Annual Meeting Updates

Nov 03, 2020


Virtual Annual Meeting

Due to the current pandemic, Premier will not be holding our traditional in-person annual meeting in January. Instead, Premier plans to host a virtual update meeting in January which will include a 2020 financial review, reports from the CEO and board chairman, scholarship selections and more. As this will not be an official annual meeting, all board of director positions and terms will be stayed over for one year. More information and instructions on how to join this virtual meeting will be available in the coming months. 

Scholarships for 2021 High School Seniors

Again this year Premier Cooperative is proud to be sponsoring scholarships for graduating high school seniors planning to pursue an Ag Short Course or any other 2+ year accredited degree program after high school. In order to qualify for one of the 30 potential scholarships (up to $500 each) to be awarded at the Premier January 2021 virtual meeting, the student must:
  • Be a graduating high school senior in the class of 2021.
  • Be the child of an active member of Premier Cooperative. Active members must have done over $1,500 of patronage business with Premier from October 1, 2019, through September 30, 2020.
  • Student must submit a video essay on the role and importance of cooperatives in rural America. Length of the essay must be at least 200 words.

Instructions on how to apply for this year’s scholarships will be available soon. Please watch for updates on our website or Facebook page. 

Scholarship winners will be announced during the January virtual meeting. Some essays may be replayed during the meeting or posted on Premier’s website.

 

Matt Severson

VP - Risk Managment

Latest Posts

Nov 05,2020

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!

Nov 03,2020
Is it just me or does it seem like we went from summer to winter? I was a bit slow in making my cold weather gear accessible. I went bow hunting and I was pretty sure I was going to break off one of my toes when I pulled off my boots. I learned my lesson and my cold weather stuff is now within easy reach. By the way, no wildlife were harmed in the course of this experience. 

Wow, what a difference a year makes! The fall harvest this year is a polar opposite to last year’s harvest. Soybean harvesting is nearly finished and the corn harvest is nearly 50% complete in Wisconsin as I write this. The corn moisture is low so that should cut crop drying expenses.
Nov 02,2020

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.