When a group of the Company’s top dealers sit down for the afternoon for a discussion with Fontanelle Hybrids top managers, the end result is a lengthy list of things to keep doing right and projects to consider for the future. Fontanelle’s annual Stalkholder Council met in Omaha, Nebraska on February 13. “We always have a list of topics we want to hear the dealer’s opinions on,” Steve Pike, sales manager said. “But this year we turned it around and asked the dealers to tell us what topics they wanted to discuss.”

That list included many of the same topics on the Company’s list: pricing, product line up, and the competition. “We are very fortunate to have such supportive dealers,” Pike said. “They tell us when we are doing the right things, which is important for us to know. We are also fortunate in that the Council members came armed with possible solutions to any of the problems they saw us facing. That was incredibly helpful.”

The 2004 Stalkholder Council was made up of 11 members from across Fontanelle’s territory. The members included: from Nebraska— Lon Bohn and Don Blascho, Gibbon, Mark Gloe, Wood River, Randy Margritz, Lexington, and Mark Peterson, Elkhorn; from Iowa— Trevor Gress, Denison, Jim Konz, Hospers, and Cory Schnepel, Council Bluffs; from Kansas— Loren Campbell, Greenwood, and Danny Alexander, Satanta; and from Missouri—Wayne Voltmer, Mound City.

“The Stalkholder Council is the kick off to our annual Travel and Training (TNT) meeting.” Pike said. “The TNT is our chance to bring all of our dealers together for training, discussion, exchanging ideas and relaxation. We had the largest group attend that we’ve ever had, and everything went well. We feel like we are headed into the planning and planting season with the right people and the right products. That’s a powerful combination.”

Fontanelle Hybrids is a 68 year old employee-owned seed company marketing corn, soybeans, grain sorghum, alfalfa and sunflowers in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri and portions of Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Texas. Fontanelle Hybrids is one of the five owners and members of the Core Group that markets value added products under the High Cycle^® Seed Systems brand of products.

High Cycle is a registered trademark of the CORE Group.