Direct Enterprises, Inc. (DEI), Westfield, Ind., and TerraMax, Eagan, Minn., announced a new strategic marketing agreement here today. Under the agreement, DEI will now carry TerraMax's unique in-furrow product, MicroAZ-IF, a biological shown to enhance nutrient take-up and plant vigor in corn and soybeans.
"TerraMax is known for their ability to assure the stability of these beneficial microbes from origin all the way to their contact with the germinating seed in the soil," said Bill Haubner, DEI co-founder and president, in sharing news of the collaboration. "MicroAZ-IF is a great tool for farmers to use in stretching their nitrogen dollars as prices have nearly tripled in some areas."
"We've spent 20 years testing and refining our proprietary stabilization process to ensure our microbes are delivered to the market alive and ready to work," says Tom Proepper, chief operating officer (COO) of TerraMax. "DEI has a reputation for delivering quality products and services all the way to end-use in the field and we are excited by the opportunity to push this beneficial technology out to even more farmers."
With two different strains of Azospirillum, explains Doug Kremer, founder and CEO of TerraMax, MicroAZ-IF is able to harvest and fix atmospheric nitrogen so that it can be used by the plant and exude plant-like compounds that stimulate root development for improved nutrient uptake and increased yields. Once the planted seed germinates and the roots start to develop, the bacteria attach to the roots to enhance vigor.
"Our agreement with TerraMax is another step in our effort to bring the latest quality products to dealers and growers," says Dennis Tauchen, co-founder and COO of DEI. "In research conducted and published by Beck's Hybrids, TerraMax MicroAZ-IF Liquid brought a 3 bu./A. yield increase and a three-year average of $15.61/A. ROI (return on investment) compared to their control. That's more money in the pockets of farmers."
DEI, well known for its custom seed treatment blends of hard chemistry, growth promoters and flowability agents was the first to bring CeraMax to U.S. growers last year. CeraMax is a biological proven to be very effective in the fight against Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in soybeans.
Now entering their 26th year of business, Haubner and Tauchen recently launched what they call a "Seeding Success Initiative" designed to further improve their integrated approach to quality through lab testing, field research and precise, customized blends.
"Seed dealers and farmers are looking for the best ways to grow their crops and care for their families and land season after season," explains Tauchen. "And, we are redoubling our efforts to come alongside them to help."
"Farmers aren't standing still, and we can't either," adds Haubner. DEI, he says, is gearing the new customer service initiative with four pillars of activity:
- Bringing more new seed enhancement solutions to market.
- Adding uniformity to in-house laboratory testing of new offerings.
- Increasing in-field research and more uniformly sharing results.
- Cementing leadership as expert integrators of proprietary products, custom-blends and seed treating equipment.
"We've built our reputation on high-quality products and great customer service over the past 25 years," says Haubner. "We want to take steps now to assure that we will continue to improve in these coming years."
Categories: Indiana, Business