do crop input suppliers make $?

[dfarms11]

While I do think they work on tight margins also, consider this. How old are the vehicles they drive? How old are most farmers vehicles? How many farmers own properties in Arizona? How many retailers have foreign properties? Just iritates me when my loans officer tells me I can't drive/ own somthing decent when I see what the people are driving/ own, whom I keep in business!!!!

[darren442]

you are right they live very well but it is all the farmers who keep them living this way. You have to shop around for the best price, don't you do that when you go grocery shopping or buying clothes or a truck. We shop around for everything to get the best deal but then basically sign an open checkbook to the crop retailers. When you get your fert in the spring or fall do you get a per acre price or a price for each N,P,K,S plus storage fees, trucking fees, blending fees ect. The place i worked for before only gave a price for only 46-0-0 and never for P,K,S. So when the farmer got his per acre price he thought it was great and he never figured out that when the company cut him a deal on 46 the increased the price of P,K,S to make up for it. I seen it with my own two eyes.

When i sold chemical i was never afraid of showing them the retail book so they could see our cost and SRP price. I use to work for a consulting company and there values stuck with me.

There are the same amount of acres out there but less farmers. So that means there one farmer has alot of acres. So where some retailers before may have had 100 customers may only have 40 now. The balance is starting to change to the farmers side but we have to forget this loyalty bull crap and start doing bussiness. It's your money and if the crop supply company can't afford to loss any customers because there are getting fewer and fewer out there.

Crop suppliers always call each other on pricing and somewhat ban togther maybe 10 farmers should ban togther and walk into each crop supply company and ask for a price with instead of 10,000 acres have 100,000 acres, then they would really kiss but.

What if 20 farmers hired one guy to represent all there acres. Then that one guy would have mybe a couple hundred thousand acres behind him and he resources the best deal. Thats what pioneer, cargill zellers, wal-mart, canadian tire do. They source out the cheapest provider for the products they need.

The world cannot live with out the products farmers produce. Thats why everyone has there hand trying to get your money.