SWOF Referral Partner Spotlight: Erin Marlow, Milne-Dinsdale Seed, LLC
SWOF Referral Partner Spotlight: Erin Marlow, Milne-Dinsdale Seed, LLC
In each Tune Up newsletter, we profile one farmer, team member, partner, or other Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) affiliate to better understand their contribution to the program. In this edition, we’re spotlighting one of SWOF’s referral partners, Erin Marlow of Milne-Dinsdale Seed, LLC.
Milne-Dinsdale Seed offers a comprehensive suite of services aimed at maximizing farm productivity and profitability. From seed selection to crop planning and management, they focus on soil and plant health and aim to empower farmers to optimize their operations through technology like precision planting. With over two decades of crop consultation experience, learn why this Missouri business owner also ensures her clients know about the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund.
“The program is simple and straightforward. SWOF provides growers with clarity, so they know where they stand with payments and the opportunity before they leave. It doesn't get any easier than this.”
- Erin Marlow, SWOF referral partner with Milne-Dinsdale Seed, LLC
As a SWOF referral partner, Milne-Dinsdale Seed helps spread the word about our program’s opportunities to farmers. What aspects of our program make it such a good fit you’re your clients?
Without a doubt the ease of doing business and the fact that it is a one-year program. Clients appreciate both and feel as though they have more control. The program is simple and straightforward. SWOF provides growers with clarity, so they know where they stand with payments and the opportunity before they leave. It doesn't get any easier than this.
SWOF also has good support. The SWOF staff are great at taking care of people and timely follow up. I think it’s a very beneficial and unique relationship that’s both simple and effective.
From a business perspective, do you feel like utilizing SWOF or being able to recommend it brings more value to your customers?
It's great. Any time we can do something that’s more of an output for our clients, is great. We tend to go about things as inputs and outputs, but any time that we can help support the work that they are doing, offer something to support the management tactics that they're implementing, it’s just great. And I love being able to reward good behaviors, so I appreciate the opportunity to give back to them.
It also helps us build our client relationships. We’ve been able to build stronger relationships with our clients and have discussions about their operations that I don’t believe we would have otherwise. We've also had the opportunity to build stronger relationships with other service suppliers, such as our aerial applicators, promoting the program.
What motivates you in conservation, soil health, or the initiatives that you take on, what are your main motivators for that business philosophy?
There's a couple of things that are our main motivators. First, the efficiency—anything that we can do to make our clients more efficient will help improve their bottom line. Next, if you can do better, than you should. With the amount of technology available in agriculture right now, whether it's microbials, planter technology, or whatever the case may be, it's meant to help us function better. However, none of that technology is worthwhile if we don’t actually use it.
And then the idea that farming is constantly changing. We don’t farm the way our grandparents did years ago. Everything from the methods, to the technology, to the seeds themselves have advanced. And it seems like maybe in the world of fertilizer, soil health, and plant health, it seems like maybe the industry has lagged a bit in that conversation. So we have a great opportunity with these technologies to get up to speed on that. Every farmer wants to help our environment and our water supply and help secure their operations for the next generation.
What’s your advice to growers that are still on the fence about trying some of these on-farm conservation practices?
We do encounter pockets of skepticism. I think that boils down to the fact that we live in a now society. People want to do something and see the result right now. The difficulty is trying to get farmers to say, hey, this is biological. This isn’t an overnight deal. This isn’t a silver bullet. You don’t go from 200-bushel corn to 300-bushel corn overnight, right? You have to give the system more time than just one or two years to take effect. It’s basically an investment. It’s the idea of trying to give them honest information, have them keep good records, and just to allow for the opportunity space to get them through some of the pain points to understand what’s going on, to be trusted. So having SWOF there to also help them get started or scale their efforts is wonderful.
If you’ve been thinking about beginning or expanding a conservation practice, such as reduced tillage, implementing a cover crop, or adding a crop rotation, enrollment in the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is open for 2024. By enrolling your acres in our program, you’ll receive agronomic support and earn financial incentives for the environmental outcomes generated from your on-farm conservation efforts. Get started today by signing up for a free estimate! You can also learn more about SWOF’s Referral Program here.
And if you’re in the Oregon or Mayville, Missouri area, we encourage you to give Erin and her partners at Milne-Dinsdale Seed, LLC a call.