OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE KENTUCKY TRUCKING ASSOCIATION

Pub. 4 2024 Issue 2

KTA Motor Carrier Spotlight: Warner Fertilizer Co.

An Interview with Curtis Bradley

Warner Fertilizer Co. (WFC) was founded in 1965 by C.M. Warner and his three sons, C.V., J.C. and Richard Warner. Located in Somerset, Kentucky, the company manufactured its own fertilizer and sold it bagged and in bulk. Eventually, they expanded to offer crop protection products, field seeds, seed corn, feed and farm supplies along with a number of services including hauling products to location, custom applications, spreader rentals, custom spraying, no-till drill rental, pasture sprayers, soil testing and agronomic consultation. 

The company’s philosophy to provide a quality product with outstanding service at a fair, competitive price resonated. With its focus on local farmers and catering to the agricultural community, WFC grew quickly and soon had 11 locations throughout southern Kentucky. Over the years, customers have come to rely on their great products and excellent service. In fact, Crop Life Magazine has recognized WFC as a “Top 100 Dealership” for the past 26 years.

In March of 2021, WFC was acquired by Demetrios Haseotes, owner of Hemisphere Limited LLC. Demetrios had a long-term strategy for WFC. He wanted to keep the company’s service-oriented mindset and adopt value-added products and services into the existing offerings. That same year, Demetrios hired Curtis Bradley to be WFC’s new general manager. 

Curtis’s background made him the perfect person to join the company. Growing up, his father was an agricultural chemical salesman, so he was familiar with the business. His grandfather owned a family farm in southeastern Illinois. Curtis looked forward to the times he would visit the farm: “As soon as the car door would open, I would take off running across the yard, jump on a tractor and get behind the wheel. It just fascinated me.” 

In 1976, his father decided to become a full-time partner on the family farm. Curtis was thrilled when he found out the family was moving there. “I loved the wide-open spaces and the ability to hop on a tractor and go flying across the fields,” he recalled. “There weren’t a lot of people around, and I found value in connecting with nature and animals.” 

When it came time to go to college, Curtis attended Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. He graduated with a degree in agricultural mechanization and immediately applied it to his family’s farming operation. He also owned a trucking business that moved products for the oil and gas industry. Curtis would purchase the crude oil, and his trucks would pick it up and deliver it to refineries across Illinois and Kentucky. In fact, it was through his trucking business that Curtis first met the new owner of WFC. 

“I’m very familiar with the trucking business and transportation. I have done it all my life — whether hauling commodities with my farming operation, crude oil or fertilizer — trucking has been a huge part of my life.” 

Curtis has had his Class A CDL for almost 30 years. It is important to him to keep it up. “As a leader, I understand what it feels like to be behind the wheel and what it takes to operate the equipment. I think that helps me to connect with my employees on a different level,” he said. “I feel my past work prepared me well for where I am today.”

Since the acquisition in 2021, there have been many exciting changes at WFC. “We are known for the innovative technology that we’ve implemented,” Curtis said. “We have started using drones to spray crops. Drones can get to places where you can’t take a regular sprayer. It doesn’t matter if it rains and gets muddy, you can just fly right over the field.” WFC invested over $1 million in a specialized computer-controlled blending system called the Declining Weight System at their Somerset branch. “The branch is so efficient now, and it’s able to blend fertilizer so effectively that we can service bigger areas from one location,” Curtis said. “We are doing more with what we have and being more efficient.” Another new addition is the Vector spreader machine that precisely puts the exact amount of fertilizer on each acre. By using soil mapping and testing to see what the soil needs, the spreader will put the exact amount of fertilizer right where it is needed so there is no waste. 

WFC has a sister company called Continental Refining Company located on the opposite side of Somerset. They crush soybeans and use the oil and make biodiesel. The biodiesel is then used in all of the WFC equipment. And yet another sister company, the White Oil Company, distributes and sells the additional biodiesel that was made. That makes for a lot of transporting from here to there. 

The “doing more with what we have and being more efficient” mindset doesn’t stop there. Once the soybeans are crushed, the soybean meal is left over. That byproduct is then loaded on trucks and transported to locations in Kentucky and beyond and sold to pet food companies, livestock producers and others in the animal nutrition industry. 

These are the types of value-added services that Demetrios was referring to when he purchased the company and hired Curtis to oversee its growth. Today, WFC has clients across several states, hauling fertilizer to six of them, and the business is still growing. “There are fewer and fewer companies like ours, with so many offerings, and we’re filling in the gaps,” Curtis said. 

The customers are reaping the benefits from WFCs’ value-added services. Recently, a local farmer used the WFC drone technology to spray fungicide on his crop of corn. The difference in the harvest was noticeable, almost 30 bushels an acre more. Now that’s impressive. 

Today, there are nine WFC branches and 80+ employees, some are seasonal and quite a few have been there for 10, 20 and even 30+ years. A typical day for Curtis is not typical at all. In addition to being responsible for the day-to-day operations of nine different WFC locations, he is also buying fertilizer from vendors overseas, in Canada and in the U.S., which takes time, planning, logistics and so much more. “The daily operations require me on some days to put out fires and other days to work on projects to better our company. Every day holds something fun, different and exciting,” Curtis explained. 

“Transportation makes the world go around, it’s such a vital part of our economy and livelihood. I’m thankful to be involved with something that helps support my fellow man. Being a part of transportation and agriculture, which go hand in hand, is a true blessing.” Curtis continued, “It’s exciting knowing that we’re helping to produce something that’s vital for life and delivering it — we’re making a difference.”

Curtis and WFC have been members of the Kentucky Trucking Association (KTA) for around two years. “I was involved with other trucking associations in the past, and it was extremely valuable. I joined KTA and have had a similar experience. They are a great resource when it comes to finding answers,” Curtis said. “There are a lot of particulars in trucking, and we rely on KTA to help us find answers. If they don’t know the answer off-hand, they’ll find out.”  

About Curtis 

In addition to working at WFC, Curtis is the vice president of the AgriBusiness Association of Kentucky (ABAK). ABAK represents businesses across Kentucky in different capacities of agriculture, promoting and protecting the industry with a strong, unified voice. For kids who are interested in going into agriculture, ABAK regularly raises money and provides scholarships to help with their education. 

Curtis has two children: Amanda, who is a sophomore at the University of Southern Indiana, majoring in healthcare administration; and David, who is in his final year of law school at Indiana University, Indianapolis. 

When he’s not working, he enjoys golf, watching sports, attending car shows and being out in nature. His favorite quote is from Steve Jobs: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”   

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