Production Input Solutions (PIS) was founded in 2007 to serve as a buying group and facilitator for livestock production companies to lower their input costs. Value-Added Science and Technologies (VAST) www.v-ast.com, an affiliated company to PIS, was also founded in 2007 to bring scientific and technological products and services to livestock production companies to enhance their competitiveness.

In the cost-of-production equation - where input cost is the numerator and pounds produced is the denominator - PIS is predominantly focused on the numerator whereas VAST is predominantly focused on the denominator of that equation.

The two Companies were founded in response to livestock producers being pressured by significant input cost increases as a result of the convergence of several factors which have created unprecedented demand for feed grains and fuel:

• the rapid emergence of the bio-fuels industry, which now accounts for approximately 25% of corn usage in the U.S. (for ethanol) may soon reach 20% of soybean usage (bio-diesel)
• improved world economies and increasing world population creating greater demand for feed grains, proteins and fuel world-wide, particularly in heavily-populated India and China
• increased global industrialization and population creating unprecedented demand on land and water resources, challenging future worldwide supply of grains.

The founders and senior management of PIS are Steve Weiss, Chad Hagen, and Dale Green. We have served in leadership capacities for major swine production companies and represent a unique complement of knowledge, skills and industry relationships to effectively serve livestock producers and vendors of goods and services to the livestock industry. For more information on our team, see About Us.

We believe that the success of our Companies will be driven by the following overriding principles for doing business:

• Customer Servants – recognizing that we are servants to the livestock producers served by the Companies, with a principle goal of improving their competitive position and prosperity.

• Objectivity – exercising complete objectivity in purchasing, operations, sales and marketing activities by prioritizing those products and services which are in the best interests of our Customers.

• Discipline – applying strict rigor and thoroughness in our approach to evaluating and identifying products and services which best provide value to our Customers.

Our guiding principle of Objectivity is further evidenced by the Companies’ No Boondoggles Policy which is required of all employees of the Companies. This policy represents a revolutionary approach in the livestock industry, which is accustomed to large marketing budgets aimed at providing perks to purchasing decision makers. This policy is designed to afford PIS the lowest product costs for its members (due to vendors not expending those marketing dollars, but reflecting them in lower cost) and to ensure objectivity in our buying decisions.

As a buying group, PIS is membership-based. Establishing a membership with PIS provides producers with the opportunity to purchase inputs from PIS at a lower cost than they can achieve on their own. A completed Membership Agreement is required of all producers doing business with us.

As a result of efforts to date, PIS currently represents producers and feed mills with over 800,000 sows farrow to finish in aggregate volume, and is working with several industry-leading vendors of products and services to the swine industry. We intend to grow our membership base and product lines in the swine industry and expand our efforts to other livestock industries.

We have developed a line of products which are available to our Members at favorable pricing. These products consist of some of the most widely used feed ingredient and packaged goods items available.