A farmer dealer who only handles one brand is priced out of the market with customers who want to spread their seed order over more than one brand. Uhrmacher says he's lost customers because he can't compete with the volume discounts offered by the local co-op. It's not all roses on the retail side, either, says Darlene Fletcher of Fletcher Agri Service in Avoca, Nebraska. She says they haven't been as successful with seed sales as they would like, even though they've been selling seed for 20 years and concentrating on it the past four years or so. She says seed is more work to sell and handle, and many farmers prefer to maintain their relationship with individual dealers.
Some farmers still prefer to spread their seed purchases among several dealers.
People will buy from whomever they have confidence in. Sometimes it's retailers. Some-times it's the farmer dealer. Copyright Meredith Corporation 1997-1999. All rights reserved.