Kent Petersen

Econ. 331

Business Proposal

The best business proposal that I decided upon for a new agricultural business is a wildlife food plot company. My company would specialize in the process of implementing food plots on private lands that would provide forage as well as habitat for resident wildlife. This process would include consulting with landowners to understand their desires, such as what wildlife they are interested in (i.e. pheasants, deer, quail), mapping out a plan of plot locations, acreage, and what will be planted. The business will then be in charge of getting the plots in the ground. After the initial planting, my business would also come back and maintain the plot (such as spraying).

I believe that this business would help fill a much needed niche in the agricultural market. The company would be strictly geared toward working with landowners who use their land for hunting. Company employees would be very knowledgeable of the needs of the wildlife that the landowner was interested in, such as the nutrition benefits or nesting cover. The market segment that the business serves would be those landowners who have little knowledge of food plots as well as those who lack the necessary equipment to implement their own plots. Although many farmers can be hired to plant small plots for landowners, they almost always put these off because their time is spent in commercial agriculture production. Also, most of these farmers lack the knowledge as to how to get the biggest benefits out of wildlife food plots and may not always have implements that are efficient in planting some of the specialty wildlife forage plant species. From simply being around the hunting community for years, I know that hunters are very passionate about their sport. For this reason, I believe that landowners would be willing to pay enough for the service to make it work

The benefits that both landowners and wildlife gain from having year round access to food plots are immense. Unlike commercial agriculture plantings, food plots are not harvested in the fall. Rather, they are left over winter. This provides excellent food and cover to wildlife at a critical time that they have lost after commercial crops have been harvested. Also, since the plantings are strictly geared for wildlife, different plant species that provide better nutrition and have benefits such as increasing antler growth on whitetail deer may be used. The landowner can then have more confidence that animals will stay on his land and not venture onto neighboring properties as much, making management much easier. Landowners will benefit immensely by having a more enjoyable hunting experience. Not only will they see more wildlife, but in the case of animals such as deer, will see improvements in antler growth, a very important item to many hunters. Upland game, such as ringneck pheasants and bobwhite quail, will be able to tolerate tougher winters and will also benefit form the increase in nesting cover.

I would plan on introducing my company and its services at trade shows and conventions that are geared toward hunters and conservationists. I would also try and solicit business from landowners that have acreages in CRP programs, as many of them are already showing an interest in benefiting wildlife. If the prospective customer shows interest, a consultant would sit down and come up with a plan for their land and give an estimate to the landowner. If agreed upon, the contract would be signed and the proper steps would be taken by the employees to make sure the end product is satisfactory to the customer.

As said before, local farmers would be potential competitors to the company. However, the company’s knowledge of wildlife needs would put us ahead of them and help landowners get the most for their money.