January 2014 by Mid Kansas Cooperative Association (MKC)

January 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS January 2014 “Like” us on Facebook: MidKansasCooperative Follow us on Twitter: @midkscoop Read our Blog: www.midkscoop.blogspot.com Watch us on YouTube: www.youtube.com/midkscoop Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/midkscoop

STRAIGHT TALK President’s Column..................................................................................3

EDUCATION Helping Farmers Manage Risk....................................................................4 MKC and TMA’s relationship provides numerous avenues for producers to manage their risk.

Carlton Joins MKC Board ..........................................................................4

IN THE COMMUNITY Ag Advocate Challenge Supports Ag Education.............................................5 MKC actively supports education programs through Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, helping to increase the agricultural knowledge and literacy of our youth.

Editorial Staff Kerry Watson Director of Communications Nichole Gouldie Communications Specialist

MKC Scholarship Program Expanded to College Students ..............................5

FEATURE ARTICLE Growing With a Purpose............................................................................6 A look into the growth of one of the most successful cooperatives in central Iowa.

Management Dave Christiansen President and CEO Danny Posch Vice President and CFO Dave Spears Vice President and CMO Erik Lange Director of Southern Area Operations Steve Peterson Director of Northern Area Operations Dave Sell Director of Energy Operations Kerry Watson Director of Communications Brett Myers Director of Human Resources and Development

MKC P.O. Box D Moundridge, KS 67107 620-345-6328 www.mkcoop.com Our Vision: MKC will be a highly valued, customer–focused business engaged in profitable relationships with high business ethics and employee satisfaction.

FROM THE FIELD Projects Update .......................................................................................8 Progress continues on the construction of three new grain facilities, keeping on schedule to be operational for the 2014 wheat harvest.

Farmers Cooperative Association Seeks Merger with MKC .............................8 Farmers Cooperative Association of Manhattan will ask its members to approve a merger with MKC.

Delivering a Helping Hand.........................................................................9 There are times when you need a helping hand. MKC and South Dakota Wheat Growers rely on each other, sharing personnel and equipment when the need arises.

ABOUT THE COVER: The cover features the photography skills of Lindsborg area resident, Patti Turnquist. Patti won first place in MKC’s 2012 holiday photo contest, earning the cover rights to our winter issue and placement on our holiday greeting cards.

STRAIGHT TALK

PRESIDENT’S COLUMN By Dave Christiansen

Relevance – Standing the Test of Time

Regardless of what cooperative I happened to be serving at the time, it’s certainly been interesting over the years to pause and reflect on the relevance we possessed and to whom. The first time I recall listening to a discussion about relevance was in the mid-'70s when the co-op I was working for achieved record sales. That certainly seemed a big deal at the time and I recall our vendors treated us as such. As an employee group we took a lot of pride in what our relevance meant we could deliver to our customers. At the time, little did we know the bar to be considered relevant in the agricultural industry was beginning a very rapid ascent. While recently searching through MKC’s history, we came across board notes dated September 1964 about the merger discussions between the first three cooperatives. I was simply amazed at the similarity of advantages identified by those board members and how they are still applicable today. The board groups noted by coming together and increasing their scale, they could hire additional people, specifically fieldmen. Other items noted as advantages of a merger included better management of inventory, better use of labor, reduced costs per unit, serve a larger territory, improved buying power, wider use of equipment and facilities, increased sales, improved service, bigger patronage from regional coops, improved interest rates, and attract new business. In addition the board members identified another cooperative to visit with about entering the group, and for all the same reasons. Only one disadvantage was listed in those notes and it was referenced as “sentimental attachment to the existing organization.” Some things haven’t changed in 50 years! I am in awe when I think about the courage those men demonstrated at that meeting. To be that visionary and take steps to prepare for the future knowing a decision such as that would be received with mixed emotions had to be difficult. Those board members wanted to continue to increase their cooperatives’ relevance because they believed in what it would do for their members. They understood the bar for relevance was rising, even if they had no concept of how fast it would occur.

