9 Core Behaviors to Create Power Teams
What does it mean to be “strong”? Do you picture a rugged hand with calluses and dirt and oil in the creases?...
Core to Creating Power Teams Is the 3-C Strategy
Sometimes taking on a life of their own, teams can be very dynamic and be a driving force in helping companies meet...
Driven by a Uniquely External Approach
Anyone who knows me knows I spend a great deal of time on the road working with customers or potential customers from...
Size Matters: Precision and Accuracy
Just as farmers look to deploy precision planting practices this spring, seed companies expect precision during the sorting and sizing process that...
Take Care! A Phrase that’s Given Me New Perspective to Balancing It All
You know that all-to-familiar goodbye, be it in email or in person: “Take care” or “take care of yourself.” Most of us don’t think...
What It Really Means to Disconnect
When you read this, we will all be back from our holiday vacations and settled into our “normal” work routines. However, the Christmas break...
Connect. Conversate. Create Results
Last December, we did something entirely unexpected: we refrained from exhibiting at the largest U.S. seed industry convention. This was neither a mistake, nor...
37 Years of Managing Materials at Oliver Manufacturing
I recently announced my retirement from Oliver Manufacturing, set to take effect this December, and I thought this was an opportunity to reflect on...
Defining Industrial Hemp in Colorado
Hemp is a big issue in Colorado, as many of you are aware by now. With big issues come ballot items, and the Colorado...
Great Seedsmen Know Their Plants
Great seedsmanship demands a lot from those who practice it. It demands an intimate familiarity with one’s plant. It demands knowledge and experience to...
A Family’s Momentous Falling Out Propels Company’s Global Growth
I was conversing with my grandfather Geoff Burney about Oliver Manufacturing’s founder and my great, great-grandfather Oliver Steele. I knew that the company was...
Is Good Enough, Really Good Enough?
Sometimes good enough needs to be put in context. Often times, it is best to compare it to something we all can relate to....
Changing Climate Impacts Our Environment and Economy
Oliver Manufacturing sits on the outskirts of La Junta, Colorado, in what's known as the Arkansas Valley. From our offices, one can watch the...
Trade War’s End Game
2018 promised a lot for soybean producers. In February, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted annual U.S. soybean exports would break 2.5 billion...
Optical Sorting versus Precision Density Sorting
Optical color sorting is regarded by some in the seed industry as an exciting, newish technology that offers innumerable advantages over other forms of...
Develop the Team Sport That is Vital to the Success and Well-being of Your...
Like a well-oiled machine, an efficient manufacturing line contains many moving pieces – welders, carpenters, painters, forklifts, flying sparks, docking semis, hammers and wrenches....
Lean Transformed Oliver’s Processes, Decreased Lead Time
The simplest definition of lean manufacturing (lean) is to systematically focus on eliminating waste in every process within an organization whether in manufacturing, sales,...
New Laws Present New Opportunities
Could we be a missing piece of the puzzle? The puzzle being Colorado’s hemp value chain. As I chewed on this question, I started...
Helping Put a Stop to Our Aging Rural Communities
It’s no secret: Our rural communities are getting older. Last year, “The Atlantic” reported that between 2010 and 2014, rural areas lost an average...
5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Gravity Separator
When I am asked about this, I pause and ask questions myself. But I find the answers lie in the fact that, as plants...
