Annual Meeting Updates

Getting your phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) applications made now offer many advantages over spring applications.  The likelihood of dry soils, agronomic benefits, availability of fertilizers, your workload and time, are all factors on why fall is the preferred time over spring.  In addition, fall is also a good time to apply P for environmental reasons. There is generally a lower risk of P runoff with the typical fall weather and soil conditions.  If you think back on spring and weigh the pros and cons you will consider fall applications as one job that can be done now and not be at the risk of what the spring will bring. Contact your Premier Agronomist today and get a head start on your spring!

As we wrap up October, the first month of our 128th fiscal year, I’d like to thank all of you for helping make our 127th fiscal year a very solid one at your cooperative. Despite the pandemic, and in some cases because of it, sales for the year will be similar to last year at about $190 million. One thing about a pandemic, it can create a lot of volatility. In a commodity business, like many of our divisions are, volatility can offer both opportunities and misery. At your cooperative we were fortunate to capture many more opportunities than setbacks. For one, with the price of fuel down, our fleet of over 600 vehicles saved about $400,000 this year compared to 2019 in just the cost of gas and diesel. That goes right to the bottom line and increases patronage refunds to our members. Of course, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to provide the many products and services to our customers while keeping them and our employee team as safe as we can. This isn’t the first time your cooperative has had to deal with a global pandemic, but I was unable to find any of the meeting minutes from the board meetings in 1918 to help layout a roadmap for 2020/2021. I want to thank all our members and employees for the support they have shown one another as we’ve worked through these challenges together.  I look forward to sharing the results of the audit with you in next month’s newsletter. Thank you for the tremendous support that allows us to continue to provide the quality people, products, equipment, and services you need for your farm, home, or business.