Today, faced with a world that is consolidating, collaborating and selecting partners in every business segment, we continue the course our founders laid before us. We continue discussions with partners who have the same vision, who make us better and enhance our ability to help our customers be more successful. We understand more so today that relevance in our industry significantly improves our ability to deliver value to our customers. Just as it was in 1964, the bar for relevance continues to rise. We can make the choice not to pursue growth. If we had a retirement date or made a conscious decision to serve a limited niche market, it may be an applicable strategy. However, if our desire is to prepare for those farmers of the future, we should continue the same strategy as set forth by our founders so many years ago. Over the years mergers somehow have taken on a very negative connotation. This is primarily due to the fact one party generally had to be suffering before considering a merger discussion. There had or was perceived to be a winner and a loser. This hasn’t been the case for many industries and, as you are starting to see, many cooperatives aren’t waiting either. Many discussions today are occurring between very solid organizations who understand what relevance does for its members. Since 1964 we’ve clearly demonstrated MKC’s growth has been beneficial to customers in many ways. I will be the first to admit growth brings a new set of challenges and opportunities. In some cases we’ve learned new lessons and quickly captured the synergy. When the synergy doesn’t occur, we are recognizing failure earlier and taking immediate steps to fix it. Today, I would add a few items to the list of advantages created by our founders. Attracting and retaining employees would be first on the list. Specifically, specialized skills required by today’s producer including risk management tools, precision ag, etc. One of the biggest challenges our industry will face over the next five years is the lack of talent to fill agricultural jobs. It is estimated there will be 52,000 agricultural jobs available and only 32,000 graduates in the field of agriculture to fill these positions. If those numbers aren’t bad enough, compound them with the fact Continued on page 10

EDUCATION

Helping Farmers Manage Risk By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

Risk is an unavoidable element in the business of agriculture. Production can vary widely year to year due to unforeseen weather and market conditions, causing wide swings in commodity prices. But risk, while inevitable, is often manageable. Following a storm this past June, McPherson area farmer Dennis Friesen saw green snap damage like he had never seen before. After the area received 80-90 mph winds, he

Danny Flynn, crop insurance specialist for TMA, discusses risk management strategies for 2014 with Dennis Friesen.

soon discovered the risk management decisions he had made with TMA and MKC were bound to improve his return on his investment. After looking over his fields following the storm, Friesen immediately called his TMA Crop Insurance Specialist, Danny Flynn. Within three days, the totaled corn field was chopped and a short-season corn was planted. “Very quickly Dennis was able to collect insurance, protect his revenue and pursue another crop,” Flynn said. Once he received word the corn crop was 70 to 80 percent damaged,

Friesen worked with Dusty Campbell, TMA grain marketing specialist, to make sure he would be okay on his marketing strategy. TMA provides producers with a multitude of risk management offerings that can be customized to fit their operations. The array of risk management strategies available to producers allows the opportunity to place their attention on making buying and selling decisions based off timing and profitability instead of price. “There are a number of tools available and widely used to manage the economic, structural and environmental risks of farming,” said Devin Schierling, TMA grain marketing manager. Schierling says the local cooperative plays an integral role in assisting customers manage their crop input risk, just as the TMA specialist focuses on maximizing revenue through grain marketing and crop insurance decisions. “This approach allows our producers to focus on the timing of their marketing decisions,” he said. “Depending upon their needs, producers will have the ability to manage their farm’s risk in multiple crop years by using traditional forward cash contracts, option based contracts, and over-the-counter contracts,” Schierling said. “TMA provides producers with a multitude of risk management offerings that can be customized to fit their operations and grain contracts as the vehicle to help our producers maximize their revenue potential.” Although farms vary widely with respect to crop mix, financial situation and other business, timing and looking at trends is the most important part of creating a successful risk management plan. Schierling Continued on page 10

Carlton Joins Board as Associate Director By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

Kenny Carlton joined the MKC Board of Directors as an associate director in August. A native of Little River, Carlton operates a diversified grain and livestock operation, including dryland wheat, milo and soybeans with a cow-calf and stocker operation there today. Carlton graduated from Little River-Windom High School and Fort Hays State University with an associate’s degree in data processing and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After graduation, Carlton went to work for Farm Credit for 13 years, working in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico. After leaving Farm Credit he returned to Little River and was the branch manager of the Little River State Bank for five years. While working at the bank, he began farming part-time with his father and later took over the farming operation. Today, Carlton is farming full-time. Carlton and his wife, Connie, have two grown sons, the youngest working on the farming operation full-time. Connie is a special education teacher at Little River High School. Carlton and his wife have been foster parents for the last five years, and currently have three girls they are fostering. He has been active in his community as a board member of the Galt Township, Upper Little Arkansas Watershed District and the Rice County Rural Water District. Carlton said MKC offers many different benefits to area producers. “MKC is as diversified as many of Continued on page 9

IN THE COMMUNITY

Ag Advocate Challenge Investment Supports Agricultural Education Mission By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

MKC Expands Scholarship Program to College Students By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

MKC representatives present a $2,000 donation to Kansas Foundation for Ag in the Classroom (KFAC). Accepting the donation is Cathy Musick, Executive Director for KFAC.

