Wayne Lohman, the marketing manager for BASF's Professional Vegetation Management division, took the author on a three-day trip across Alabama and Georgia to meet with BASF's distributors and customers in the forestry industry. The trip provided hands-on exposure to different sites and players in the complex network of relationships within the industry. The author observed various stages of forest treatment and gained insight into challenges and opportunities facing the future of the industry from perspectives of both optimists and skeptics. Lohman, who is retiring, built genuine relationships that will be difficult to replace with his large regional responsibilities since BASF downsized its forestry representation.

1. Garriss 1
Kendall Garriss
AtlantaTripwithWayne Lohman (MarketingManager,Professional VegetationManagement)
Duringmy experience workingwithBASFIhadthe opportunitytotravel andwork withWayne Lohman,
the MarketingManager withinthe ProfessionalVegetationManagementdivision of BASF.Priortothis
tripmost of my days consistedof gatheringinformationandresearchaboutthe forestryindustry.
However,thisprovedtobe an exhaustingtasksince Iwas notan expertinforestrynordidI have any
formal educationaboutthe agricultural market.Butmythree-daytripwith Lohmangave me the chance
to put intoperspectiveall of the researchandworkI had beendoinginthe corporate office.EachdayI
wouldbe exposedtoindividualswhowere involvedinthe businessandsee differentsitesandfacilities
that wouldreallyallow me togaina bettergraspon the researchI had beendoing.
My tripstartedon Monday,July20th
, 2015. AftermeetingLohmanatthe AtlantaAirport,we drove all
the way across the Alabamaborderto a small towncalledEufaula,where we ate lunchwithtwo
representativesfromSouthern PinesProduction,one of BASF’sleadingdistributors,CubandRandy.One
of the manythingsthat I learnedwasthatthe businessoperateswithinacomplex networkof
relationships. Achemical company suchas BASF or Dow will manufacture the herbicides,pesticidesor
otherformof treatmentandwill thensell theirproductstoa distributor,such as RedRiverSpecialties,
Crop ProductServices(CPS),orSouthernPineProductions.Distributorsactandserve assalessupport
for the largercompaniesandare the primarycontact whenitcomesto interactingwithcustomers,
warehousing,logisticsandcredit. There are also applicators,independentindividualswhoare
responsible forthe actual applicationof the product,whetherthatbe viaaerial or groundmethods.
Lohmanmentionedthatapplicatorscare little aboutlogisticsanddetailsbecause “the onlytime they
are gettingpaidisfromthe time theyturn the nozzle on,tothe time theyturn itoff.” Large companies,
TIMO’s and Consultantsare all involvedinthe processaswell.TIMO’sare TimberInvestment
ManagementOrganizationsthatworkwithlarge investorslike FIA andHancockas well asconsultants,
whowork forTIMO’s and private landownerstomanage forestryland.
Randy,Cub,and Wayne all talkedaboutthe industryanda little bitaboutwhattheirrole wasin the
whole process. Afterlunch,Cubwasnice enoughtotake usto a few sitesaroundthe areaso I couldget
a bettersince of what the endresultlookslike. Iwasable tosee multiplesitesat differentstagesduring
the developmentandtreatmentprocess.

2. Garriss 2
Thisis an example of one of the sitesthatwe visited:
Thisis a verygoodexample of site preparation.
The weedshave beencontrolledinsucha way
that theyare notcompetingagainstthe pines
that theyare growingnextto.All of the sites
that we visitedhadbeentreatedinitiallywith
Arsenal,one of BASF’smainprojects,whose
active ingredient,imazapyr,isconsidered the
bestof the bestwhenitcomesto gettingridof
hardwoodbrush,grassand broadleaf weed.The
unique thingaboutimazapyristhatit doesnot
affectpines,whichishelpful whenone istrying
to grow pines.
On the right,isa pine thatisaround 1-2 years old.
Because propersite preparationwasconductedthis
pine hasample space, accessto nutrientsandsunlight.
