A publication from Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC
Spring 2014
What’s New Employee Focus Ten Years Agronomy Matters Fertilizer Review MUCH MORE...
BOTTOM LINE : SPRING 2014 CASSELTON
In This Issue: 3 Staff Listing Advertisement
LEONARD
4-5
Manager’s Report Service Recognition Discount Reminder Advertisement
6-7 CHAFFEE
What’s Happening at MRGA Patronage Dividends
8-9
Employee Focus
10-11 LYNCHBURG
AnyConnect News Fertilizer Focus
12-13
Seed Update Grain Manager’s Minute
PROSPER
PEAK
14-15
Jim Ueland, President Doug Brown, Vice President Mark Belter, Secretary Laurie Krone Jon Baumler Mike Nelson Don Woodburn Tom Roden Brian McDonald
Published quarterly by: Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC. 1630 1st Ave S, Casselton, ND 58012. This publication is provided free of charge to all local crop and livestock producers. If you are not receiving this publication and would like to be added to our mailing list please provide us with your address by calling our Casselton office at 1-800-568-5402. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC, 1630 1st Ave S, Casselton, ND 58012. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Layout & Design by: Candace Brekke
Casselton Location (800) 568-5402 (701) 347-4465
Futures Safety First
Lynchburg Location (701) 347-5487
16-17
Prosper Location (701) 282-4094
Agronomy Matters Agronomy Article
Leonard Location (701) 645-2334
18-19
Peak Location (701) 845-3975
Railroad Day on the Hill Advertisement 2
Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC Board of Directors
AnyConnect (701) 347-0089 www.maplerivergrain.com
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Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC Full-Time Staff Management Team Kim Nehring Alex Richard Mike Flaten Casselton Office Garret Brown Ben Bush Jon Ellingson Nancy Hagen Kim Koetz Emily Neels Thomas Paulson Marilyn Prochnow Mike Weed Brian Nelson Jared Pokrzywinski Casselton Elevator Ben Drogen Mark Stevens Jamie Mann Casselton Fertilizer Mac Johnson Bob Breiland
Peak Location Tim Dean Mark McDonald Prosper Location Loren Freiborg Mike Koetz Leonard Location Jeff Boisjolie Lance Brossart Lynchburg Location Grant Phipps Tim Rose
General Manager – Terry Johnson
Casselton Trucking Joe Eberhardt Andy Boyer Kevin Erickson Travis Forderer Merle Myers Twig Ward Keri Devries Steven Horst AnyConnect Steven Schneider Jon Rohlik Cindy Jensen Randy Flaten
Casselton Shop Todd Affield Mark Pueppke Steven Owen Casselton Warehouse Christian Owen Chris Wilke - Wendell Berry
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Manager’s Report Terry Johnson - General Manager
We have finished up with one year and are moving onto the new! 2013 was a unique and very long year. It began with a cold spring, dry summer, and followed with a wet fall and a long cold winter. Even with these weather challenges, Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC had another very successful year. The financials that we have just completed show that we are managing our assets and also continue to work to build towards our future. Our staff worked incredibly long hours and their commitment to our customers continues to be our biggest asset. Work on the new 4 million bushel grain storage facility has begun. Timelines have been a challenge with temperatures below zero for weeks. The depth of frost in the ground has impacted drilling to install the 7,000 stone columns needed to stabilize the building. However, even with the cold, the project is on schedule to be completed on time this fall. The next phase of the grain storage building will be in April when work begins on the tunnel underneath the railroad tracks. Following this, footings will be poured, the building erected, equipment installed, and finally the concrete floor will be poured. It is an exciting project that will have a positive impact on future grain storage that will benefit our members greatly. 4
We are a local cooperative that is impacted by the global environment. As many of you may or may not know, we have been deeply impacted by the main line railroad underperformance. With the addition of the grain storage facility and the past additions of the fertilizer plant and warehouse; we are in a better position to weather this tough transportation situation that the United States is in. It has been difficult to get shipments of fertilizer in on time and to get railcars to be able to load and ship grain on time. The main line railways have underperformed for some time now and the financial impact to our business and others have been costly and has put pressure on semi traffic. We continue to work with the railroads, our state, and national representatives to fix this problem and make decision makers aware of the impacts it has on local businesses. This is a pivotal time in the rail and financial industry. The changes that are necessary to meet the needs of the industries, their customers, and consumers have many impacts and are being felt worldwide. We need to focus on making sure our voice is heard and our needs are being met as well as the nation. I was given the opportunity to meet with several individuals and groups in both areas of rail and finance over the last few months that cover our agriculture industry. I have been able to share insight to what our cooperative does, how it works, and the affects that these institutions have on us, as well as learning more about the inner workings of our partners in these areas. The information we share with each other is invaluable in building a prosperous future. We will continue to work on behalf of Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC, our members, and our industry as a whole to be able to have a positive impact on our future.