A contribution from MKC in 2013 to Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC) was pooled together with donations received from other ag businesses, allowing KFAC to reach several thousand Kansas elementary students and teachers. Donor dollars were leveraged to pay for printing of teacher resources, tuition dollars to the Foundation’s summer graduate course and in-service trainings in 2013. Funding was used to perform research and development activities to develop new delivery methods for agriculture literacy lesson plans. “It’s important to educate young people about the significance of agriculture and the role it plays in their everyday lives,” stated Kerry Watson, director of communications for MKC. “KFAC does an excellent job of providing the educational tools and resources to teachers and we’re proud to offer support that allows them to do this.” The KFAC mission is to “Connect Classrooms to Kansas Agriculture,” making the dollars donated from companies in Kansas helpful to increase agricultural knowledge and literacy of the state’s youth.

“We teach about the importance of food production and delivery systems and use agriculture as a tool to reach core curriculum goals in math, reading, science, history and social studies,” said Cathy Musick, executive director of KFAC. “Currently, we reach about five percent of Kansas elementary students. Our goal is to double that in the next three years. Ag Advocate funding is critical in allowing us to increase our reach while maintaining excellent programming and developing new delivery methods that are efficient and effective for Kansas teachers.” Musick noted KFAC is grateful to MKC for their donation and looks forward to continued support as they continue to grow the program. The Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom is a 501(c)(3) organization that seeks to involve Kansans of all ages in understanding the fundamental impact of agriculture on their everyday lives. By providing resources to Kansas teachers, KFAC hopes to connect classrooms to Kansas agriculture. More information about KFAC can be found on their website at www.ksagclassroom.org.

MKC has announced plans to increase the awards offered through its scholarship program and expand the program to college students. When first established, the program awarded nine scholarships valued at $500 each to high school seniors. The scholarship program will now offer awards valued at $1,000 each to ten high school seniors and up to ten additional awards valued at $1,000 to returning college students. Scholarships will be awarded based on academic achievement, community involvement, and an essay about the value of the cooperative system. High school seniors graduating this spring and college students returning to school in the fall of 2014 for their second, third or fourth year are eligible to apply. "This is our opportunity to help advance the education of exceptionally promising students,” states Kerry Watson, Director of Communications for MKC. This will be the seventh year in which MKC will award scholarships to students who excel in both the classroom and in the community. Established in 2008, MKC’s scholarship program has awarded $27,000 to 54 students pursuing a degree of their choice. Students who plan to attend an accredited university or college including junior, community, vocational or technical schools are eligible to apply. Applications are available online at www.mkcoop.com and must be submitted by March 15.

Heartland Co-op’s Pickering location has a grain storage capacity of 2,145,000 bushel as well as railroad capabilities, NH3, dry and liquid crop nutrients, bulk and packaged chemicals and bulk petroleum storage.

Growing with a Purpose By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

What happens when something grows? It changes, doesn’t it? A wheat seed looks different after being in the ground for a month and livestock will someday reach an age of weaning. “If our co-op was going to survive in today’s world, it was going to have to grow,” said Tom Hauschel, Heartland Co-op CEO. “We realized change was necessary for us to compete in the increasingly challenging marketplace.” Since the early days of the 1900's, Central Iowa farmers knew they needed a place to market their grain for a fair price. Now, over 100 years later, Heartland Co-op has evolved into the cooperative it is today with 63 locations with operations in grain handling and marketing, fertilizer and application, agriculture chemicals and application, livestock feed and processing, agriculture energy products and propane. At each benchmark during the past 100 years, Heartland looked at the future needs of its members and chose growth over stagnation. The old, original elevators served the needs of those turn-of-the-century farmers who unified in order to put some clout in their grain marketing. “We're still doing everything we can to give Heartland-area farmers