However,notall landmanagerstake all the necessary
precautionswhenplantingtheirtrees.Forestry
demandsconsistentmaintenance andif leftunchecked,
uncontrolledherbaceousweedgrowthcaninhibitand
hinderthe growthprocessforpines.Stuntedgrowth
will resultinsubstandardproductswhichwill garnera
significantlylowerreturnoninvestment(ROI) thanif
one conducteda propersite preparation.
Afterourroad trip withCubSmith, Lohmanand I
continueddrivingandmade ourwayto the city of
Albany,GA.InAlbany,we haddinnerwithanotherone
of the salesrepresentativesfromSouthernPine
Productions,TaylorFreeman.Like CubandRandy,
Taylorwas responsible forinteractingwithcustomers
and landownersaswell asgoingtodifferentsitesand
overseeingapplicationruns.Taylorwasactually
scheduledtosupervise an aerial sprayingthatwas
supposed tobe done the followingday,whichhe saidI
wouldhave the opportunitytowitness.
The followingday, LohmanandItraveledtoAmericus,GA,where Ihad the chance to meetwithBo
Ewing,the AreaManager of RedRiverSpecialties,anotherone of BASF’sbiggestpartners.Botalkeda lot

3. Garriss 3
abouthis workand howa great deal of it wasworkingwithconsultantsandprivate landownersto
satisfytheirneeds.Whenitcame toconsultants,manyof themwoulddoa lotof the legworkandoften
had mostof the landmappedoutso all Bo had to do wasvisitthe site toassessthe situationand
provide themwiththe combinationof treatmentsthatwouldserve besttocombatwhateverspecies
was there. While we were there,Ihada chance to see the RedRiverSpecialties’warehouse,where they
storedall of theirdifferenttypesof treatments.
One thingI foundinterestingwasthe assortmentof chemicalsthatwere inthe warehouse.Originally,I
thoughtthat eachmajor distributorwouldpartnerwitha single chemical company,whowould serve as
the primaryproviderforall theirchemical needs.Inreality,majordistributorssuchas RedRiver
Specialties have dealswithseveralmajorcompanies.Sowithintheirwarehouse,RedRiverSpecialties
had productslike Arsenal andChopperGen2,whichare chief BASFstaples,andthenavarietyof other
productsfrom companiessuchasDuPont,Dow,Bayerand more.Bo alsosaidthat whenhe is creatinga
treatmentportfolioforaclient,itwill almostalwaysconsistof acombinationof productsfrom3-4
differentcompanies.Ifoundthisintriguingbecause althoughthesecompaniesare competitors inthe
businesssense,theyactuallyrelyoneachotherandare more effective whentheyare combinedwith
theircompetition.
I alsogained some insightabouthowtheirsupplychainoperates.Red
RiverSpecialtieshastoinvestalotinto theirforecastingbecausetheir
ordersare usuallyplacedaboutayearin advance,soit isnecessaryfor
themto calculate future demand,whichisoftendiscernedfrompast
salesandpredictionsaboutthe upcomingyear.RedRiverSpecialties
primarilyusestruckstodelivertheirproducts.Whenanorderisplaced,
the companywill contactone of theirtruck drivers,whowill pickupthe
productsand thentransportthemto the site for application.
Coordinationwiththe truckdriversisfairlyeasyand theyare usually
flexible whenitcomestothe schedule.Forexample,Bosaidthathe had
a listof guyshe couldcontact that wouldbe willingtodoa lastminute
shipmentif aclientneededit earlythe nextmorning.Evenwhenthis
fails,Bosaidall of hisworkersare qualifiedtoloadupthe shipmentsand
transportthemto the sitesthemselvesif necessary.Ialsospoke witha
workernamedTravis,whoalsoworksat Red RiverSpecialties.Travis’job
consistedof coordinatingwiththe applicatorsandinformingthem
where/whatareasof landneededtreatment.Travisused acombination
of mappingtoolsandcomputerprogramsto generate imagesforthe applicators. The applicators
receive the mappedimagesandare able toadjusttheirroute sothat theycan target the properarea. It
isalmostas if Travisprovidesthe applicatorswithablack-and-white outline of apicture and all the
applicatorneedstodois take thisoutline and“color”withinthe lines.

