Dan Heesome Primetics
I 
often speak to seed compa­
nies where each department 
is working hard and performing 
well, yet the overall business 
feels harder to run than it should. 
Production has forecasts in place, 
inspectors track crop conditions, 
sales reps know their customers’ 
needs, and admin teams keep 
everything moving. 
Problems arise when all the 
critical information is disconnected.
Production works from spread­
sheets on yields and contracts, 
inspection data is held some­
where else, and sales reps oper­
ate remotely with their own notes 
on customer conversations. In 
the middle, planners and admin­
istrators try to tie it all together.  
What supply will we have in three 
months, based on current con­
tracts? Do we need to cover a 
shortfall? Have we already sold 
more than we can deliver? 
For leadership teams, the real 
issue is not inconvenience, but vis­
ibility. When production, sales and 
inventory data do not align in real 
time, risk is harder to quantify and 
margin harder to protect.
Manual workarounds are difficult 
to maintain as volume grows, and 
without a connected view, answers 
may be slow to find and often out of date. Important decisions get made 
using yesterday’s information. The consequences are inefficiencies that can 
add up, and ultimately, deliveries may not go out as promised, leading to 
returns and added expenses. 
In trying to resolve this, companies might run entirely on 
awkward spreadsheets until volume becomes unman­
ageable. Others try to adapt generic systems that 
handle orders and inventory, but don’t reflect how the 
seed industry actually works. Sometimes they attempt 
to piece together different systems. Ultimately, they 
just digitize the problems without truly solving the 
disconnect.
If this sounds familiar, it may be time to rethink how 
systems are evaluated.
When information is captured directly at the source 
and immediately shared to a central location, things move 
much faster. Bringing forecasts, sales activity, contracts, 
and inventory into one place guides decisions and allows 
everyone to quickly see whether the business is long or 
short for the season. 
When it’s time to look for an operational partner, 
ask these questions: Do they understand the basics 
of how seed production and sales fit together? Do 
they update software to reflect legislative changes 
or other current trends and needs? Do they offer 
solutions that reduce the number of separate 
systems you rely on? Can all team members enter 
their data and notes easily from the field?
In my experience, big gains come from simply bring­
ing scattered information into one system, so everyone is working 
from the same, current view of the business. If your teams are constantly 
reconciling numbers, chasing updates or making decisions with incomplete 
information, it may be time to step back and examine whether your sys­
tems are helping you operate, or quietly holding you back.
Without a 
	 	 connected view, 
answers may be slow
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
INTERNATIONAL EDITION 2026  SEEDWORLD.COM /  33

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