a voice in the future of agriculture amongst the growth that was attributed to our success,” Hauschel said. Heartland believes in differentiating themselves from the competition by providing unique, value-added and innovative solutions to customers. Currently they serve more than 5,300 members and conduct business with them and others in one of the 63 communities across the state of Iowa. The "original" Heartland Co-op was formed in 1987 with a merger of three cooperatives with facilities in Panora, Dallas Center, Minburn and Granger. The Heartland Co-op that exists today was formed in 1993 with a merger of the "original" Heartland Co-op, Alleman Cooperative Company, Mitchellville Cooperative, and the facilities previously owned by Avon Grain Company at Carlisle and at East 18th Street in Des Moines. According to Hauschel, 17 mergers and acquisitions have occurred since 1993 creating the nationally recognized cooperative they are today. A merger in 2007 truly changed the dynamics and earnings of the cooperative. “It gave us much better market arbitrage, asset utilization, access to capital, purchasing power, operating efficiency and much more,” Hauschel said. “All of those elements coming together improved cash flows and allowed Heartland Co-op to make meaningful improvements to serve the members.”

tives. There are 55 agricultural cooperatives across In addition to increased earnings, Hauschel said mergNebraska today. ers have allowed their cooperative to attract and retain Hauschel said there have been many changes as they top-end talent. The ability to draw the attention of very reflect upon the past of Heartland Co-op. “We expect the talented people is a tremendous advantage. People will of growth to continue, make a significant difference in “If our co-op was going to survive trend but growing with a purpose returns to members while allowing is more important than the cooperative to be competitive in in today’s world, it was going to ever.” the market place, he said. have to grow. We realized change For Heartland members, growth has created a more viable, sustainwas necessary for us to compete able cooperative system. In addition, Hauschel believes it gives them bet- in the increasingly challenging ter purchasing power and the ability marketplace.” to make meaningful improvements at – Tom Hauschel, their locations for better member services including Heartland Co-op CEO speed, space and equipment. “We spend more money at an individual location than the prior cooperative had for a capital budget 10 years ago,” Hauschel added. The geographic diversity has benefited Heartland as well. “You aren’t so reliant on one location,” Hauschel said. The western region of Heartland had record yields this past year while the northern footprint had one of the worst years in history. “Not having all the eggs in one geographic basket spreads out the cooperative’s risk,” he said. Many of the earlier mergers were economically driven for Heartland Co-op. Hauschel added the board then witnessed and saw the difference in customer service, earnings and the difference in the talents they hired. “They continued to see all of the things we were missing before because we were too small or didn’t have the capital to be a competitive partner to our members,” Hauschel said. According to Hauschel, a fear regarding growth of Heartland members has been there will be no competition. But in today’s market place, he said there is no lack of competition. “The bigger fear would be not having a viable cooperative system for the future,” he said. While growth and change have been two constants for Tom Hauschel, Heartland Co-op CEO, oversees 63 locations in central Iowa. many cooperatives across the country, mergers, consolidaHauschel grew up on a family farm in northeast Kansas. He graduated from tions and acquisitions have not been a strange occurrence Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics. He began his career at Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) in Omaha, NE for cooperatives throughout Nebraska and Iowa. In 1994, as a merchandiser and is in his 26th year in the cooperative industry. Iowa had 256 cooperatives. Today, they have 59 cooperaHauschel succeeded long-time CEO Larry Petersen in January 2013.

FROM THE FIELD

New Grain Facilities Expected to be in Operation for Wheat Harvest By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

All part of a plan to meet the needs of customers not only today, but as MKC moves into the future, construction continues on three new grain facilities across the MKC trade territory. “These reinvestments in infrasture are keeping pace with agricultural advances and the growing needs of our customers,” said Jon Brown, coordinator of facility management at MKC. The Rice County facility located near Lyons is progressing nicely according to Brown. Crews have been on location since August 2013 and the new grain facilities will add approximately 2.2 million bushels of grain storage space. To date approximately 50 percent of a second bin is complete and the first pour on the third bin started on January 9. Brown said the jump-form crews should be finishing the bins in February. The office is expected to be finished by May. “The project is ahead of schedule and should be easily completed by the 2014 wheat harvest,” he said. The frigid temperatures in early January did hamper progress a short time for the project near Canton. “Although the frozen ground and cold snap did slow things down slightly, construction continues to progress very well,” Brown said. Located adjacent to the Union Pacific rail line, the 3.2 million bushel grain shuttle loader will have the potential to load 110-car trains in less than 12 hours. Once loaded, trains will carry grains to export facilities in the Pacific Northwest, Gulf Coast and Mexico. “The Canton facility is designed to handle 17 to 20 million bushels per year and receive 60,000 bushels per hour,” Brown added. “This facility can receive 40,000 bushels per

