or that you think is important for them to hear in this podcast or video?

Ben

Blair: No, I mean, that's an excellent question. Not the easiest, I guess, question to answer, but But, you know, we, you know, I can talk from our personal retail standpoint, and, you know, we are, we are an independent dealer, and so we have the luxury of forging those relationships with the manufacturer based on what we want to use, what we think is going to work best for our growers. So just make sure, you know, whoever you're working with will be diversified, you know, and they will go get the product you need. They'll source from wherever they have to and get it to you, manage it properly, but that, you know, they're willing to provide the best products for your acre.

Shay: So I know one piece of information that listeners are probably wanting to know is, is how do they get a hold of you? And, uh, we'll double back here on where they can see this tool and the information that you've presented here on the video and over the podcast if you want to let the list—

Ben

Blair: yeah, it sounds good. I will, I'm gonna reshare here, Shay, if you don't mind. I've got a slide here at the end. So I've got my contact information up here again. Ben Blair, it's got my email on there. It's ben@maxag.us. That's maxag.us. Our office number here is 515-387-1374. Give us a call. You can ask for me. If I'm not the best person to answer your question, I'll get you over to one of our CCAs, you can talk to them. You know, I don't care if you're buying from us or not, if you've got questions on, you know, maybe this presentation in particular, I'm your guy. If you have questions on anything crop, you know, crop protection related, we love to talk to you, we'd love to help, we love helping people. So, and then also, like Shane mentioned, what I'm going to do is I'm going to make a landing page on our website.

I've It'll be up here in about 24 hours, but it'll be at www.maxag.us/program. And what I'll do is I'll put a copy of this PDF or a PDF copy of the PowerPoint presentation that I've got on there, and I will put a standalone download for that spreadsheet on the crop protection. If you've got questions on— I didn't play around with that too much. There's a ton of flexibility there. You can go build out whatever program you want. Because what you're using in your geography may be way different than the pre-built ones I have. So I'll have some blank tabs on there, go in there, mess around, start seeing how those programs affect what you're doing, check different modes of action. I mean, I, I hope it's a tool you can use. And if you're looking for pricing, I mean, you know, we deliver all throughout the Midwest. We'd be happy to work with you, but you No strings attached here.

If you guys got a question, I'll get a hold of me or get a hold to someone here.

Shay: So thanks a lot, Ben. Chris and I really appreciate all the, all the time and effort that you put into this. And, and again, what we're here for with Ag U-Pitch is to provide value and perspective to listeners and farm operations out there. You've done an excellent job of that today. We're recording this here on December 23rd, so like Ben mentioned, we're going to kick out this podcast right away so people can listen to it, and then we'll have this link We'll have a follow-up format for you all to watch the video, to see the tool. If you're not signed up for our email, shoot me an email at agronguy@gmail.com. We'll get you on your mailing list and have these tools available. Thanks a lot, Ben, and Merry Christmas.

Ben

Blair: Merry Christmas, man. Appreciate you.

Shay: Absolutely. And thank you everyone for listening to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. And we will catch you next time.