Meet Your Partners in Growth Series: Steve Haught

Steve Haught, Senior Sales Associate

If you need five tons of gypsum to field 10 on Monday at 7am, Steve is your guy. If you need to know a timeline for a ripping project, Steve is your guy. If you need to know any manner of logistics or planning when it comes to Ag, Steve is your guy.

Senior Sales Associate, Steve Haught has a unique mind for logistics and getting things where they need to be, when they need to be there.

“My brain just really understands how things work from A to Z,” Steve laughs. “I look at a problem and try to simplify it. I’m naturally organized and can see the best and most efficient way to get things done.”

Steve has been working in or around the Ag industry for almost 30 years. He was born and raised in the Central Valley and still lives in the Hanford and Lemoore area with his high school sweetheart and wife of 28 years.

“I was in FFA [Future Farmers of America] in high school and just being raised in the Central Valley you somehow or another get involved in Ag!” Steve smiles.

His knack for logistics and its tie-in with ag started for Steve when he was 18 and got his Class A license to haul hay for DD Hay Sales Inc., which was a family farm at the time. After having his fill of hay hauling, Steve went to work as a car mechanic for a few years and then transitioned to the HVAC company, American Air, where he was head of logistics for 12 years.

His roots in ag eventually caught up with him and Steve moved to Western Milling, which is North America’s largest feed mill operation. He drove trucks for Western Milling but in less than a month was promoted to logistics and put into dispatch.

“I had the truck driving experience of handling and moving product effectively and efficiently to get things to the right locations at the right time, so they moved me into overseeing all of logistics of the liquid division,” Steve says.

Not long after, Western Milling diversified and added soil amendments to their list of products, with gypsum being the main commodity. Now Steve was in charge of handling inbound and outbound gypsum.

“I broke away from dispatch of feed and liquids to get to the logistics side of gypsum,” Steve says. “They wanted to expand and it was becoming a bigger monster, so they looked at me and said ‘Hey you already know the ins and outs, what do you think about doing sales?’ and I thought, ‘Why not!’”

Through his sales role, Steve got really interested in talking to people and found that he really liked the sales side of the business. They didn’t have a salesforce at the time, and Steve saw a huge opportunity and went out into the field to start meeting with and talking to growers. It went so well that they also brought on another salesman for seeds and they worked as a team. This went on for a few years but the gypsum inventory burden proved to be too much for Western Milling to sustain and they decided to sunset their gypsum product in 2023 and just focus on feed, seeds and fertilizer.

“We were a competitor of Holloway’s,” Steve says, “But Western was at a disadvantage because they had to bring their gyp in from out of state. You have to build inventory to be ready for the season and it becomes untenable to bring that material in and sit on it. It is not economically viable.”

So this left Steve looking for his next move. And that’s when his colleague, the seed salesman, went to a conference and stopped by the Holloway booth.

“It’s pretty funny because my friend talked to Gil [Luera] and Daniel [Terry] and they both said, ‘Where’s Steve?’ and that’s when he told them they had shut that part of the company down and boy did my phone start ringing!” Steve laughs.

Steve said he started doing his research on Holloway and its products and services and overall history in the Central Valley and he was intrigued.

“When I got down there and met the people, I thought this is a pretty good group of guys!” Steve says. “Everything just clicked. It meant a lot that they called me and welcomed me to the team and it’s just been a great experience.”

Since Steve is no stranger to growers and gypsum sales, his customer base is one that he has created over his years in the ag business. Most of the growers Steve works with are almond and pistachio farmers, but he works with all growers in Holloway’s northern territory which is north of Highway 198.

“Soil amendments is my sweet spot,” Steve says. “I’ve been doing it for so many years and I am really comfortable with the product. But I also really like how well we are diversified we are at Holloway, from farm management to soil health.”

Steve’s day-to-day involves a lot of communication – going out and meeting with customers to see what they need and how things are working for them. He is a self proclaimed “old-school” guy and would much rather knock on doors and meet face-to-face, or have a phone call.

“Growers like the service they get and the timely manner in which we can service,” Steve says. “With Holloway we can usually make things happen for our growers right away.”

Steve says that one of the main advantages of working in sales at Holloway is that we have our own gypsum mine and that our materials are locally sourced in the state and readily available.

“Not only is that more convenient for our growers and more sustainable for us as a company, but we are helping California; helping our local people; helping the guy down the street, and that’s important to me,” Steve says.

When Steve is not managing the sale and logistics of gypsum to our growers, you can find him managing the logistics of getting a little bean bag into a cornhole. Steve is an avid cornhole player and not just for fun – he competes too!

“I was a softball player until I had a double knee replacement, and you know what they say – cornhole is where softball players go to die!” Steve laughs.

Every August, he and a teammate go to compete in Ventura for the world’s largest cornhole tournament that is a mix of professionals and, as Steve puts it, “Joe Shmoes”.

“It’s a good time,” Steve says. “You always say, ‘Let’s compete in Ventura’, you never say, “Oh let’s go win Ventura!’”

Now that we know about you, Steve, you better be ready to bring your cornhole A-game to the next Holloway employee BBQ!