Giving growers flexibility with financing

Success comes when our customers understand Nutrien’s value proposition. The Nutrien Ag Solutions branch in Mineral Point, Wisconsin recently celebrated a win with Nutrien Financial  – earning loyalty and trust from a customer after securing a financing deal that created impactful savings on fertilizer prices. The customer was so impressed with the deal that he signed on with Nutrien Financial without even comparing competitor prices. 

Jason Rowe farms a diversified corn and soybean operation in southwest Wisconsin while maintaining full-time employment in agriculture. Fertilizer prices began to rise sharply just as Jason was looking to expand his operation. He wanted to mitigate risk by locking in fertilizer prices before they increased even more, but he wasn’t certain the economics would be in his favor due to the interest rate environment.

Jason was aware that more and more growers are choosing to balance rising interest rate expenses with the savings they usually got from early discounting, and he wanted to do the same. Crop consultants and financing experts at the Nutrien Ag Solutions branch in Mineral Point, WS presented Jason with Nutrien Financial options to secure pricing at the lower fertilizer rate.

“Working with Nutrien’s in-house financing team gave me an opportunity to get discounts that I couldn’t get through a credit line at the bank,” says Jason. “Using this program, I got in before Nitrogen prices crept up. I wasn’t totally ahead of the game but also wasn’t at the back end and I know people who paid 30-40 percent more than I did.”

Because of the financing deal Jason had with Nutrien Financial, his financial picture was more flexible, which put him on solid ground to make the split-second decision to acquire more land.

“Due to the inflationary environment, prices for fertilizer were very volatile,” says Jordan Howe, Senior Territory Sales Manager at Nutrien Financial. “We looked at all of the Nutrien Financial programs to work out the best option for Jason that would create savings to mitigate financial risks and help him react quickly when opportunity knocked.”

With added financial flexibility, Jason was also able to revise his marketing strategy to capitalize on the most opportune time to sell his harvest. Farmers earn revenue once a year at harvest time, so it’s critical to maximize the return to cover expenses throughout the year. Because Jason’s financing aligned with his crop cycle, he had flexibility to wait to sell his crops when he would earn the highest profit, rather than having to sell right after harvest when prices were lower.

“Lately, farming has been a lot of fun,” Jason said. “I’ve lived through some years that have not been fun and I don’t want to go back to those. Working with a company like Nutrien that can help you line up your agronomics and your financial picture takes some of the stress out of decision making so you can focus on the fun part of farming.”