Agri-Best Feeds is the regional marketing arm of SweetPro Feeds based out of Walhalla, ND and Redmond Natural Trace Minerals in Redmond, UT. Our focus is to maximize animal health, forage utilization, and producer profits.
     SweetPro Feeds is known for its new nutritional technology (6 patents plus a proprietary digestive aide) of taking Distiller’s Grains (by-product of the ethanol process) stabilizing them in block or granular from and making them available to livestock producers across the nation and Canada.Redmond Natural Trace Mineral is a unique sea salt deposit (50+ balanced minerals in crystalloid form) and volcanic ash containing a plethora of minerals. Both of these product lines are very valuable to animal health.
 

HISTORY
     Through a mutual contact, SweetPro Feeds contacted Irv Haidle to introduce their products into 8 states in the upper mid-west. When Irv was first contacted he was interested in the concept but thought some of the company’s claims were “too good to be true”, so he filed the information. About 4 years later SweetPro contacted him again and this time he decided to test their claim (feeding SweetPro would improve feed efficiency on the forage for cattle -- they will eat 25% less hay) on his own cattle. To do this he documented how long it would take his dry lot herd on his current supplement program to eat 8 round bales. He then took away his current supplements and added SweetPro and within a 6 week period he actually noticed a 28% reduction in hay consumption.
     This was very intriguing to Irv, so after some further research on the product and company, he decided to market the product. At first his aspirations were fairly limited – perhaps a truckload or two a month. After some foundational work on pricing, delivery systems, and developing policies for a dealership network, Irv introduced the product line at the NILE Show in Billings in 2006. The response was better than expected and Irv was able to set up a number of dealerships and market 15 truckloads of product by March 07. At this point it was evident that Irv would need some help with this growing business.
     In April Irv and his family formed a corporation and Scott Anderson joined Irv as the Director of Operations. Many hours were put in setting up policies, establishing pricing structures, setting up the company’s books, and creating marketing tools. In September Irv and Scott started to travel around the 5 state region putting on producer meetings for our local dealers. By the end of 2007 we had hosted more than 50 producer meetings with over 700 producers in attendance. The business continued to grow and it became obvious that we needed someone who would oversee the distribution of the product. Daryl Haidle joined the Agri-Best Feeds team as the Distribution Manager on January 1st, 2008 and Sammy Higgs became our Business Manager on August 1st, 2009.
     In April 2009 Agri-Best became the regional distribution arm of Redmond Natural Trace Minerals. This product is a perfect complement to the SweetPro line of products and its benefits range from livestock and human health to soil application.
     We market through a network of dealers and focus on exposing these great products to the marketplace and educating producers on the value of these products. Our dealers range from the producer dealer who owns their own livestock to retail outlets such as feed stores and building centers.
The future for Agri-Best Feeds looks very bright. We have two “home run” product lines that we are introducing into the marketplace, a growing network of dealers promoting our product, and a business structure to handle and encourage continued growth. 

MARKETING
PRODUCT: Patented feed supplement for all classes of livestock
1. Carrier (block or granular) is the by-product of the ethanol process. This process if very similar to the way a cow or horse processes their forage, so the carrier is “predigested”
–NO MOLASSES
2. Balanced vitamin, mineral package (50% chelated – broken down outside the body), and salt
3. PROBIOTEIN – our proprietary digestive aide full of live yeast and enzymes that target the animal’s digestive system and make it as healthy and efficient as possible (25% more digestible energy and nutrients out of the producers forage).
4. Redmond Natural Trace Minerals -
     a. Sea salt for livestock
     b. Redmond Conditioner
5. The producer adds their forage resulting in a complete balanced ration that has many positive benefits for the livestock (improved health, better feed utilization, improved performance, better conception rates, significant labor savings, etc.)
DEALER NETWORK:
1. Local rancher or someone connected with the livestock industry 
     a. Use the product personally
     b. Connect us with local producers to educate on the benefits of SweetPro and Redmond line of products
2. Dealer applicants – new dealers that our current dealers know, find, and help us train
3. Retail stores – most contact us after customers ask for our products
TOOLS:
1. SweetPro Company – 
     a. Web-site, DVDs
     b. Product Brochures
     c. Dealer Manual (excellent with product testimonials)
     d. Webinar presentation/support
2. Redmond Natural Trace Minerals
     a. Web-site
     b. Brochures
     c. Webinar presentation/support
3. Agri-Best Feeds
     a. Corporate Flyer
     b. Dealer Manual (focused on product benefit)
     c. Web-site (including recorded webinars of producer meetings)
     d. Webinars: Cattle, Horse, Dealer, Special Focus
     e. Worksheets for dealers to use with producers on what products to use and consumptions issues
     f. 3-way calling with Agri-Best officers
Pricing:
1. Dealer Pricing – Dealers buy at wholesale from Agri-Best Feeds
      a. Zone Pricing (SweetPro) or State Pricing (Redmond) – Based on distance from the manufacturing plant. 
          i. Plant Pickup
          ii. Pickup at one of Agri-Best Feeds’ warehouses
          iii. Delivered
1. Truckload
2. Pallet pricing
2. Retail Pricing – Dealers sell at retail to their customers
     a. Zone Pricing (SweetPro) or State Pricing (Redmond) – Based on distance from the manufacturing plant.
          i. Plant Pickup
          ii. Pickup at one of Agri-Best Feeds’ warehouses
          iii. Delivered
1. Truckload
2. Pallet pricing
3. Item pricing

Conclusion
     Agri-Best Feeds is a growing company, marketing an exploding product line into a marketplace that is desperate for products that maximize their profitability. We will continue to stimulate the economy through the products themselves as livestock producers are able to improve their animal health, maximize the use of their forage, and improve their profits as well as giving our local network of dealers the products, support, and training to develop profitable businesses.