Over the past several weeks nearly all of our trade area has received the measurable rains and heat needed to help bring this year’s crop to maturity. Despite some areas being a little drier than others earlier in the summer, it looks like we will have a very good harvest again this year. Our team is busy emptying the bins and hauling out the last of about eight million bushels of grain we received at our facilities from the 2020 harvest. In addition to our grain facilities in Westby, Richland Center, Mazomanie, and Mineral Point, as mentioned last month, we have also added an additional location in Hazel Green, WI to help support our member’s needs in southeastern Grant County. If you need help with handling or marketing your grain this fall, please give us a call. With the many fairs throughout the area coming to a close, I’d like to congratulate all the kids who participated again this year. If you haven’t done so already, there’s still time to check out our website for details on how our member’s kids can earn cash for showing livestock at the fair. In addition to giving away thousands of dollars to participants each year, Premier is proud to sponsor many of the trophies given out at some of the local fairs. In some cases, we also provide products and financial support to local 4H groups traveling to the state fair. This Iowa County 4H group did an amazing job coordinating a surprise Premier photo-op at this year’s fair. Thank you all for the great picture.
September 30th marks the end of another fiscal year at your cooperative. While there are many internal functions we need to complete to close out the books, one of the most important things each of you can help with is having your charge account current at the end of September. Each year our staff spends countless hours calling and meeting with customer to make sure their accounts are current prior to our year-end. This creates uncomfortable situations with members/friends and takes valuable time and resources away from providing quality products and services to our members, a task the staff would much rather be doing. For those of you that continue to pay your accounts in a timely manner each month, thank you very much. We know it can be difficult and greatly appreciate your efforts. For those that may have a balance past the credit terms, please clear it up by September 15. With some harvest already underway in our area, please watch out for farm equipment and grain trucks as you navigate our country roads. While the rolling hills and narrow roadways of Wisconsin provide some of the best scenery in the country, it is also home to some of the best crop land and dairy farms. This time of year, with school buses, new teenage drivers, farm equipment, and grain trucks all taking to the roads at the same time, please remember to slow down and plan ahead for what may be over the next knoll. Remind your new drivers that farm equipment is much slower than they would expect, and in most cases much larger. Just as we instruct our drivers and applicators, slow down, move over, and be patient. Not too long ago I remember the start of September as a relief that the kids were finally going back to school. The relief was mostly in the form of a lower grocery bill and perhaps a clean house at the end of the day. This has a little different feel today with our youngest daughter now moving off to college. The last week of August we moved both of our girls into their dorms at UW Platteville. While the dorms are by no means a permanent move out, and since our son has been out for a few years we have a little practice, it will be rough not having them around. It’s a good thing for me that UWP is just a short drive from our Mineral Point mill, and on the way to our Platteville and Hazel Green agronomy locations. It might be interesting to see who gets tired of seeing me first, my daughters or our staff in that direction. I hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day weekend and looking forward the beautiful fall weather ahead. Stay safe and have a great month.
Yay for May! It sure feels good to get outside without all of the heavy winter accoutrements. Tennis shoes and shorts will soon be the normal outerwear but I’m not sure if the...
With April behind us hopefully we can move on to some warmer weather and good planting conditions in May. I hope everyone has a safe and successful planting season. Here’s a few...
The last 2 years in the dairy business have brought out the most volatile times that any of us in the business of milking cows, processing milk, selling food, manufacturing feed or...
On March 31st the USDA gave us some surprising acreage numbers. They estimate 2022 corn planted acres at 89.5 million vs 93.4 mil last year and 92 mil estimated by trade experts...