8/3/2021 - By JJ Jansen

As I was visiting with a manufacturing rep last week, he mentioned that he would be sending out their EOP program, that starts August 1st. It took me a couple of minutes to digest what he just said, and I thought, wow, is it really almost that time of the year again? Surely not…I mean, didn’t we just finish up with that? I guess the adages are correct, “time flies when you’re having fun” and “as I get older the days seem to go by faster.” Once I came to the realization that we are about to turn the calendar from July to August, it IS time to start planning and getting everything in order. October 1st is right around the corner and Bayer’s Now Solutions Program is starting August 1st. This Bayer program allows the flexibility to purchase certain products early, such as pre-emergent herbicides, post-emergent herbicides, and fungicides. These products may be applied during August and September, with the convenience of extended terms.

With our Harrell’s team getting ready to be trained on all these programs from our manufacturers, and our own Harrell’s EOP program, I started to think about what this year will look like. You see, I have, intentionally, avoided writing any of these blogs over the last 17 months on anything regarding COVID. Not that I do not think it is real, because I do, but for the fact of that it’s all that is talked about these days. Even more so recently with the uptick in cases and this new strain that is, unfortunately, starting to spread. If I could stay awake until 10:00 pm, I used to watch the news every night, either national or local. These days I try and avoid it all costs due to the same story or headline that keeps reoccurring on a daily basis. That being said, for the first time in 17 months, I am going to reference COVID and how it relates to our business and yours. 

As I am sure you have seen in your everyday lives and your business, we have seen major supply chain issues this year due to so much being shut down in 2020. It is crazy to walk into a retail store and see so many empty shelves with products being out of stock or on backorder, and not to mention the price increase we have seen on certain things. For these reasons alone is why I would urge you take advantage of EOP this year and the benefits and flexibility it has to offer. I cannot predict what will happen in the next 6-12 months, but with other countries seeing more cases continuing to rise, this could affect supply chain even more. 

I am not trying to paint a doom and gloom picture for you. Trust me, I am an optimist at heart and tend to look at the best-case scenario. With this year’s EOP programs rolling out soon, it would make not only financial sense to lock into current pricing with discounts and extended terms, but also the logistics are a no brainer. At Harrell’s, we offer what is known as “bill and hold” on your EOP purchases. This allows both you and us to bring in everything that is purchased during this time to our warehouses and give you the flexibility on delivery. You can be re-assured that those products that you purchased for your program will be in stock and not in jeopardy of a price increase after the first of the year. Or in worse news, a shortage in raw material and even a shortage in the packaging those products come in, which would cause a delay in us getting them later down the road. Take these factors into consideration when preparing your budget for 2022. Your local Harrell’s rep can sit down with you in the coming months to show you how to maximize your budget dollars during EOP and secure your products.