Valley Agronomics has emerged as a leading partner for growers in the Pacific Northwest. The team’s growth as well as management of its business led it to being named the 2021 Ag Retailer of the Year by the Agricultural Retailers Association.
The award is sponsored by Bayer and supported by The Scoop.
Since 2006, the company has grown from four locations to more than 35 locations with 450 employees serving 3,000 farmers in seven states.
Headquartered in Nampa, Idaho, the company has three partners: Valley Wide Cooperative, Wilco Farmers Coop and WinField United. Valley Ag grew in January 2021 by acquiring Saddle Mountain Supply in Washington. In September 2021, Valley Ag expanded with Valley Wide Cooperative’s merger with Ag Link Inc., based in northeast Washington.
Richard Lloyd, general manager of Valley Ag, says four things set apart this ag retailer:
• Consistent supply
• Agronomic expertise
• Timely service
• Innovation
“We focus heavily on trying to take care of growers, meet their needs, bring new innovation to them and help them successfully grow crops and be profitable,” says Lloyd.
This business is rooted in its mission and reflects its farmers by providing for thousands of acres of corn, soybeans, potatoes, sugar beets, hay, dry beans, vegetables, specialty crops and more.
Continuous Improvement
Leaders say it has taken ongoing investment in the business to provide the products, knowledge and service for its territory.
“We’ve made some significant investments over the years—a lot of brick and mortar, a lot of new equipment and a lot of great people,” says David Holtom, CEO of Valley Wide Cooperative and Valley Ag. “Ag is something that’s going to be always changing in dynamics, so we’re ready to make those investments. I don’t know if we’re ever going to get to the point and say, ‘Well, we’re there. We’ve made the investment, so now it’s all over.’”
For example, a facility was just completed in Rexburg, Idaho, to combine two previous facilities—with the capacity to hold 6,000 tons of fertilizer and blend 6,000 lb. per minute—into a brand-new facility with 10,000 tons of storage and a blend capacity of 10,000 lb. per minute.
These capital investments in facilities and technologies allow the team to do more with less manpower while keeping the team safer. Valley Ag is a member of ResponsibleAg, and many of its locations are ResponsibleAg-certified.
“Our focus is always around safety and making sure everybody goes home safe every day,” says Dick Fennimore, location manager in Mount Angel, Oregon. This facility was ResponsibleAg-certified last year and has 21 staff, including five agronomists.
Many location managers echo the theme of greater productivity needed, but in those efficiencies, the focus on people and their safety remains top priority.
Tech Fueled Further Growth
Although the staff and structural investments in the company have yielded results, the investments made in technology have accelerated growth. Holtom and Lloyd say it’s important that Valley Ag has adopted the approach that technology should be customer-driven and apply a grower focus in how they pursue opportunities with tech. It’s made the business willing to take risks in trying new technologies.
One example came with the 2016 launch of its Precision Platinum program, which has grown and evolved with farmer feedback.
“We learned really quickly growers would prefer to customize it. There were certain things growers were interested in and other things they weren’t,” says Connor Lankford, precision ag manager. “Every year, we look at new technology that’s emerging, and we’ll run pilot programs with those companies. We’ll look at what works and evaluate whether that’s something we want to adopt on a larger scale and help more of our customers utilize.”
As a technology adopter, the past two years presented opportunities to increase technology use as the company rolled out a grower-facing portal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Valley Ag’s business is a business of people. It is one-on-one business-to-business, grower-to-grower, agronomist-to-grower and getting things done,” Lloyd says. “We launched a new grower app and grower portal that allows growers to be able to place orders, look up product history, pay and view their invoices, get information quicker and easier. In no way was it a way to replace personal interaction but to supplement it. This was really important as COVID came around. That challenge brought innovation quicker than we have seen it and adoption sooner than expected.”
Putting tools in those employees’ hands is driving them to continue on the business’ mission.
“Valley Ag has an edge in a competitive market with having tools that can be a great tiebreaker,” says Kelly Mecham, location manager, Idaho Falls, Idaho. “It’s not always about price. If you can deliver it, back it up with service, bring new ideas while you know growers are always price-sensitive, you’ve got to be competitive.”
Credit Goes To the Team
Today, the company has more than $300 million in sales.
“You’ve got to have the right people for that to happen. That doesn’t happen just because you’ve got a good price or good equipment. It takes rock star employees to make that happen, and so we’ve committed to that. Someone once told me long ago, to be successful, you’ve got to have the right people, so we pull out all the stops to get the right people,” Holtom says.
And Valley Ag is committed to serve its communities with involvement in 4-H groups, FFA, hunger relief efforts, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, scholarships and more.
What Farmer-Customers Have To Say
