SummitGold is a business dedicated to increasing production, quality, and profitability of businesses dedicated to plant growth.
Our business focus is foremost on establishing a soil nutrient balance by combining both a biological and traditional approach to soil fertility, which increases the soil microbial activity. Increased microbial activity creates a healthier environment and ultimately improves plant growth.
Both science and experience prove to us that microbes and where they live determine how successful plants grow during a good growing environment as well as stressful environment. To ignore those interactions only means more fertility inputs will be necessary to produce a similar or higher yield in that plant, and generally results in a measurable reduction in crop quality. Therefore it is no surprise that we assist growers and businesses in learning to rely the proper balance of calcium based products, biostimulants, and a host of foliar products that help to deliver superior plant health and productivity.
Locations:
Peoria, IL
Rio Rancho, NM
Monte Vista, CO
Ft.Wayne, IN
Oakes, ND
Atwater, CA
Miller, SD
Ideal, SD
Bozeman, MT
Auburn, AL
Tucson, AZ
Laguna Niguel, CA
Company History
The business of agriculture is changing all the time New agronomic ideas are moving to the forefront. Currently, many notable growers are maximizing their productivity by combining the newest technologies that improve soil biological activity with standard fertilizer programs. At SummitGold we have over 25 years of experience utilizing bio-stimulants. We also can interpret the cationic soil balance of your soils and stop problems that invariably disturb biological growth as well as air/water management. Correcting those imbalances generally insures improved productivity with or without additional input costs.
Management Team
Dean Frye – President
Born & raised in Peoria, IL, Dean grew up on an integrated farming operation, encompassing all aspects of crop and poultry production. Living and working on the family farm provided Dean with a thorough understanding of the challenges farmers face. In an initiative to find a better way of farming, the farming operation began using fertilizers that were not considered conventional for the times. These unconventional farming practices have now become the leading edge of technology as we know it today.
Dean obtained his pilot’s license at the age 25. His love of flying combined with his farming experience opened doors to a successful twelve year aerial spraying business. During this time the company provided crop dusting services with helicopters to four Midwestern states. In 1985 Dean founded Midwest Distributing, which has evolved into Midwest Distributing, Inc., Summit Gold. It was a business opportunity that propelled Dean into a career that utilized his agricultural experiences to help his clients farming operations succeed. Over the last 20 years many successes have transpired, but his passion to help farmers build their businesses to their maximum potential was, and has remained, his personal and company goal. He personally strives to build a long lasting relationship with each and every one of his clients. Since relocating to Carlsbad CA in 2003, he has expanded his company to serve 13 states. He has continued to stay on the leading edge of technology, partnering with agronomists and researchers to provide the best possible solutions and products for farmers of the 21st century.
Dan Coffin – Sr. Agronomist
Growing up in the cornfields of East Central Indiana, Dan developed a deep appreciation for the crops grown in rural Indiana and the soils that support them. While working on his B.S. in Agronomy at Purdue, Dan worked with numerous major U.S. corporations such as DeKalb Seeds, Asgrow Seeds, Illinois FS and Monsanto. Dan spent 2 1/2 years as a soils graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Agronomy at Purdue University teaching basic soil science and soil fertility laboratory. Upon graduation with his M.S. in Agronomy, He spent 2 years with American Cyanamid Company as a Technical Service Representative in the Ag Chemicals division in the Northeastern U.S. Dan also served two additional years in the Ag chemical/ fertility business as a consultative salesperson in both agronomic and horticultural crops in Southern New Jersey. While there, he earned the certification of Professional Agronomist with ARCPACS in 1991. Dan also obtained Technical Service Provider status from the NRCS in 2003 to help growers manage their waste streams on farm land. Dan served 6 years as District Sales Manager and Agronomist throughout the Corn Belt for AG Spectrum Company Inc., and spent the previous 6 years with Novartis/NK Seeds as a Regional Agronomist throughout the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt. For the past 6 years Dan has owned and operated SPNC Corp., a Fort Wayne, Indiana based business focusing on providing education, consulting and production inputs to growers as well as agricultural businesses across the west and Midwest. Dan is currently working on a project to provide a value based, pelletized calcium product for the ag industry projected to be available in the 2008 growing season.
Greg Frye – Sales / Operations
Greg was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois on a corn, soybean and poultry farm. He attended Vanguard University of Southern California in 1994 receiving a B.A. in Business Management and Marketing. Greg was the Northern California representative for Mas-Hamilton group, where he was responsible for establishing an emerging sales territory. He served 2 years as the Director of Marketing for TechStore, Inc., a Novato, CA based computer hardware reseller. He started his own company, SupplyAce, Inc. providing networking hardware to business clients nationwide. Greg joined the SummitGold team in 2002 as a sales representative for the California region and presently resides in Mission Viejo, CA. He currently manages the California market for SummitGold and provides marketing support to all other regions. He is also responsible for nationwide logistics and office operations for SummitGold.