By Laura Theobald

Agri News staff writer 

MABEL, Minn. -- Off Highway 52 a ways south of Preston, it's a left, a right, another right, another left and one more right until you're smack dab in the middle of nowhere. It seems an unlikely place for a successful business, but the smell of roasting soybeans confirms that this is the right place.

Hy View Feeds has been selling livestock feed since 1989 and last October was certified organic. Kit and Gary Van de Mark's mini grain elevator in rural Minnesota has prospered so much over the years that it seems they're always adding buildings and storage, Gary says.

"Every year I say no more building," he says. "But every year something changes. Maybe that's why we're still here."

Perhaps another reason Hy View is still around is that nutrition, rather than volume, has always driven their sales. Kit earned her degree in animal science and nutrition from the University of Minnesota and speaks plainly about the importance of vitamins and minerals in a diet -- be it for humans or livestock.

"Just by bringing something into balance you can improve health," she says. "Just by fortifying the feed with minerals you can build up the immune system."

"If it tells you anything, when we go to the doctor, they ask us about nutrition," Gary chimes in.

Everything is made "from scratch" on their grounds, Kit says. Because they formulate their own feed, they can emphasize certain minerals to fit the needs of individual producers. For example, if a farm has poor water, Kit will add more pure forms of minerals to the feed to ensure the animals can absorb all the nutrients.

The first thing they do when visiting customers or potential customers, Gary says, is check out the herd. This amazes most first-time customers, he says, who's previous feed salesmen have never looked at the animals. Gary inspects the animals' coats and manure to determine what nutrients are lacking.

Most of the Van de Marks calls come from producers with unhealthy animals, turning to nutrition to help turn things around. Just once, Gary says, he'd like to get a call from a someone with healthy animals.

"We do nutrition to get the most out of what the animal is genetically able to do," Kit says. "Don't push them. We believe in maximum production, but make sure we're doing it because (the animals are) healthy."

With today's genetics, Kit says, a cow is able to give 80 to 90 pounds of milk -- if she's being fed right. Producers cannot cut costs by feeding cows to get 50 pounds of milk expecting 90.

The Van de Marks both grew up on dairy farms, and when they were married went into dairy farming. When Gary's knees got bad, and his doctor told him he had to give up dairying or risk being crippled. The couple worked for a large feed company for awhile but didn't agree with its philosophy of selling as much feed as possible, even if it wasn't needed. So they struck out on their own.

"There wasn't anyone in this area willing to do what we're willing to do -- take care of the small farmer," Gary says.

Now a typical day for the couple lasts about 14 hours, with customers calling well into the night. They sell conventional feed within a 35-mile radius and organic feed within a 100-mile radius. They also sell seed and baby chicks in the spring.

About 70 percent of their business is still conventional feed, and 30 percent is organic feed. Next year, Gary says, he expects that to be just the opposite. The hard part for them is finding enough organic soybeans to purchase. They buy all their corn, oats and soybeans locally to process into feed and sell back to livestock producers.

"That's what organic is all about -- helping the local economy," Gary says. "It's what we've always been about."

Copyright 2005 Agri News