WRITTEN BY: LAURA GUTSCHKE
PHOTOS BY: JOEY HERNANDEZ
Seeds of Success
MARK MARLEY (BS, AGRICULTURAL
EDUCATION, 1983) PREFERS SITTING
BEHIND THE WHEEL OF HIS TRUCK TO
HIS DESK TO MANAGE HIS BUSINESS
INTERESTS IN THE PLAINVIEW AREA.
His best business tools are his cell phone, his ability to
quickly recall facts and figures and an old-fashioned work
ethic that extends beyond the typical eight-hour workday.
Succinctly describing what Marley “does for a living”
is challenging. He owns Production Plus seed company,
several warehouses and farmland in Hale, Swisher and
Castro counties. He is a real estate developer, and a
home builder, working on a residential project south of
Plainview. He buys and sells used seed equipment and
other goods. He represents a Nebraska-based fencing
company and raises cattle and boer goats. At times
he has traded in the stock market and other financial
investments if the timing is right.
“The seed business is how I got my start, and from
there I’ve gotten into different things,” said Marley.
He worked for seed companies while in high school
at Crosbyton and during and after attending Texas Tech
University. He decided to strike out on his own in
January 1989.
Roots in Seed Business
To start Production Plus, Marley used $8,700 in
personal savings toward the purchase of a truck, a cell
phone and a trailer to haul seed. The first year, he had
1,500 acres under contract to grow sorghum for seed.
Some farmers, knowing Marley for his integrity and strong
work ethic, were willing to accept payment after the seed
crop was sold. Early on, Marley’s brother-in-law Gary
Martin helped in the production and conditioning. Martin
today handles the production side of operations which
encompasses between 5-8,000 acres of seed annually.
From its humble two-person beginnings Production Plus
has grown into a national leader in sorghum seed, shipping
worldwide. The company employs on average about 20 people,
depending on the season.
Production Plus steadily grew, but it propelled past the
competition in 1996 when it was the first to commercially
introduce brown midrib (BMR) forages for cattle and other
livestock feed. Marley credits retiree Buddy McGehee for
the research on Production-Plus’s BMR and Mike Northcutt
(Vice President Operations and Sales) for the promotion and
development of our new hybrids. The BMR genes were first
discovered by Dr. John Axtell at Purdue University in 1979 but
seed companies failed to recognize it’s potential.
However, McGehee, Northcutt and Marley saw BMR hybrid
sorghum’s commercial advantages, including being drought
tolerant; having lower content of lignin, which prevents
nutrients from being digested; and possessing a high amount
of hemophyl, which aids in the breakdown of feed so more
nutrients can be utilized by livestock.
Because such innovations as BMR are rare in the seed
business, Marley credits other business strategies for giving
Production Plus its staying power.
First is having a top notch set of people that take pride in what
we are doing. Hire good people and let them do their job. What
sets us apart is that “we are efficient and watch every cost. And,
we do our best to take care of the customer. We want to sell seed
not just to them this year but every year, and to their kids and
their grandkids,” said Marley.
finds, ranging from industrial-grade fuses to fork lifts, from new
ceiling fans to farm machinery. Marley also buys commercial
property and land to resell later or sublease for farming.
“I go to a lot of auctions. If I see something that’s a bargain,
then I’ll get it and sit on it for a while until I can sell it for a
profit,” said Marley.
Other times he may use auction finds in one of his established
businesses. For example, in 2002 Marley attended a sale in
Amarillo to buy trees for his new house on a section of land
where he is developing other home sites. He returned with
more than 1,600 trees and new plans to build a tree farm. He
dug a well, set up an irrigation system and replanted the trees,
which are now readily available to landscape new houses in his
development in the near future.
In addition, Marley owns three grain elevators and other grain
facilities as well as 15 warehouses that total 320,000 square feet
in the Plainview area. Some house seed, while Wal-Mart and
Azteca Milling lease others for storage.
Marley has succeeded much of the time by taking calculated
risks. For example, in the mid-1990s, he bought an undervalued
half-section farm at an auction, paying for it by writing checks on
five previously unused credit cards that had no or little interest
for a few months. The following month he refinanced it at the
bank and immediately paid off the credit card companies.
While telling the story, Marley is quick to warn against debt
and frivolous spending.
“I look at what it will cost me versus what it’s worth. Then,
I’ve got to consider if I can handle sitting on it in the mean time
before I can sell it, including worst-case scenario, not every
venture turns out profitable, when this happens don’t be afraid
to cut your losses and get out,” Marley said.
Evolving Interests
Despite the success of Production Plus, Marley is not one to
sit still. He is always searching for new business ventures. Today
he estimates that the seed company accounts for about forty
percent of all his business interests.
“The seed business being agriculture has it’s ups and downs,
and seeing this I wanted to diversify out into other areas that
might balance out the good and bad years,” said Marley.
