Good Start to Fall
Since our last report, seed movement has been quite steady. We are very encouraged about overall movement in all three primary sectors—turf, forage, and cover crop. While there have been pockets of less than average movement, primarily dictated by either too dry or too wet weather, in general, our customers report having good turns on inventory. While our most northern customers have seen their first frost, much of the country still has a good bit of a fall planting window ahead of them. Finish strong.
Can't Say it Enough
Customers and industry friends: THANK YOU!!! Thanks for choosing to do business with Smith Seed. Thanks for trusting us with your custom coating, your custom packaging, your contracted acres, your commodity purchases. Thanks for supporting our proprietary programs. Thanks for paying your bills! Thanks for your patience through one of the most challenging years we've seen for freight prices and communication related to shipments. It's true, we really can't say it enough. THANK YOU!
Grower Service Hard At Work Behind the Scenes
Out West, this is an intensely busy time for us on multiple fronts. While much of our activity is focused on providing our customer with their current seed needs, we are also establishing new acres for fall planting. This process includes contract negotiation, field evaluation, seedstock delivery and sometimes certification applications. This is all happening at the same time we are interacting with growers regarding cleaning instructions, confirming purchase prices, obtaining test results, and shipping cleaned seed from grower warehouses. Hats off to all those who make it happen at the grower level!
Freight Forward
"Your load has shipped. We've asked for an update. It will arrive. We don't know when. I wish we could tell you more. I am sorry." These are the words we have repeated over and over this year. Like many of you, we have tried every creative way we could think of to go over, around, under or through this challenge. Most of the time we've been unsuccessful. Not only were shipping times severely painful, but the inability to receive and convey clear communication about where a load was and when it would be delivered was simply unacceptable in a time where we track and predict the movement of nearly everything else down to the minute and the square meter.
There must be a better way! Maybe we, as the seed industry, need to address this collectively with the freight industry. Calling on bright minds - young and old - to think, collaborate, lobby and think outside the boxes and traditional ways to come up with practical solutions for all of us. Let's go!