He said more deals are in the works. The company changed its customer acquisition strategy to put its money where it gets the most value. It reaches out to farmers in outlying areas such as the High Plains of Texas and western Kansas. We don't have a lot of competition there and the value of our trading floor is greater there than for someone in the heart of the Iowa cornbelt. So, instead of general advertising on TV or other mass media, the company buys e-mail lists of farmers or reaches them through trade shows.
Farmers are one of the most tech savvy groups in our industry base.
They were the first to adopt cellular phones and satellite dishes. Farmers used global positioning satellite data long before you had it on Hertz rental cars. They're smart people. Often, just a husband and wife run multimillion-dollar businesses. XS.ag sends a weekly newsletter to about 50,000 users, he said.