Growing the Manure Equipment Division
Although we sold hog feed and Star Big Butch feeders early on, we spread our service to the hog industry in the early ’70s when we sold our first Better-Bilt manure spreader. In the thick of fertilizer season, Leland Pearson rolled into Hills with a Better-Bilt manure spreader hooked behind his Oldsmobile station wagon. Leland, the founder of Better-Bilt, asked Eldon if he was interested in becoming a dealer. Eldon agreed that if Stutsmans could sell this tank, they would buy a second. When Leland returned in two weeks, the tank was gone.
Merlin Geuder spearheaded the newly formed manure equipment division. As the division developed, John Yoder (who was running a sprayer at the time) saw Merlin’s need for help; today, John is the VP of manure equipment. The addition of Better-Bilt also thrust us into handling manure equipment parts; Eldon and Ron Stutsman fully believed that if we were going to sell equipment, we would have to have the parts to service it. Our first parts “room” was a retired 20’ feed truck box.
Building Business & Hog Houses
As the manure handling equipment was gaining momentum, we entered the hog building business in 1980 with AgCraft “hog houses”. While they were primarily used for farrowing and nurseries, some producers used them for calves also. For 15 years, five to six employees built them in Hills and then transported them to producers’ farms. Available in 30-, 40- or 50-foot lengths, these buildings ranged from $12,000 to $20,000. Some producers chose to set the building on a pit while others bought the 2-foot, self-contained pit.
Enter Our Flagship Manure Equipment
The ’90s brought significant change and expansion to the hog industry. Smaller buildings gave way to larger barns. Larger barns meant an increased amount of concentrated manure. This shift in the hog industry naturally phased out our smaller, preconstructed AgCraft hog buildings. Ironically, around the same time we were having issues finding a quality pump for our lime pit, we were approached by a Houle (now GEA) salesman who wanted us to sell their manure equipment. Just like we did with Better-Bilt, we said, “Leave the pump here and if we like it, we’ll sell it.” Despite pre-conceived skepticism, we were thrilled with how it performed, and as they say, the rest is history; today, we are one of the largest GEA dealers in the country.
Showcasing the latest equipment at the Iowa State Fair was a yearly affair for Stutsmans and in this particular year, our recently added Houle product line was on display. John Yoder happened to be working the booth and had only sold one smaller Houle tank up until that point (a 4500 to Tom Dittmer). One gentleman approached the booth inquiring what the largest Houle tank he could purchase would be and wanted pricing on what then was a monstrous manure tank. The gentleman went on the enjoy the fair and returned to the booth two hours later. John informed him that a 6,000-gallon tank was the largest tank he could purchase and shared the price. “You could have heard a pin drop when he said, ‘I will take two.’ For me, a young farm boy, this was a huge deal. Bruce Rastetter is still a loyal customer to this day as well as a good friend,” recalled John.
GEA equipment remains a large part of our business today; however, the tank size continues to grow. The largest 6,000-gallon tanks of the ’90s don’t hold a candle to the 10,500-gallon stainless steel tanks GEA offers today. “It used to be that the manure spreader was the most expensive part, but now it’s all of the technology that goes with it,” added John. Environmental regulations also impacted how we apply manure. The technology incorporated with tanks allows applicators to map, record and certify the manure was applied in a correct manner.
Bazooka Farmstar
Bazooka grain augers were a staple product on our lot since the 1960s. In 1976, Bazooka Grain Handling Systems (Salina, Kansas) merged with Farmstar (Minnesota) to form Bazooka Farmstar in Granger, Iowa. After catching wind that Bazooka Farmstar was going to be sold, we decided to make an offer. The start of the new-to-us business venture began in 1991. However, sales of unloading equipment started to take a hit when bin manufacturers started offering a 2% discount on whole goods.
To stay competitive, the product line expanded beyond Bazooka Farmstar’s traditional grain handling equipment. Jim Stutsman pioneered the development of a calf creep feeder. We started manufacturing the feeders but soon found that the Granger, Iowa, manufacturing location was too small to handle the new product line.