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SERVICE RECOGNITION Retirements are about endings and new beginnings. Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC would like to congratulate Mert Palmer on his retirement after 19 years of service. Mert began his career with the Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator in May of 1995 and retired at the end of March. He has held a variety of duties while employed with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC and was most recently staffed at our Prosper facility. We appreciate Mert’s hard work and dedication to the job and our customers. We will miss his work ethic, wisdom, and smile- but we hope he will enjoy a more relaxing lifestyle! We wish Mert a long, happy, and healthy retirement. Best Wishes from the staff at Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC.
Riser + Accomplish LM Trial
Riser + Accomplish LM Trial
2012 and 2013 Larson Grain Company of LaMoure, ND conducted an 2012 and 2013 Larson Grain Company of LaMoure, independent study of several fertilizers, fertilizer enhancers, fungiND conducted an independent study of several cides, and fertilizers, growth promoters. Both years Riser (2.5-3.0 gal/ac) + fertilizer enhancers, fungicides, and promoters. Both out years Accomplishgrowth LM (1.0 pt/ac) stood asRiser a top(2.5-3.0 if not THE TOP in-furrow gal/ac) + Accomplish LM (1.0 pt/ac) stood out as a fertilizer treatment. top if not THE TOP in-furrow fertilizer treatment.
Spring is a busy time for everyone! As a reminder, Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC gives a 2% discount to patrons who pay their bills by the 10th of the following month. This discount was established to give our customers a break if they pay their bill by the 10th and also allows Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC better cash flow management. NO discounts will be allowed after the 10th and the balance will remain on the account if paid after that date. Please take the time to review your invoices carefully. If you have any questions or concerns, please call our office at (701) 347-4465 to speak to our sales and accounting staff. As always, we appreciate your business and thank you for your timely payments.
Riser (7-17-3) micronutrients and ACA® provides a Riserwith (7-17-3) with micronutrients andTechnology ACA® provides a compliment of nutritional that maximizes complimentTechnology of nutritional needs and root development needs and potential. root development that maximizes crop crop vigor and yield vigor and yield potential.
AccomplishAccomplish LM is an innovative fertilizerfertilizer catalystcatalyst designed to signifiLM is an innovative cantly increase fertilizer availability and overall plant health. designed to significantly increase fertilizer availability and overall plant health.
Riser® + Accomplish® LM
2012-13 Larson Grain In-Furrow Fertilizer Trial 180 160
157.1
140 120 100 80 60 33.71
40 20
11.3
0 2012-13 Average Yield (bu/ac)
Yield Advantage over Check
Per Acre Return on Investment
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What’s Happening At Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC
Ten Year Anniversary It’s hard to believe how fast the time can pass, especially ten years! Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC has reached another milestone by celebrating its ten year anniversary on March 17th, 2014. In 2004, Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC formed from the combined efforts of AGP, Ltd., Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator, and Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator. Our achievements over the past ten years have been a result of the strong relationships we have formed with our supportive and loyal patrons. Keeping our customers satisfied and providing great service has always been important. Having a knowledgeable, hardworking, and dependable staff, management team, and Board of Directors, at our facilities is a key part to making this happen. We work hard to offer the best facilities, products, and services in the industry and will continue to expand and capitalize on those efforts and accomplishments. We want to thank all those who have been involved in our past and continued success! As a way to look back on and share in our company history, we are kindly asking for participation from our patrons and employees. Please send us a story, quote, picture, or comment on Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC that you would like to share; which could be shared in a special upcoming publication commemorating our ten year anniversary. This information can be sent to Attn: Emily Neels Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC 1630 1st Ave S. Casselton, ND 58012. Also, please watch for details on our upcoming anniversary celebration.
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$$$$
Did You Know?
