Last updated on October 5th, 2023 at 10:45 am
There are countless cattle protein and mineral supplement brands in the industry. Each of them has its own products, claims, and qualities that set them apart and make them who they are. Riomax®, a family business that started back in 2002, is one of the many cattle supplement programs in the ranching industry.
Riomax® as a company strives to be more than just an order-taker. Riomax® is looking to make a positive impact on the entire agriculture industry. If you’ve never heard of Riomax® before, we’re here to explain who we are, what we offer, and what we stand for (plus, why it matters to ranchers like you).
The Riomax Foundation
To better understand where the company is going (& why they strive to make an impact on ranchers' lives), it's important to understand where they came from.
Trevor Greenfield, founder and owner of Riomax®, started the company in the early 2000s. Back then, Riomax® covered a meager 30-mile radius in southwest Minnesota. Over the years, the small family business has grown, and today covers all of the United States and Canada.
At Riomax, we have a mission to be 100% rancher-centric. That means that everything we do pivots around you, the rancher. We are obsessed with the needs of ranchers across North America. And that’s why the Rio team is made up of only passionate individuals that are motivated to make an impact on the ranching industry and become invaluable partners to you. At the end of the day, what is going to drive profitability and sustainability on your ranching operation?
The Agricultural System
We believe that agriculture is one, big, holistic system, comprised of multiple different parts. Whatever factors you and your operation focus on, whether it be genetics, livestock nutrition, ranch management, grazing management, or soil health, they must work together as a functioning, healthy system.
Because each individual component plays a part in one large ranching system, they all have an effect on each other. You can't have one segment of a system that poisons another. You can't have one piece of a system that has a negative impact on another, because it can hurt the whole system. At Riomax®, we are passionate about creating a symbiosis. In other words, we strive to fit into your operation as a puzzle piece that positively impacts the profitability of your whole ranching or farming system.
There are 3 main parts to the agricultural system.
- The farm or ranch. Everything must drive the performance, efficiency, and profitability of your operation. The livestock should have a strong immune system, optimized fertility, and healthy rumen biology, which in turn affects soil and land health.
- The business economic model. The farm or ranch is an entity that MUST be profitable. Every decision should be made based on tangibly impacting profitability. How can you either reduce input costs or increase output performance?
- The rural community. If there is profitability, success, and prosperity, the next generation will want to come back. Main Street will flourish. Rural businesses will grow. Rather than declining or degrading, the community improves, and the quality of life increases.
We like to call it a symbiosis. Each part of the system is co-dependent and co-related and has a beneficial effect on each other.
Some products in the industry have unintended negative consequences, whether they're antibiotics and implants for cattle, or synthetic fertilizer for the ground. These products are essentially just crutches that prop up performance, and sadly, they're expensive!
At Riomax®, we want to help wean you off of these expensive inputs, and rather, get more out of your existing resources.
How Does Riomax Impact Profitability On Your Farm or Ranch?
There are a few primary components that Riomax works to impact.
1. Herd Health
The first is your livestock. Our first and foremost goal to impact their reproductive performance, immune status, genetic potential, and digestion. Riomax® products work to achieve this goal in a way that may seem unique. Rather than focusing on providing a direct mineral or protein supplement to your herd, the Riomax program is designed to stimulate and hyper-activate the good bugs (microbes) in the rumen.
2. Land/Soil Health
The second important component that Riomax® effects on your ranch ties directly to livestock nutrition and rumen biology. When there are more rumen microbes and improved rumen health, it correlates to the biology in the soil. Even if you’re not necessarily in the ‘soil health business’, it’s still an important part of the ranching system if you look at it from a holistic approach.
What does impacting soil biology mean for you as ranchers? Improved soil biology essentially means healthier soil. Healthy soil can have many different effects on your operation, including:
- Better water storage
- Improved carbon sequestration
- Optimization of plant growth and plant resilience
Enhance Your Whole Ranch or Farm System
If you take a step back, you’ll see that whether or not you focus directly on animal or soil health, the ranching system works in a full circle. When you improve the health and productivity of your livestock, that has an effect on plant performance, grass performance, and the productivity of your pastures. Similarly, improved soil health results in higher-quality grass, which comes right back to the animals.
We don’t believe in just peddling livestock protein tubs. Here at Riomax®, we aim to provide tools for ranchers that improve their whole system. We believe that it is our job to make an impact on your whole operation, so it’s a functioning, healthy, profitable system.
Can Riomax® become a partner to you on your operation, and help increase profits?
