Smooth delivery with sophisticated hygiene

Now, more than ever, it’s critical to have seed delivered quickly and efficiently. As we all know, agriculture is considered an essential business during this unusual time during the COVID-19 situation. Delivering and planting the seed are the most important activities for crop establishment. Of the 11 sugarbeet growing regions across North America, seed delivery and planting are significantly different between regions. Across all regions, the Betaseed, Inc. sales teams have delivered 75% of the sugarbeet seed for both brands of seed, ACH Seeds Crystal and Betaseed. According to Suzanne Meyer, Sales Operations Manager for Betaseed, Inc., planting has begun in Idaho and Michigan, on a limited basis.

All seed is shipped from the Tangent, Oregon seed processing facility and delivered to warehouses spread across North America. When the seed truck arrives at the warehouses, the truck driver and Independent Sales Agent need to respect social distancing guidelines and sanitize any materials that are handled by more than one person. Seed is unloaded from each truck using a forklift that may be shared with other people, so the forklift also needs to be sanitized after use.

Both seed brands provide direct-to-grower seed delivery for seed that was ordered in November and December. Once the seed is brought to the farm it is unloaded and placed in the grower’s desired location. Typically, greetings include handshakes, personal good wishes and fun conversation. Unfortunately, no personal contact is allowed, and social distancing is maintained.

To address concerns about touching the tablet an Independent Sales Agent (ISA) may provide a signature for the seed delivery with the customer’s approval. This new approach eliminates the need for the customer to touch the tablet. Under normal conditions, a customer’s signature is required on the tablet acknowledging that the seed has been received by the grower. The Sales Management Tool (SMT) is the platform used for seed ordering, inventory and delivery, and the tablet is also used to collect customer signatures during ordering and delivery. Since the tablet is handled by the ISA and grower, the tablet is wiped down each time it is handled. Each ISA has a container of antiseptic hand wipes to wipe down surfaces after the tablet is used to collect signatures. |