Patronage dividends are possible because of our cooperative history. Our parent companies-Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator and Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator formed with AGP, Ltd. to create Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC on March 17th, 2004. Revolving equity account balances that our patrons hold are paid out by allocation year, not by age or retirement criteria. Member patrons elect a Board of Directors to monitor business and abide by company bi-laws. The Board of Directors for Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator and Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator meet annually to discuss and review what will be paid out for equity and dividends. Chaffee-Lynchburg holds its annual meeting in March and Prosper holds its annual meeting in June. It is at these meetings where any patronage or equity payout checks are distributed to its member patrons. Currently, patronage dividends are paid out in 35% cash and 65% equity. Member patrons who receive a patronage check must report the total dollars earned as reportable taxable income to the IRS. If any non-qualified equity dollars are paid out- this would also need to be reported to the IRS as taxable income. It is important that we have your correct tax identification number on file for reporting purposes to the IRS. The check stub from your dividend/equity payment is your substitute 1099PATR form and should be kept for your records. We do not mail or send out hard copies of 1099-PATR forms. Dividends are separated and paid off by categories such as grain purchases, seed sales, chemical sales, and fertilizer sales. Patronage is also paid out for services such as seed treating, cleaning, drying, applicator rentals, tank rentals, handling charges, and rogator/terragator charges. Patronage rates vary according to the total dollar amount agreed on by the Board of Directors to pay out
and the volumes done. Both parent companies have common stock issued to their patron members, which gives those members voting rights at annual meetings. Common stock is issued to its patron members at the Board of Directors discretion. If you do business with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC- you are a customer of our parent companies- Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator and Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator. Even if you did not do business with these locations prior to our 2004 merger, you could receive a dividend or equity check from these companies because of the formation of the Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC. Regardless of what location you may haul to or buy/sell from, all sales and purchases activity flows through Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC. Patronage for Hi-Line Farmers Union Grain Elevator would be at the discretion of their Board of Directors. When Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC acquired this company in 2012, we did not take on their existing patronage or equity accounts prior to 2012. If you conducted business with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC and did not receive a yearly dividend check, it could be because the totals earned for patronage were not enough to qualify for a dividend. The Board of Directors, along with our auditor, establishes patronage minimums- currently set at a $100 minimum allocation for total patronage dollars earned. Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC paid out a $2.2 million cash distribution to its parent companies because of our strong financial year for 2013. This cash distribution was distributed to our parent companies based off of their ownership percentage of Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC. The cash portion received by the parent companies is then distributed back to its patron members in the form of a cash dividend payment and revolving fund equity account. 7
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Employee Focus
Introducing this issue’s featured staff members
Jamie Mann- Driveway Assistant Jamie Mann has been with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC since March 22nd, 2010. Many of our customers are probably familiar with Jamie as he works at the Casselton terminal as a full-time Driveway Assistant. Prior to that, he worked at our Prosper facility. Jamie grew up in Grand Rapids, MN. He studied Animal Science at North Dakota State University and has worked for Mortenson Construction building wind turbines. Jamie is married to Sally and they reside in Fargo with their two children: Brody (5) and Otto (2). Jamie’s hobbies include fishing, toy tractors, antique tractors, and spending time with family. Thanks Jamie!
Jared Pokrzywinski- Sales Agronomist Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC would like to introduce Jared Pokrzywinski. He is the newest team member joining our sales agronomy department. After graduating from the University of Minnesota- Crookston with an agronomy degree, Jared was quickly hired on as an Agronomy Location Manager for a large coop in North Central North Dakota. Most recently, Jared worked as a General Manager for a large aerial application company with locations in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota. He also owned a small business in Fargo. Jared was born in Grand Forks and was raised on a small family farm near Oslo, MN. He currently resides on a small farmstead Southwest of Casselton, ND with his prized hunting dog Lane. He enjoys hunting and fishing during his free time, as well as attending local sporting events. “I am very much looking forward to building relationships with the growers in the area and I’m excited to hit the ground running with a great company like Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC.”
