“Meristem’s innovation…really fits well with our desire to help farmers make the most of every dollar they spend…”
EAGLE GROVE, Iowa (AgPR) May 16, 2023 – Jason Opheim of Opheim Seed and Chemical (www.opheimseedandchemical.com) Eagle Grove, Iowa and Meristem Crop Performance Group, LLC, based in Columbus, Ohio, today announced a new dealership agreement to serve farmers in Northeast Iowa.
Under the new relationship, Opheim and his business, Opheim Seed and Chemical, will carry the Meristem Crop Performance product line and become Meristem’s ally in helping Iowa farmers make the most of every dollar they spend on crop inputs.
“Jason Opheim and his team are known in Iowa for providing a variety of services that help farmers he works with win more consistently, season after season,” said Mitch Eviston, Meristem Founder and CEO, in announcing the agreement. “We’re excited to be able to come alongside to help him serve those farmers and also gain from his field experience as we add new products that make the most of every seed he plants or sells.”
Opheim earned a degree in Agricultural Studies from Iowa State University then interned with NK Seeds, a connection which he was later able to turn into a seed dealership. Over the past 20 years Jason has expanded his seed line up, and become a full line source of chemicals, seed treatment, fertilizer, custom application, and precision farming.
“We’re a family-owned company and we also farm,” says Opheim. “We test the products we sell on our own farm first and I think the farm businesses we work with see the value in that experience.”
The success of growers, explains Opheim, is at the center of what’s most important to his team and that’s why Meristem fits well at his business. “It’s our mission to bring solutions to our customers that will help them be successful. Meristem’s innovation with biotechnology and new delivery systems really fits well with our desire to help farmers make the most of every dollar they spend with us.”
Opheim Seed and Chemical will now add the Meristem product portfolio including RACEREADY™ seed treatments, HOPPER THROTTLE™ planter box treatments, REVLINE® biologicals and plant growth regulators, TRUTRACK® drift control, AQUADRAFT® water conditioners and surfactants, UPSHIFT® starter fertilizers and HOMESTRETCH™ micronutrients and foliar nutritionals. Of special interest is EXCAVATOR®, powered by MICROBILIZE™, a new biological designed to break down tough crop residue and release nutrients faster.
The Opheim team plants and harvests an extensive collection of corn and soybean plots each year to compare the best seed offered by the seed companies they represent, including AgriGold, Hoegemeyer, Kruger, NK, Wyffels and Xitavo by BASF. “All of that has enabled us to offer a variety of traits in both the corn and soybean seed arena,” says Opheim.
Some 10 years ago, Opheim Custom Spraying was added to the business to facilitate the changing cultural practices they saw among their farmers. “Now we can handle high clearance fungicide applications, Y-Drop nitrogen side dressing, or liquid nitrogen and pre-chemical application prior to planting in the spring,” says Opheim.