OPTIMISM: Bring on challenges of 2021! Arrow Seed
Producers start every year with hope
BROKEN BOW - Each year brings new challenges to farmers and ranchers yet, at the same time, each year brings with it renewed faith and optimism.
“Every farmer, every rancher starts every year with hope,” Jim Girardin said.
Girardin is the owner of Arrow Seed in Broken Bow. In the past several years, he and his company have worked with farmers and ranchers through drought, floods and a pandemic.
“We had flooding in 2109. Last year wasn’t so bad, but the year ended in drought, and it will be a concern going forward,” he said.
Despite the unique challenges of last year, Arrow Seed continued to serve their customers. “We had to change how we did business,” Girardin explained. “Business didn’t change. We still cleaned, bagged and shipped seed. The process changed, the end results didn’t.” In fact, the biggest challenge of last year wasn’t the coronavirus for Arrow Seed. “We were affected more by the weather than COVID-19,” Girardin said.
Arrow Seed had no problems getting product last year, though they did see a slowdown in delivery. “The trucking industry is very tight. It’s hard to get over-the-road trucks,” Girardin said. “The situation is more complex than COVID-19.” He went on to explain that since January, 2019, a lot of factors have
influenced the transportation industry, including a shortage of drivers.
Like many businesses, the most immediate challenge was felt in the storefront. “It was the shutting down,” he said. “We offered curbside service for three weeks. It was the hardest thing we did.” Some pickups ended up requiring three or four phone calls. While some of the orders could be large, others were as small as one pack of garden seeds.
2020 was a good year for gardens. “More gardens went in last year than in many years,” Girardin said. “Some will continue this year, some will not.”
Girardin describes Arrow Seed as a forage company, a “niche company in the heart of cattle country.” At this time of year, they are helping customers order alfalfa seed, field pea seed, oat seed and summer annual forage seed such as cane. They also sell grain seed - wheat, yellow field pea and sorghum. Girardin
said there is currently strong interest in sorghum. “The grain sorghum and pea market is strong,” he said. “The export market opened up a bit and created an additional demand.” Both products are used for feed and food.
Girardin feels that 2021 will be a good year. “Overall, the farm outlook is positive. Most grain markets are up,” he said, while at the same time noting that things are never guaranteed.
Asked if there is anything new in the forage industry, Girardin said, “Forage doesn’t move as quickly as corn and hybrid rotate. Alfalfa, summer annuals and pasture forage have longer life spans. Alfalfa varieties update every two to three year with continued increase in yield.”
Girardin’s advice to farmers is to do what is best for their own farm. “Don’t worry about your neighbors,” he said. “Make good decisions for you and your operations.”
He sees some of changes staying with us. For example, Zoom meetings are probably here to stay. He also sees the ag industry slowly shifting to an online market place at a certain level. Yet, while some things can be done easily and maybe faster with computers, there are some things that will never change. In person exchanges and the hands-on touching of grains and plants will remain important. “You can’t replace faceto-face,” Girardin said.
Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Girardin took time to reflect on living in Custer County. He and his wife, Deb, recently traveled to the Northwest part of the U.S.
“We’re very blessed to live where we do and have the freedoms that they don’t currently have in Oregon and Washington.”
During their trip, they saw that restaurants were not open to dine-in offering carryout only. No entertainment or activity venues were open. “The lock down is working there to reduce the COVID-19 rate but at a high cost to their economy,” he said, citing that the Northwest positivity rate is about a third of Nebraska’s.
This year, like all other years, Arrow Seed is ready to serve customers and help with forage and cover crop seed prescriptions and mixes. They also offer a full line of electric fence equipment, including a new dual energizer that operates by plug-in, solar or battery, garden supplies and farm supplies.
Even though 2021 may bring continued challenges, ag producers will persevere just as they have throughout history - with hope and optimism. So bring it on!