“The seed company grew, and I hit a point where I was burned
out. I like working new projects. I’ll work a new project hard for six
to nine months, get it going really good, and then start looking for
another,” said Marley. “I figured I wasn’t good at doing the same
thing every day and I enjoy the challenge of the hunt.”
Some of his projects result from attending business, farm and
estate auctions throughout the area and nearby states. Two of his
three warehouses on his home property are stocked with auction
7
landmarks 2006
Marley created a custom-designed rig to
provide cooking services for area charities.
Works Hard
“Back then if you wanted something, you had to work for it. I
may have worked 40 hours a week throughout high school, but I
never thought it was a bad thing, and I still had fun,” said Marley.
He especially enjoyed being active in the local FFA
organization, showing pigs and a steer.
After high school, Marley worked full-time for a cotton gin
coop. He eventually enrolled at South Plains College in Levelland
and later transferred to Texas Tech University. He taught high
school agriculture in 1985 before returning to the seed business.
Marley said he still benefits today from the all-encompassing
agriculture curriculum that was part of his degree plan.
Marley’s ability, “know-how” and drive to pursue different
agriculture-related interests have roots in a hard-luck childhood.
He and his twin sister initially grew up on a ranch south of
Crosbyton. His father worked as a ranch hand, where his pay was
$300 a month, a house and half a side of beef for the year. On a
ranch, Marley saw that 12-14 hour workdays were not uncommon.
When Marley was 11, his father died after being ill for some
time with emphysema and heart disease. The children and their
mother ended up in public housing in Crosbyton. His mother
worked as a waitress and sitter for ill elderly people. Washing
dishes, changing tires, being a farm/ranch hand and mowing
lawns were some of the odd jobs Marley did to earn extra money.
Plays Hard
Behind Marley’s drive to succeed is devotion to his family.
He and his wife, Jennifer (BBA, Accounting, 1984), have three
children. The children participate in FFA and 4-H and care for
horses, a llama and show goats and pigs. The months January
through March are especially hectic when the family travels to
several stock shows.
“The kids enjoy it (raising animals), and it’s a good way to learn
responsibility. They have to feed them twice a day, clean up after
them and get them ready to show,” said Marley.
At FFA and 4-H benefit dinners and shows, the Marleys often
lend their support by grilling hundreds of pounds of meat. They
also provide similar cooking services for the Plainview chapter of
the American Cancer Society during its Cotton Baron’s Ball and
Relay for Life.
Originally Marley and his cooking crew relied on a grill on a
flatbed trailer, but in 2005 they completed a custom-designed rig
built on a stripped-down, short-bed car hauler. It has a covered
landmarks 2006
8
FACT FILE
BUSINESSES
• Production Plus, which has shipped sorghum seed to
South Africa, Mexico, South America, Iraq, Turkey, Italy,
Korea, Japan and other countries
• Three grain elevators, ranging in height from 112 to 170 feet
• Dozens of smaller grain storage bins
• 8,000 acres of farmland in Hale, Swisher and Castro
counties that are under lease for various crops
• 15 warehouses, including 10 in a cluster around
Production Plus offices, totaling 320,000 square feet
• Distributor for Nebraska Plastics, Inc. fencing products
• Housing development southwest of Plainview
FAMILY
Mark and Jennifer were married in August 1985. She is a
self-employed CPA. Their children are Dallas, 14; Zach, 12;
Jaci, 10.
MARLEY’S BUSINESS ADVICE
•“If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.”
•“Computer’s just a tool, but it can’t run a business. It just
stores information. People still buy from people.”
•“If a person wants to be successful, you have to go out
and look for it. It doesn’t just walk up to you.”
•“If you find a good deal, you have to jump on it. And, I
don’t think you can be successful just 8 to 5. If you want
something, you’ve got to work for it.”
•“Don’t get bogged down with problems that you can’t
fix. Weather—you can’t fix it. I don’t worry about those
things. I concentrate on what I can fix and change.”
food prep area, sink, meat slicer, smoker,
three iceboxes and electric generator. A water
storage tank is on top. Tucked under the frame
in the back are two grills that can be rolled out.
Marley says we can now can cook 1,000 rib
eyes in 2-1/2 hours and feed as many as 2000
people if the need arises.
As Marley talks about his business or
community interests, his stories are peppered
with older people who served as mentors or
business partners.
“All my friends are old-timers,” he said with
a laugh. “My parents were older when I came
along—my dad was in his 50s and my mom was
40. So, I’ve been around older people all my life.
But, I respect their values, the way they worked.”
As he talks about his by-the-bootstraps
success following a childhood free of
privilege, Marley downplays the idea that his
accomplishments are extraordinary. He instead
reflects on another value he respects: the ability
to motivate others to succeed.
“There are people I really admire, like
teachers. They inspire kids to set goals and
then accomplish those goals. That’s a lot more
important than just making money, no matter
what a person does in life you should always try
to do the best you can and take pride in what
you do.”
(l to r) Jennifer, Dallas, Jaci, Mark and Zach
9
landmarks 2006