seed selling

jester31780 · #1 09/04/14, 06:13 PM

Can you make good money selling farm seed like corn and soybeans

farmerDale · #2 09/04/14, 06:20 PM

Growing and selling, or being a dealer?

jester31780 · #3 09/04/14, 06:28 PM

Dealer

haypoint · #4 09/04/14, 06:35 PM

No. Selling to large farms is complicated. A good dealer would need a wealth of knowledge on hybrids, 4 way crosses, disease resistances, etc.
Most small farmers and gardeners use catalogs or buy seeds from full color packets at the grocery store,

DaleK · #5 09/04/14, 06:49 PM

If you know what you're doing, have a good company behind you, and have the ability to grow the hybrids you're selling to learn how they do in your area and show others, you can do reasonably well. That said, the biggest benefit for me selling seed is not having to pay somebody else's commission on 800-1000 acres of seed every year.

jester31780 · #6 09/04/14, 06:56 PM

If you know all the hybrids. The seed dealer is nongmo and they would like me to store seed for them to so farmers can pick it up

haypoint · #7 09/04/14, 07:02 PM

and they'll take back all unsold seed? You have a secure dry building? what's the market in your area for non-GMO corn or soybeans?

DaleK · #8 09/04/14, 07:08 PM

98% of what I handle is presold, i do get a few extra bags in case somebody runs out but I can handle any leftovers myself. Generally they start delivering to me through January to March and I deliver in April. You need a good secure building and a reliable way of handling pallets.
The biggest question you need to know is financing. The companies I sell for collect payment themselves. I know of other companies that expect the dealer to pay for all the seed and hope they can collect it from the customers on their own. That's too much risk for me.

jester31780 · #9 09/04/14, 07:24 PM

They get the money i just have to get it to some farmers. And try to sell thats if i sign their contract to store it just trying to see if i can make money at this

haypoint · #10 09/04/14, 09:21 PM

How long is your list of buyers?

Allen W · #11 09/04/14, 09:59 PM

How popular is the seed company in your area?

farminghandyman · #12 09/04/14, 10:07 PM

Un less one has one of the top sellers (brands) most will not even grant one the time to give them the flyer,

many of the dealers will try to give the farmer a bag to try in there operation, to hope fully get them to buy next year, ( when I was a dealer, that bag, came out of my pocket), and if you have an occasion to visit that farmer later and see there seed storage there is where you will see your bag of seed setting).

my experience was I sold a few bags, to a few farmers, but unless you were a volume dealer you never made a dime, It took a few hundred bags before you moved in to a volume to make any money,

I was talking to another dealer and there company made you totally responsible for collecting, if the farmer did not pay up, the company did not go after the farmer they went after you there dealer,

so if you sell some farmer a few hundred bags of $100 to 400 a bag seed, and they can't pay up, make sure your contract with the seed company does not leave you holding the bag,

yes there is money to be made,

but you will need to have a top seed company, with hybrids that top the test plots, year after year, and you will not need to sell they will come to you, if you do not have a company that has numbers in the top of the test plots, then forget it,

rambler · #13 09/05/14, 07:20 AM

Like any business, one person will do great, the next person won't be able to sell a single bag....

Depends a lot on you.

There is money to be made, but it depends on your product and your abilities.

Non gmo is a specialty market, so you will be dealing in smaller amounts. Typically small farms. Your neighboring dealers might be selling to farmers buying seed for 500-4000 acres worth of seed.

You will be selling to farmers buying for 20-200 acres worth of seed. More run around per bag sold, so you need to make a better percentage.

How much non gmo is grown in your area, is it all big farms, or lots of smaller farms? How does non gmo fit into your area? Is there a non gmo buyer in the area, that will make selling the seed a whole lot easier.

Like any business, it will start slowly. Be 10 years before you build up a comfortable, regular bunch of buyers that you can depend on for sales every year, your core group.

This is a long term business, not get in one year, quit in 5 years. You need to hustle every year, gain new customers, sell sell sell.

You have a lot of costs early on, need a nice building, a forklift, concrete floor, pest control - serious pest control - and all that for just a few customers the first year or three, might not seem worth it early on.

If you do your job, and if there is opportunity in your area for non gmo, you can be doing well in a decade with a list of repeat customers and adding a few more every year.....

Paul

idigbeets · #14 09/05/14, 07:21 AM

Our farms grows a variety of corn, soybeans, rye, barley, vetch for seed selling. Imo if you're not growing it, cleaning it, and have a ready to buy company... you wont' do well.

E.g. out corn sells for $10/lb (organic).... so there is money to be made, but a lot of costs up front in planting, cultivation, harvest, cleaning, grading etc.

geo in mi · #15 09/05/14, 08:55 AM

You will need to study up on your State's Seed laws governing selling of seeds. Many of those laws mirror the Federal Seed Act, which deals with germination rates, noxious weed seeds, inert matter, proper variety, etc, etc........ You will probably need a license and a grain storage license too. Your lawyer fees could eat up your profits if you are a small dealer.

geo

idigbeets · #16 09/06/14, 05:42 AM

Good call there Geo, I totally forgot about all that too

big rockpile · #17 09/07/14, 03:21 PM

For years I bought and sold Parent, second and third Generation Soybean, Wheat Seed and Kentucky 31 Fescue Seed.

Lots of work, Lab Work, keeping Pest out, yes got to know your Chemicals and some will just plain kill you if you don't know what you are doing. You have to deal with Treated Seed. Keep Records. Dealing with State and Federal regulations.

Monsanto got into it after I left and way I understand anymore with Soybeans you have to deal with them.

Plus you can anymore use Large Bulk Bags instead of your small 50#-60# Bags.

Seedsman for years.

big rockpile

texican · #18 09/07/14, 06:02 PM

Wouldn't one, if one were going to become a seed dealer, have to wait for someone (an existing dealer) to die first? Can't imagine there are any un-served markets anywhere in NA....

DaleK · #19 09/07/14, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texican

Wouldn't one, if one were going to become a seed dealer, have to wait for someone (an existing dealer) to die first? Can't imagine there are any un-served markets anywhere in NA....

No, dealers change fairly often, one company will expand into new areas with new dealers, another will go out of business, two more will merge, etc. and lots of dealers retire or find it doesn't suit them. There's actually quite a bit of turnover.
My smaller dealership is selling for a forage/cover crop company, I'm currently waiting to see who my third district manager in 5 months will be.