ozarks
roots
the people, places and traditions that make the ozarks home Photo by Rachel Harper
35 YEARS
in the Niche Business
By Rachel Harper
Kincaid Seed Company processes products that other companies don’t offer
Jaret Kincaid is a fourth-generation farmer who grew up on the Kincaid family farm in Jasper, Mo., helping his dad Mac Kincaid and grandpa Dean Kincaid. About 35 years ago, he began looking for something that could make extra money in the wintertime. Jaret and his friend, Todd Clements, started custom cleaning Lespedeza seed in 1985. Kincaid Seed Company began from there and has been growing ever since. “I had a little bit of help from Terry Altic from Green Seed in Springfield, Mo., and he encouraged me to start peddling a little bit of seed, and from there it just kind of snowballed,” Jaret said. The Kincaid family farm and the seed company benefit each other. The farm raises a lot of the seed for the seed company. “The company buys seed from the farm, processes it, markets it, wholesales it and retails it from there,” Jaret said, Kincaid Seed Company started out on the farm and with steady growth is still at its same location but has added some additional building space over the years. With the growth in business, the company now has five employees. Jaret is the owner, his wife Beverly does the bookkeeping, nephew Macauley Kincaid helps with the cover crops, son-in-law Corey Hall works in sales and maintenance, and Daniel Ritchhart is the plant manager. Kincaid Seed Company processes and sells many types of seed as well as sells twine and net wrap. They custom process Lespedeza, clover and Roundup Ready 1 soybeans. “We process a lot of products that most companies won’t process because they are niche items such as oats, barley, Korean lespedeza and Roundup Ready soybeans, and this year for the first time, we processed winter peas. In the last few years cover crops have become the new age of farming and have really taken off.” Most of the big companies do not offer cover crops because there are so many variables in what can be used for a cover crop. At Kincaid Seed, customers are able to request packed custom blends. The market for cover crops has been growing every year and
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Kincaid Seed recently added a seed blender in hopes of expanding the next several years. They are also starting to market their own seed wheat and seed beans. “Many of the customers we process for are third generation,” Jaret said. “I cleaned their grandfathers’ seed and now they are grown and have kids of their own.” Much of their business comes from customers who have been with them from the beginning. The biggest changes Jaret has seen over the last 35 years is that many of the seed companies have merged, and the major seed companies have gotten larger and larger. Kincaid Seed has learned different ways to be viable working with larger seed companies. “The new genetics and the new seed do give us more options for the customers,” Corey said. “We aren’t able to clean a lot of it because they are patented. We have to have the knowledge of them because a lot of guys come in and want to know ‘what will work for me’ and we have to try to answer that question.” Many of their customers come from 80 to 100 miles away, and span from Springdale, Ark., to Coffeyville, Kan. “There is always something new to learn on the soybean and corn side because there’s so many new genetics,” Daniel said. When they obtain books about new products, they always try to study up on the new information, so they are able to answer questions instead of leaving it to the customer to figure out on their own. Daniel has been to grazing seminars and all of the employees have been to cover crop seminars over the last few years, so they are able to offer up-todate information for their customers. It is important for all of the employees to get to know their customers so they can help figure out what is the best combination for their operation. “We try to keep the largest variety of small seed in Southwest, Mo., and I feel like we probably do,” Jaret said. They are currently entertaining the idea of purchasing a seed treater to offer more options for their customers.
Ozarks Farm & Neighbor • www.ozarksfn.com
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
