From an early age, as a curious young boy, I watched my grandfather Joe Spence, the founder of Mesa Verde Humates, as he analyzed amber-colored beakers of humic substances at home on a wooden bench in his garage. The amber-red liquid in those beakers and test tubes on his homemade garage bench, reflecting the sunlight from the window above, held some breakthrough science in my young mind. In those early days of the company, Joe learned a great deal about placing humic products into the agricultural industry, and I watched with amazement as his company continued to grow rapidly. My grandmother, Charlotte Spence, would take all the customer calls from home in their kitchen and file everything on paper and in the old Rolodex.
When my father, Bruce Reid, took over the company in 1999 and convinced me to join him from another industry in 2001, I had no idea of the rewarding and successful path we were about to embark on. During those early years in the company, I was baptized into the production side of the business. I oversaw manufacturing of the various humate products we have historically provided and was entrusted to manage Quality Control in that process.
In 2005, I moved into the sales and educational role and have had the privilege of working alongside a true master in the industry, possessing a Master’s in organic chemistry with an emphasis on Mycorrhizae. Under his guidance and 20+ years of experience with his own farms and helping producers maximize yield and quality of yield, I learned the real-life applications, usages, chemistry, biology, and benefits of humic substances in crop production soils. Now, 22 years later, I can say that I have truly learned the business from the ground up. In that time, I have provided thousands of tons of high-quality humate products to the industry and become well versed in their applications, benefits and in helping to solve stressed soil and plant conditions for our customers’ continued success. I am fortunate to be a part of an organization that helps producers create and maintain healthy, living soils for generations to come. Healthy soils, healthy crops, healthy people.
