Propane Season

Nov 03, 2020


November Update

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.

Since we’re on the subject of expenses, I’ve got a few ways to save you money. If you haven’t done so already, give your heating contractor a call to get your furnace checked out. It could save you a service call in the middle of the night on a weekend, which can be expensive. 

Another way I can help save you some money is to inform you of a program if you are installing a new propane water heater. On a new home installation or the replacement of a water heater in your existing home, there is a $200 rebate available through the Wisconsin Propane Education and Research Council. Contact your local Premier Cooperative Energy location to find out more. 

Propane school buses are becoming more popular. We are currently servicing several school districts by selling them propane for use in their school buses. At the moment there are $3500 incentives available for buses, fleet vehicles and personal vehicles that use propane. You can save money not only in fuel costs but also in maintenance, and it’s better for the environment. If your school district is thinking about switching their buses from diesel to propane, give us a call and ask for Addison Arndt.

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Did you know that your local cooperative is a leader in the propane autogas industry, serving several school districts in Wisconsin? Switching to propane can save you thousands in fuel costs and maintenance and help you reach your goals of environmental sustainability.

With COVID-19 cases spiking in Wisconsin, if you call in for your propane it is imperative that you call in when your tank gets to 30% so that you don’t run out of propane. It will save you money in service charges and it will help keep you and our employees safe from exposure. Every time we are forced to enter a house because a tank is out of propane it increases our employee’s and our customer’s risk of exposure. We can’t eliminate risks in our lives but we can manage them, with your help.

November 11th is Veteran’s Day. If you’re a fellow veteran thank you for your service. Give one or two of your buddies a call and see how they’re doing. There is a strength to those friendships that I struggle to find the proper words to describe. I guess you could say they are brothers from another mother or sisters from another mister.

I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving. If you are a hunter, good luck with your hunt. Thank you all for your business.

Tim Lease

Division Manager

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
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. 

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:
 
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.