hour and ship 60,000 bushels per hour simultaneously.” Since dirt work began in August 2013, construction of a 50’ by 100’ warehouse has been completed in addition to the underground tunnel and boot pit for the elevator. The backfilling for the majority of the foundation work is complete at the Canton location and the piling crew is moving forward on installing pilings under the elevator pad. The elevator matt slab is scheduled to be poured in early to mid-February. The foundation for the location’s office was poured in December with framing to begin in the near future. Brown said the year-long construction project will receive grain for wheat harvest and is scheduled to be fully completed by the end of August. The new facility near Benton began construction in October as scheduled. Recent progress includes the completion of the foundation for the first bin. The boot pit and receiving tunnel are expected to be completed by the end of January. According to Brown, ground was recently broken for the office. When completed, the new facility will include an office, dual scales and 900,000 bushel storage capacity. Demolition of the old scale office in Talmage started on January 9 and footings for a new office started the very next day. “While the new office is being built, we are using the new scale and a temporary shed to do business with our Talmage customers,” Brown said. “Eventually, all employees at the Talmage location will move to the new office to service customers.” MKC has invested nearly $33 million in the new facilities.

Farmers Cooperative Association Seeks Membership Approval to Merge with MKC By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

The board of directors of Farmers Cooperative Association of Manhattan has unanimously approved to take a proposal to their membership to merge with MKC. Over the past two years, directors for Farmers Cooperative met with five cooperatives to determine which organization could provide the greatest benefits to the co-op and its members. “We are looking forward to working with MKC,” said Hal Mayer, Chairman of Farmers Cooperative Board of Directors. “We share the same core values and MKC’s attention to detail in the area of customer service is outstanding. Members from these two cooperatives should greatly benefit from us working together.” Currently MKC’s furthest northeast location is in Abilene and serves customers in Dickinson, Ottawa, Clay and Geary counties. Noting the proximity between the two co-ops’ locations and the similar profiles of their producers, CJ Blew, MKC’s Board Chairman commented the merger, if approved, would be a natural fit. “This is also an opportunity for members from both organizations to insure the relevance and viability of their ownership in the cooperative system for generations to come.” With four locations in Alta Vista, Manhattan, Onaga and Westmoreland, Farmers Cooperative is a full-service cooperative with annual sales of $50 million. They offer grain, feed, agronomy and energy products and services to 2,000 members in five counties. MKC and Farmers Cooperative are currently developing the required merger documents to be approved by both boards. A vote by Farmers Cooperative membership will be required to approve the merger and is scheduled for March 6.

Delivering a Helping Hand By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

July through August is a busy time “It isn’t easy to move rigs, but peofor Kansas farmers. Throw in recordple and tender trucks move quickly,” setting rainfall, and the pressure is Lange said. “We looked at our situation multiplied many times over for produc- and realized if we could just tender our ers, meaning busy times for their coop- existing equipment better we could erative. MKC saw this pressure but was cover more acres.” relieved to know friends up north were According to Lange, MKC consciousthere to deliver a helping hand. ly understaffs tender drivers because it “This year was a is a seasonal task and very unusual year for normally elevator our trade territory due employees can be to all the rain we had relied on to fill in. in late July and early This year fall harvest August,” said Erik started and the elevaLange, Director of tor employees were Southern Operations engaged in servicing for MKC. “Generally grain customers at the by mid-August we are same time fertilizer beginning to get busy needed to be applied. with pre-plant wheat “SDWG was in their A SDWG truck delivers crop nutrient products to a field west of Marquette. fertilizer applications very slow time of year but due to very wet soil considerations and had drivers and tender trucks we were unable to start in a timely underutilized,” he said. “SDWG sent 11 fashion. We began to talk about alterdifferent drivers and four tender trucks native methods to get our customers to Kansas.” taken care of. It came to mind to call Prior to the SDWG team traveling to South Dakota Wheat Growers and see if Kansas, six dry tender trucks, three dry they had people or assets available to rigs and nine employees of MKC travhelp us get caught up.” eled to South Dakota in May 2011. According to Lange, this relationship Over this three-week period, the MKC started with a phone call with Phil crew helped SDWG meet their cusGilbert, SDWG regional manager. Over tomers’ fertilizer application and delivtime, Gilbert and Lange have built a rela- ery needs in a year that the weather tionship, continuing to find ways to help provided unusual challenges. the other organization when they can. SDWG began as a state wheat pool

Carlton

in 1923 and has grown into one of the most successful cooperatives in the United States. They are an agronomy cooperative in the heart of the James River Valley of South and North Dakota.

