As we move into the fall months, in a typical year we start to see the prices consumers pay at the pumps move lower from the peak driving season. However, in recent weeks gas prices have begun to climb again after dropping to $3.40 per gallon from their summer highs of nearly $5. If you live in or near Westby, Black Earth, Richland Center, or Mount Horeb, get a patron card at premiercooperative.com/cenex to get cash back for your purchases at any of our five Cenex gas stations. As a cooperative we return our profits to our members and using your patron card is how you get your share of these profits.
While the fall harvest has started in some parts of our trade area, we are maybe a week or two behind the pace of last year for seeing grain flowing into our facilities. By most early reports from our agronomists, this year is looking like a potential record crop across much of the area we serve. Our grain plants located in Mazomanie, Mineral Point, Richland Center, and Westby are anxiously awaiting this year’s crop. A few weeks ago, the Premier grain team spent the day reviewing safety and operational procedures to better prepare to serve our members’ needs over the next several weeks. Whether you need help hauling this year’s crop to the elevator, or still looking to finalize your grain marketing plan, give us call. Our knowledgeable staff is looking forward to working with you this year to make this year’s harvest as safe and smooth as possible. Our team will do their best to meet your needs and your help with good, early communication for trucking needs and when you plan to start, or finish harvest is always helpful. Thanks for your support and please be safe this harvest season.
About the time harvest gets into full swing, your company also ramps up for another one of our seasonal rushes, the winter heating season. While I don’t know that anyone can accurately predict when the cold temperatures will arrive, we all know that it will get cold, and it will snow. Thank you to those of you that contract your propane needs for the upcoming season and remain on our route delivery service. This allows us to make sure as much inventory is out in the country as possible before supply sees its first challenges of the year. For those of you that call in your propane orders, please consider getting your tank filled well ahead of winter. Including increased demand due to normal cold weather, this part of the country could also be looking at greater crop drying demand (propane and natural gas) compared to the last couple of years due to the potential record crop and delayed planting in the spring of 2022. With over 800,000 gallons of propane supply capacity, Premier is one of the largest propane providers in the state. Still, the infrastructure for the propane industry in the Midwest relies greatly on the amount of supply capacity with the end user…the tanks at our members’ homes, businesses, and farms. Thank you for making sure your propane supply is full and ready for the season.
By the time you receive this we will have closed another fiscal year and are now starting the cooperative’s 130th year, more than any other farm and consumer supply cooperative in the United States. While our current year-end results will not be completed until after our mid-November audit, I feel comfortable sharing that we look forward to reporting on another great year for your cooperative. Total sales will be up over last year, as well as bottom line performance. Thank you all for the support that helped make this happen. At Premier, we have never looked at sales or profit at your company as the top metrics whether we had a successful year. More important than those two is determining whether we exceeded our members’ expectations throughout the year, provided a safe and positive work environment for our staff, continued to learn from our mistakes, challenged each other to find improved ways to operate your company, and added value and positive returns to our customers. While these are often hard to measure, the positive feedback from our members and the resulting growth we have generated over the past many years are hopefully a sign that we continue to head in the right direction. Thank you for continuing to allow us the opportunity to provide you with the products and services you need.
Whether you are out enjoying the weather on our beautiful country roads this fall, or helping to bring in this year’s crop, please remember to slow down and be safe. I hope everyone has a successful harvest and a great month.