4. Garriss 4
WhenI askedBo aboutthe future of the forestryindustry,he
was veryoptimistic.Bosaidthat thiswasa reallyexciting
time to be inthe marketandhe’sexcitedwhatthe nextfew
yearswill bringforthe industry. Boalsosaidthat there has
beena change inmentalitywithinthe forestryindustry.
Insteadof justtryingto kill everythingthat’sinsite except
your trees,more people havebeentryingtoadapttheir
productsso that theykill the weedsbutalsoallow forthe
biodiversitythatoccursnaturallyinthe areato grow and
prosperas well.
Afterthisvisit, we rode downto Forsyth,GA,where we hada
meetingwiththe SoutheastForestryRegional Managerat
Crop ProductionServices(CPS),whowasaptly namedGordon
Forester.Gordonhasbeenworkinginthe forestryindustry
for almost35 years,livingandworkingthroughthe industry’s
heydayduringthe 1990s and itsabsolute lowestpointduring
the economicrecessionof 2008-2009. Gordonhad a more
critical view of the forestrymarketthanBo. Gordonbelievesthatthere islittle tonofuture forthe
forestryindustry.He saidthatmany of the practicesthat are implementedare inefficientandthat
applicatorsare overlappingtheirtreatmentstreams,meaningthatinsome placesthere maybe alittle
extratreatmentappliedwhichmaynotbe necessarysoit isconsideredawaste. Gordonalsosaid that
there needstobe more interactionandcooperationbetweengoverningbodies.Gordon,likeother
foresters, understandsthatthiskindof cooperationisnecessaryandwouldyieldhigherprofitsbutno
companywantsto be the firstto concede.
AfterspeakingwithGordon, LohmanandI contactedTaylorFreeman,fromthe previousnight,tosee if
the aerial units were goingtobe flyingthatday sothat I couldsee a live aerial treatment.However,
Taylorinformedusthatdue tothe strongwindthe planeswere notgoingtobe flyingthatday.
Accordingto Taylor,the weatherandlandscape conditionsare oftenthe decidingfactorinwhetheror
not aerial treatmentisfeasibleforagivenday.If the windistoo strongthe treatmentcan be pickedand
carriedoverto anotherpatch of land or someplace elsewhereitcouldbe potentiallydangerous. So
insteadof goingto thatsite, Lohmantook me to a few othersitesinthe area that haddone an early
release,whichconsistsof doingherbaceousweedcontrol tokeepfrom
weedsgrowingafterthe treeshave alreadyplanted.
The picture to the leftisan example of anearly release.Notonlywasa
traditional site preparationconductedbutadditional treatmentwas
addedto getrid of the extra brushthat occurs annually.Thisiswhymost
of the area aroundthe pinesisbrown,incontrast tosome of the early
pictureswhere one canstill see some of the brushonthe ground.
However,the practice of earlyrelease hasdecreasedoverthe lastfew
yearsas the cost of site prephas increase due togenericcompetition.
One of the othercommonpracticesinforestryisthinning.This process
usuallyoccursbetweenyears13-15 of pine growth.Thisisthe act of going

5. Garriss 5
throughthe treesand cuttingdownmanyof the smallertreessothatthe bigger,strongertreeswillhave
a betterchance to grow to full size withouthaving tocompete withthe lessdevelopedtreesthatmay
surroundthem.
A fewyearsaftera thinning,itisnotuncommonfora forestertoreturnto a site do whatit calledamid-
rotational shift,whichisbecomingamore popularpractice withinthe forestryindustry.This process
consistsof treatingthe brushthat developsinunderthe canopyafterthinninghasalreadybeen
conducted.
