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Writer's pictureJohn O'Brion

Blinders

So many people in the wildlife industry from end users to retail have blinders on. Let me give you some more clarity in what I mean by that. The wildlife industry is product driven versus concept and science driven. To sell products there has to be a celebrity endorsement, fancy bag and a picture of a deer on the product for it to be sold. There is reality and there is smoke and mirrors. Here are some examples.

How many times do we see someone holding a picture of a huge purple top turnip. The person who is in the picture may or may not even realize what they are holding. Are they holding something unique to the company that they purchased the mix from? No!! Purple top turnips are purple top turnips are purple top turnips. There are very few growers of most seeds in the wildlife industry. Many of the exact same lots of seeds are in many competitive company bags. The next thing i throw at people is why they want a huge turnip bulb? Do they understand that protein levels of both the bulb and top growth lessen with age of maturity, palatability decreases in those huge, mature bulbs and how is the overall nutrition of that turnip that is huge? To get that turnip huge is has absolutely nothing to do with the company who sold it. It has to do with soil fertility, planting date and mother nature. Did you have heat units, soil moisture and the agronomic conditions for that growth.

We also see the exact same thing with daikon radish. There is only a handful of growers who produce daikon radish. They are in 1 valley in oregon. Those lot numbers of radish are grown and could be in 1000s of different mixes and with 100s of different companies. How is anyone's better than another's when it was from the same grower?

Buy from a coop or feed mill. Generic answers can be a huge disservice to who reads these comments. I have a good grasp of the seed world from grower to seed conditioner to distribution and retail. I am in that world and have sold on many levels and to large hitters as well as retail. What most don't know is many coops do NOT love wildlife seed. It is a small portion of their sales, with poor margins and it takes times that most agronomists do not want to use energy on. Very few companies in the seed world take seed back. Because of this there is at many times old seed sitting on shelves and pallets at these locations. Feed mills and farm stores also qualify in these areas. Heck, even the super stores have old seed commonly sitting on their shelves. How often do you look and see out dated seed or bags of seed with 1 or multiple new stickers over old stickers?

What should I plant? We read this all the time on social media. So many people throw random answers out there without even having 1 clue as to the soil samples, soil types, location, deer densities and other factors that need to be addressed before giving a better answer. The thing no 1 ever considers in the wildlife industry is the future. Why is this? Agronomists and farmers do. This is why they establish rotations. Why is crop rotations important? I could talk for hours on that topic. So, when people ask me what they should plant, I ask the end user to take off their blinders. Think big picture. Stop focusing only at what is directly in front of them. Every single action has a reaction short term and long term. I consider people who take random recommendations and plant random mixes along the same 1 night stands. Long term success is a lot like relationship building. Everyone has history. Everyone has unique sets of challenges and situations.

The farming community is made up of consultants, agronomists and nutritionists. Why is that? Guessing leads people to go broke. Heck, many times consulting comes with the seed, fertilizer and nutritional products that farmers purchase. That is called added value.

There is added value in the wildlife industry. You just have to search to find it. In an industry filled with products, there is a lack of solutions. Some have read my challenges to ask anyone you consider purchasing from "why and because". Without why and because your wearing blinders and are a gambler. I am not a gambler and I am well versed with what actions cause which reactions. That is what my message is to you all. Learn, challenge and reduce the gambling.

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