By Abby White, High Plains Journal
Reprinted with authorization

When someone mentions the perfect blend, the rich smell of coffee comes to mind. However, for Phillips Seed, creating the perfect blend means mixing the best seed wheat varieties that will have the most consistent, highest possible average yields.

Phillips Seed, with locations in Tescott, Assaria and south of Abilene, Kansas, pioneered the process of blending seed wheat varieties based on field data.

"We kind of started it," said owner Don Phillips.

Certified blend is where two or more varieties are blended together. The Kansas and federal seed laws require that if a variety has more than four percent of another variety in it, then it must be called a blend.

"Ninety percent of our bulk sales are certified blended varieties," said Dale Cross, general manager. Certified blend is becoming increasingly popular for many wheat producers.

Blended varieties are appealing because if one variety fails, the other two will still produce a good crop. The demand for blended varieties has increased in the past few years mainly because of landlord appeal.

"It allows for a consistent yield," Cross said. "If one variety fails, the other two will carry the crop. This way producers can get the highest possible average yield that is consistent--not just a high and low."

The varieties that go into the blend depend on how those varieties perform the previous year. This means that the blend is different every year. To select the varieties to go into the blend, Phillips looks at the previous year's data to find out what was yielding high.

The purpose of blending the seed is to have three high quality varieties.

The most common blend from the past year included Jagger, Dominator and 2137 seed wheat varieties. But looking ahead to next year, Phillips expects Overly and Jagalene will be included in the blend.

"Overly and Jagalene were the leading varieties this year," Phillips said. "Santa Fe is also a new seed variety, but supply this year was limited."

Phillips selects which varieties to blend based on data from test plots and performance for each variety. Only the top performing varieties are included in the blend.

Listen to the customer

Customer service is another very important aspect of Phillips Seed.

"We do a good job of listening to the customers." Phillips said. "Even though we don't sell to the end users, we still realize how important our seed is to the farmers--picking the best locally adapted varieties for that area."

Phillips sells most of its seed through a network of dealers. The dealers, in turn, sell to the producers. Phillips' seed ends up in the eastern two-thirds of Kansas and neighboring states.

"We have a great dealer network that finds out where they need seed and what they want," Phillips said. "We're mainly a wholesale company. We do very little retail."

Phillips realizes how critical it is to appeal to the end user.

"There's no use in trying to sell a product that's not going to work," he said. We only sell varieties that we would want to produce ourselves, he said.

Phillips also only sells certified seed. For seed to be certified, it must be registered when planted. The fields are then rowed and inspected by Phillips and his employees and also inspected by a Kansas Crop Improvement Association (KCIA) inspector to become certified seed. The seed is then processed, cleaned and tested according to KCIA rules.

Producers buy certified seed because they know they are getting a good, pure product as well as a genetic yield increase.

Philips sells 250,000 bushels of certified seed wheat every year, along with 100,000 bushels of soybeans, corn and sorghum, each. They also sell seed for many other crops suitable for their local region.

"We're a full-line seed company," Phillips said. Phillips sells his own brand, Phillips, and also Midland Seed in Nebraska and Northern Kansas.

"Our soybeans, corn and sorghums have been very successful because they are locally adapted to our area," Phillips said.

The majority of the seed Phillips sells is contract grown--mostly from irrigated fields.

"We produce close to 20 percent of what we sell," he said. With 30 employees and three branches, he knows how to stay busy.

Company grows to meet demand

The company started from scratch, with 40 acres 20 years ago, and it has expanded and grown each year.

"We built it piece by piece, starting with a one-corral farm," Phillips said. "I had always planned what it would someday look like."

Good employees strengthened the company.

"We've got a good group," Phillips said. "They're really important to the operation."

Phillips said having an efficient management staff is another important part of a successful company.

"Our management staff of seven stays very busy," he said. "They do an excellent job."

Phillips said that having multiple locations spreads the operation out. It also allows each location to specializes in its own area, selling seed to its own territory. This benefits the operation because there is not as much going on in one location.

"It's nice having three locations, because it splits up the operation and job responsibilities."

Phillips Seed has to meet a constant growing demand for seed wheat and processing. In the last five years, they have had to double capacity and sales to meet demand.

"We provide prompt service to the dealers and the best possible product," Phillips said.

Seed can be processed at any one of the three Phillips Seed plants. At the plant south of Abilene, Kan., the seed wheat goes through a cleaner, length grader and gravity table. The cleaner is an air and sifting operation, which cleans the seed wheat to remove dust, dirt and fines. The length grader takes away all white caps and also the cross cut and damaged kernels. The gravity table is a precision cleaner that separates the wheat by test weight, removing the light and shriveled kernels, which really improves yields.

At one time, Phillips Seed was known for its portable seed wheat cleaning system, which took the entire cleaning operation throughout the state. Although the machine is still on wheels, it has moved to its permanent location inside the Phillips Seed plant.

"We haven't moved it in a long time," Phillips said. "We stay busy enough here in the plant, without having to go to the farms."

Technology changes business

Not only has Phillips dealt with the changes in demand for seed wheat, but he has also seen technology change the seed business. Fifteen years ago, he sold five wheat varieties. Today, he sells 17 varieties and five different technologies.

"The technology and patent traits have become an enormous part of the seed business," Phillips said. "With patent traits and governmental regulations, the seed business has become very complicated. It used to be a simple business."

Phillips Seed has kept up with seed wheat technologies with help from Kansas State University and AgriPro.

"It helps being close to Manhattan, (Kan.)," Cross said. "We can get new varieties of certified seed and get an earlier look at it, before it's commonly grown."

Current trends in seed wheat are going away from bagged seed. Phillips' business used to be half bagged and half bulk seed, but 2,000 pound tote bags, called jumbo bags, have become more popular in the business. The jumbo bags are handled with forklifts. Fifty pound bags are wasteful and costly for bigger farms.

"The bigger farms use truckloads--they don't mess with bags," Phillips said.

With blended seed wheat varieties, new technologies and quality employees, Phillips Seed has been successful. Listening to the customer is an essential part of their business and they make sure they are providing a quality product. They plan on keeping up with the demand for years to come.

Abby White is the 2005 American Agricultural Editors Association summer intern for High Plains Journal. She can be reached by phone at 620-225-1805 or by e-mail at awhite@hpj.com.