Merger Discussions with Frontier Ag Suspended By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

MKC and Frontier Ag, Inc. have jointly announced their decision to suspend merger discussions between the two cooperatives. “At this time, directors for both organizations have not been able to agree on all of the terms required to develop a merger document,” stated Dave Christiansen, MKC’s President and CEO. “Both MKC and Frontier Ag believe growth is strategically critical for our respective memberships and both organizations plan to pursue future growth opportunities.” MKC and Frontier Ag announced last September their plans to evaluate the merit of an alliance between the two cooperatives. Any plans to resume discussions with Frontier Ag have been left open indefinitely.

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the producers, providing risk management, agronomy, grain marketing and providing supplies and input products,” he said. As Carlton looks at the benefits MKC offers to its members, he believes as a progressive co-op MKC is able to bring technology and advancements in agriculture to the members.

The members can then take advantage of these services and expertise of the highly-qualified employees as part of a partnership towards their own success. “MKC is a cooperative that has demonstrated their tag line, “Shared Growth. Shared Success.” he said. “Over the years MKC has grown to meet the needs of the producers and

is continuing to look to the future to meet the needs as agriculture is now a global market.” Carlton wants members to know MKC is truly a partner in their operation. “We all have the same goal which is to be successful in an ever-changing industry,” he said.

Relevance – Standing the Test of Time we don’t live in an area of the country that students think of first when they graduate. What this tells us is anything we can do to make ourselves more attractive to college graduates and anyone seeking a career in agriculture, the better off we will be. We know most people will lean towards larger, progressive, technologically advanced and growth-minded organizations first. They do this for many reasons but having a potential career with a visible path rather than simply a job is the main reason. In addition, larger companies can offer better benefits due to scale and may be a place where someone seeking a career will look first. We recognize great employees make for a great company and the longer we can keep them with us, the better the cooperative and its members will be. If we give employees a place to start a career and show them a future, even while in college, we will have even more opportunities to create success for our cooperative. Vendor relationships with larger companies is another item I would add to the list of advantages. Love it or hate it, it’s simply part of our business climate today. Through

Helping Farmers Manage Risk

strong relationships with our vendors and a mutual concern for each other’s success, we can deliver added value to our customers. Local control is another advantage. While our founders probably didn’t think much about this, our desire to have the vast majority of decisions affecting customers made at their location makes a real difference as we expand our footprint. We certainly need consistent standards to ensure customers get the same experience when using multiple locations. Just as they were in 1964, most decisions affecting customer service today are made every day at the local level. I want to sincerely thank our founders - many who are still around - for their effort and courage to grow our cooperative. Just like our founders, we can’t predict what agriculture will look like 50 years from now. All I know is we must continue to grow in order to attract and retain employee talent and develop vendor relationships that will be vital to the future success of the cooperative and our members.

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encourages producers to focus on their farm as an enterprise to allow them to make decisions based off revenue and not from an individual price perspective. While producers often take the steps necessary to manage their risk, there are times when it certainly pays off and the producer learns first-hand just how important managing risk is to their operation. Friesen stated it was reassuring to have the specialists there to help make sure he was taking the appropriate steps to make the insurance claim correctly. “Dusty and Danny worked together, and we worked with Jared Jones right away to check availability of seed,” Friesen said. “I won’t find this type of customer service with other companies.” While crop insurance is the most ubiquitous risk management tool used by farmers - 86 percent of total planted acres in 2012 were insured – there are other tools many farmers use as well. “Agricultural practices, marketing and financial strategies are all critical in helping producers manage their risk,” said Jared Jones, MKC field marketer. “The TMA and MKC relationship provides numerous avenues for producers to manage their risk.” The risk management services at MKC include programs such as 12-month forward contracting on fuel, crop protec-

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tion and nutrient products, and the double-crop soybean revenue program. Friesen says he regularly works with TMA and MKC specialists to manage risk. According to Jones, the moment a producer decides to plant, the risk management cycle begins. TMA and MKC work together to determine inputs, crop insurance and the ability to market grain. Friesen stated risk management is a continuous cycle working with his insurance specialist, grain marketing specialist and field marketer. “It all works really well together,” he stated. “Every one of our producer’s definition of a successful risk management plan is different,” Flynn said. “Plans will change depending upon the customer’s operation but the focus is always on maximizing our producer’s revenue potential.”