On the lastday of mytrip, Lohman and I sat downanddiscussedeverythingthatwe hadseenoverthe
lastfewdays.He wentovera fewmore topicsof interestand gave me access to a few more resources.
One of these resourceswasareturnon investmentmodel thatwascreatedbyforestryexpertand
SmarterForestryfounder,BarryShiver,andlateradaptedforBASF’spurposes. Withafew simple inputs,
such as speciestype,treesperacre,current age,competitiontype andmore the model isable to
generate whata potential client’sreturnon investmentwill be. Lohmanmentionedthatthishasbeen
an invaluable tool andthathe hassentthissame model topeople likeTaylorandCubso theycan show
theirclientswhattheyare investingin.Thismodel isveryunique because itisveryflexible anditgives
the userseveral optionstoexperimentwithandsee whateach differentresult yields.Althoughnotall
modelsare correct 100 percentof the time,thismodel givesthe clientagoodfeelingforwhattheycan
expect.Because the forestryindustryisone thatcan require anywherefrom15-30 yearsfor a certain
plotto reach maturity,potentialclientswanttoknow exactlywhere theirmoneyisgoingandif itis truly
somethingthatwouldbe worthinvestingin.
One of the questionsthatIhad beenmeaningtoask Lohmanwas whythere were dissentingviews
aboutthe future outlookof the forestryindustry.AsImentioned,BoEwingof RedRiverSpecialtieswas
veryoptimisticaboutthe future of the market while GordonForester,whoworkedinthe forestry
departmentof CPS,saidthatthe marketwasin a slumpandwouldstaythat way fora while. Lohman
explainedittome like this:Bois a not a forester,he’sasalesman. Lohmantalkedabouthow the
forestrymarketcan make people skeptical andespeciallyforpeople like Gordon,whoworkinthe
marketeveryday,itcan be difficulttosee the silverlininginthe industry.Ithoughtthatthisdivide could
have alsobeenthe productof a generationdifference.Boisa youngerman,probablymid-40s,inthe
“prime”of hiscareer, while Gordonwasaboutto turn65 andwas lookingatretirementwithinthe next
fewyears.

6. Garriss 6
Wayne Lohman,has beenworkingwithBASFforyearsand
has servedasthe MarketingManager of the Professional
VegetationManagementforthe lastfouryears.Lohman
servesasthe onlyrepresentative forthe forestrydepartment
withinBASFforthe entire UnitedStates.Previously,BASFhad
23 representativesthatwouldcatertothe needsof their
clientswithintheirgivengeographicregion,mostof the
representatives,beingconcentratedinthe South,where
almost90 percentof forestrybusinesstakesplace.However,
due to budgetcutsand profitloss,BASFwasforcedto scale
downthisdepartmenttojustone person,whowouldtake on
the responsibilitiesof 23. Lohman,iscentrallylocatedin
Athens,GA,sohe isable to travel tomost of the majorsiteswithinthe Southwithrelative ease.
However,because he isonlyone manhe hasto sacrifice some of hiscustomerswhomay be inregions
like the Mid-Westorthe North. Lohmanhas announcedthathe will be retiringfromBASFonJuly31st
,
2015. Aswe met withall the individualsoverthe previousfewdaysthere wassomethingthatIfound
veryrefreshing.The relationshipsthatLohmanhadwithhisclientswere more thanjustbusiness
relationships.Theyweregenuine friendships.Thesewere peoplethatknew aboutLohman’sfamilyand
personal life andvice versa.Itwasthe kindof relationshipthatmighthave occurrednaturallyinlife
evenif theyhadn’tbeenconnectedthroughbusiness.Ithinkthatkindof dedicationissomethingthatis
hard to replicate andexpectingLohmantomaintainthose kindsof relationshipswiththe entire U.S.
marketisentirelyunrealisticandwouldbe spreadinghimeventhinnerthanhe has alreadybeen. If
BASF,has at leastfive more representativesthatapproachedbusinessandrelationshipswiththe same
attitude thatLohmandid,than BASFwouldonce againbecome a dominantforce withinthismarket.