A Look At Live Goods Buying Habits

A Look At Live Goods Buying Habits

Some growers have been buying hard and live goods more conservatively this year as a result of 2008. What are the reasons? How will their buying habits affect the spring season? We recently caught up with Dave Watt of Express Seed Company, general manager for the live goods broker based in Oberlin, Ohio, who offered a few thoughts on recent buying trends he’s seen.

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Why are buying habits more conservative for live goods this year compared to past years?

“Growers are viewing this year as a correction with their planning. I think we’ve had unusual circumstances in the way we’ve broadcasted concerns over the economy. The action being taken is just a maturing of many discussions that have been going on over the years–discussions about pay by scan, at-once ordering, cost-effective planning and maybe most importantly, the shrink factor. The reaction is all part of that, and it’s come a little bit to a head because of all those circumstances combined.

“I think through that, you’re going to find a more conservative nature this year that should correct things.”

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Have you seen conservative bookings already? Are you anticipating them?

“I see continued growth for our company with our customers, but it’s all coming at the same time. Any conservative aspect of the bookings is occurring on the shoulders. I saw a lessening in product demand for that part of the season.

“On the peak side, people are still bullish. You have to think about what the products are early on and after the peak, or what your shrink is. What happens early on if there’s a snowstorm? In the past, at least in our part of the country, you might say I need my product up here as early as April 1 to hit certain markets. If it doesn’t snow and the weather is good, everybody’s going to be saying ‘I don’t have enough ready-to-sell products.'”

Are growers looking for more flexibility in payments?

“First of all, I think our industry is sound. I think our grower base has to make business adjustments the same way every other business has to make today. There are business management decisions that need to be made and adjusted continually in a moving market.

Are there common mistakes growers are making when it comes to ordering?

“Growers have, perhaps, waited to book some products in a manner this year that the supply side wasn’t prepared for. The suppliers we use who produce cuttings and seeds and so forth might not have been as prepared for delayed ordering. As a result, when their orders came through, there had to be a lot of additional inventory management manipulation.

“If the supply sources are not in tune with a grower’s conditions or situations, there’s going to be a breakdown somewhere. Our effort over the last seven years has been to tighten up the supply chain as much as we can. We’ve tried to contribute to a more efficient planning process, and we think this is kind of an unmeasured cost. But there are a lot of costs that go into trying to manage orders for availability that were never planned for.

How will this year play out?

“I think it’s going to be a good year. My hope is growers are going to come through this year in a healthy light. I’m hoping for good weather and good sell through at the store.

“As an industry, we have a tendency to swing the pendulum way too far if we’re following up a good year. We swing the pendulum too far the good way. You have to strike a balance somewhere.”

Do you have any last-minute advice for growers?

“Not necessarily advice, but an opinion: Work with suppliers who have a real keen interest in keeping you healthy. That’s really the No. 1 objective for the supply side of our industry: Keep the grower healthy, and we will all stay healthy.”

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Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Too much use of credit is the prime reason we all are in the jack pot. Over production, over speculation, over selling, higher than reasonalbe expectations, larger fewer growers because of “leveraged” (credit) buyouts. Then the issue is paying off the debt rather than producing a healthy plant. Growth for growths sake is insane, growth should be a reward for good performance.

The only winners are the banksters who always get their “cut” of the flow of “paper” (fiat money) and we are enslaved to a tread mill that has no end.

We would do ourselves well to go back to as little credit as possible, get the government out of giving big grants to big companies, or any company for energy savings and let free (moral) markets determine our economy.

I could go on for hours but I am a recovering victim of the credit fiasco, both giving and taking of. It is destroying our people, businesses, and way of life. It is a sin against our Holy God and we all are paying for it with inflation, foreclosures, loss of jobs, loss of our families and children, the list goes on.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Ross,
You are right on! There is a way to end this maddness and if the American people would listen to the people who know the country would be better off and we could end our slavery!
Let’s pray that we all have a strong spring this season and we can keep our jobs and businesses.
We can not look to our elected officials to help us. They are the problem. To survive the current conditions in our global economy we must get creative and offer the best products at the best prices we can so everyone in the supply chain can countiune on towards the future. Hopefully eveyone in the supply chain will work together to insure the future.
It has been my expierence that hard times can be good for the industry. I pray, as we all should, that this will be the case this year and in those that will surely come after this one.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Too much use of credit is the prime reason we all are in the jack pot. Over production, over speculation, over selling, higher than reasonalbe expectations, larger fewer growers because of “leveraged” (credit) buyouts. Then the issue is paying off the debt rather than producing a healthy plant. Growth for growths sake is insane, growth should be a reward for good performance.

The only winners are the banksters who always get their “cut” of the flow of “paper” (fiat money) and we are enslaved to a tread mill that has no end.

We would do ourselves well to go back to as little credit as possible, get the government out of giving big grants to big companies, or any company for energy savings and let free (moral) markets determine our economy.

I could go on for hours but I am a recovering victim of the credit fiasco, both giving and taking of. It is destroying our people, businesses, and way of life. It is a sin against our Holy God and we all are paying for it with inflation, foreclosures, loss of jobs, loss of our families and children, the list goes on.

Avatar for Anonymous Anonymous says:

Ross,
You are right on! There is a way to end this maddness and if the American people would listen to the people who know the country would be better off and we could end our slavery!
Let’s pray that we all have a strong spring this season and we can keep our jobs and businesses.
We can not look to our elected officials to help us. They are the problem. To survive the current conditions in our global economy we must get creative and offer the best products at the best prices we can so everyone in the supply chain can countiune on towards the future. Hopefully eveyone in the supply chain will work together to insure the future.
It has been my expierence that hard times can be good for the industry. I pray, as we all should, that this will be the case this year and in those that will surely come after this one.