In 1993, Bazooka Farmstar moved to Washington, Iowa (where they call home today). During this move, we took a toolbar to demonstrate on a farm near Oakville, Iowa. Although the demonstration led to a sale, it wouldn’t be until 1997 or 1998 when hog building sizes started to change that drag hose systems would slowly start taking hold. Even then, it would be another 10 years before we would start to see a significant change in manure application preferences.
Since acquisition of Bazooka Farmstar, the diligent leadership of Eric Hahn spurred drastic growth for the company. John notes, “The sales were there, and now the equipment is much more current with everything else and has a lot better sales volume.” From toolbars and engine units to everything in between, Bazooka Farmstar equipment continues to expand as the agricultural industry evolves.
Technology Breakthroughs
A key theme for the manure division has always been a relentless desire to make handling manure easier, more efficient and a better fit for each pumper’s operation and fields. Around 1998, some manure customers inquired about the ability to control manure flow. Chalk it up to John’s passion for serving customers and his “let’s make it happen” attitude, we didn’t want to wait around for someone else to provide the solution. With a Krohne flow meter bought from a retailer and a used manure tank, John got to work. Although getting the gallons per minute reading came fairly easily, it took Al Kessler’s (VP of Equipment and Precision Ag) expertise to be able to get the adjustment side of the equation down pat.
“The first one was kind of rough. I remember driving up and down the gravel road putting down water for dust control to test it. It took a month before we would get it good enough to sell to Summit Farms. It took a lot of trial and error; we would find out a few years in that the electronic actuator wasn’t powerful enough to push foam in manure and was going bad. At that point, we switched to hydraulic actuators,” said John.
It took another four years before the process was fully perfected, but we would continue to be the only ones dealing in manure flow meters for about 10 years. Much like the rest of the business, our service really made us successful with flow meters; we had three full-time service technicians able to troubleshoot and support customers when manure season was in full swing.
On top of flow meters, Mike Strait’s ability to translate customers’ needs into actionable items for the team in Hills to execute proved to be another layer of service differentiation. “Mike was constantly gathering information from customers and coming up with ideas on how we could help solve those problems,” recalled John. Mike’s watchful eye on trends, new products and customer needs were impactful on the manure department, customers and the industry alike. A great example of Mike’s influence would come in 2000 with a looming manure tank weight limit law that would have made it nearly impossible to take tanks down the road. Mike caught wind of the law (flying under the radar) making its way through the Iowa legislature. Picking up on the issue early on, Mike helped get in front of the state house to ensure the law did not pass as it was. He spent countless hours collecting information to help both manure applicators and lawmakers find a solution allowing equipment to legally use Iowa roads.
Manure Technology … Again
Radio controls have been used for engine units for a long time, even though they were rather unreliable, difficult to service and never really that great. As drag hose systems got farther away from pump sites, the need for more reliable controls and more advanced technology for engines became apparent. Enter Mark Rohret. After interning and working full-time for a few years, Mark took the lead to get a more reliable engine control for our customers. After two years and many iterations, with the help of irrigation technology company, Murcal, Mark had the first version of our electronic control panel in hand in 2012. After giving it to long-time customer, Jeff Kintzle, to test, we had a sellable product around 2014. Once the original panel was launched, Mark worked on implementing more robust features like pressure throttling to give manure applicators peace of mind and control from miles away.
Manure Equipment Today
To serve the growing requests for dry manure spreaders, Artex was added to the manure lineup in 2016. Not only was our sister company, AWS, already a dealer, but Artex had a quality reputation we felt paired well with our service. Derek Bontrager has been instrumental in getting this product line off the ground.
As farm size continues to grow and regulation scrutiny intensifies, incorporation equipment, flotation, speed and capacity continue to be the major manure industry drivers. The popularity of manure tanks that existed in the 1990s and 2000s has been shifting to drag hose systems. The scale of livestock and custom manure application operations is also reflected in today’s popular manure tank sizes, ranging from 7,300 gallons to 16,000 gallons; quite a sizable difference from our first 4,500-gallon Houle tank sold!
While we still offer many of the same early brands such as GEA and Bazooka Farmstar, other leading manufacturers like Nuhn have also been added. Our equipment offering today includes spreaders, toolbars, pumps, engine units, load stands, agitation boats, flow control systems and more.
Want to catch up on more of the Stutsman story? Continue reading.