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Todd Affield- Shop & Fleet Manager Todd Affield started with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC in March of 2008. He started at our Prosper facility as the shop manager but has since been relocated to the Casselton shop and warehouse. Todd is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of our entire equipment and fleet inventory and keeps everything running smoothly. Todd graduated from Barnesville High School in 1980. He has an extensive history of repair work under his belt- starting back in 1972 when his father bought a repair shop in Baker, MN. From an early age, he worked on repairing truck, car, and farm equipment in addition to selling tires, gas, hardware, lawn, and garden equipment. In 1981, Todd started with Harvest States in Baker, MN. He then went to work for Land-O-Lakes in Glyndon, MN for a spring season. From 1986-1992, he worked at ConAgra in Barnesville. He continued to work through the many company changes that came along with ConAgra (Rothsay Farmers Elevator and Agassiz Valley Grain) until 2008, when he started with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC. Todd calls Baker, MN home. He has lived in rural Sabin for the past 26 years and currently resides there with his wife, Ruth. They have 2 children: Bill (25 years old) who lives in the Cities and Katie, who is a junior at NDSU. They also have Mattie, a 7 month old German Shepherd. In his spare time, Todd enjoys working on old pickups and tractors. Thanks for keeping things running Todd! We appreciate all you do.
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AnyConnect News and Updates People in Minnesota and North Dakota know Most of the work performed this winter has that working outside during the winter months is increased the overall performance and reliability of not easy and can be dangerous. Our technicians the network; resulting in better service for you. worked hard this winter to answer Spring not only brings We’ve increased the overall customer service calls warmer temperatures, performance and reliability of and work on priority but also the emergence maintenance projects of tree leaves. Our the network; resulting in better in spite of the snow, wireless internet system service for you. strong winds, and cold uses radio waves to temperatures. Just a reminder, please be mindful provide internet access to your home. Because of the AnyConnect cable when removing snow or leaves can cause interference with the radio waves, ice dams from your roof. If you can avoid cutting you may experience slow or intermittent internet or unintentionally disconnecting the AnyConnect service. If you experience issues with your service cable, it can save in internet down time and a as the leaves emerge, please call our office and service call and fee from our technicians to come to we will determine if a service call is required to your home. reposition your radio antenna. In spite of the weather, AnyConnect did make some improvements over the winter. These projects included: • Upgrading the internet router equipment in Fargo, resulting in increased reliability on the Minnesota side of our network • Upgrading the internet router in Casselton; this router handles over 90% of all AnyConnect internet traffic • Acquiring our own IP address space • Acquiring our own IPv6 address space • Added more network capacity in Fargo and Casselton • And last but not least- converted our Argusville customers over to our new tower 10
As we move forward into spring and summer, AnyConnect will be busy upgrading and improving our service. Some of our future plans include: • • • •
Adding an Additional upstream provider Offering IPv6 to our customers Expansion of our service area Upgrading our links to some towers
If you have any questions concerning your AnyConnect service please call our office at 701347-0089 or email us at info@anyconnect.com. Our normal business hours are Monday thru Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. We also have a 24/7 answering service that can help trouble shoot internet problems during non-office hours.
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Spring Fertilizer Review Jon Ellingson - Sales Agronomist
Urea! The new 4-letter word in our vocabulary that does not sound like it’s spelled, though mainly because of the colorful adjectives which go along with it lately. It appears that we are not going to see the relief in urea prices (Map as well) that we were expecting to see as we draw nearer to the spring planting season. Why? All this time, suppliers have been talking about imports arriving that should soften this market. The NOLA market is at a premium to the rest of the world, this should happen. Well; it will happen, but the timeframe is probably not going to help out the situation. Indications say that imports will be arriving in late March in the Gulf. The timeframe to see that product start to appear in our region in larger quantities is early May. The river market is expected to be later than normal with deep ice, so we get no help there. Prompt barges get used up quickly in the south, so this helps keep prices firm. And last of all, the railroad seems to be 2-3 weeks behind on current shipments. Needless to say; at this time, we don’t think the combination of these market situations are going to allow pricing to play out in your favor. With other fertilizer products in mind, fall fertilizer applications did allow growers the opportunity to get products like map, potash, and AMS applied for the upcoming growing season.
If applications were not made, opportunities to purchase these products at least kept growers costs down for phosphate. That market has been strong through the winter like the urea market. Lack of imports and issues with Mosaic’s purchase of CF phosphate assets, seems to be the top news in this market. Potash, AMS, and ammonia have all seen flat price trends through the winter. Liquid markets have seen some increases because of the trends in urea and map, but suppliers indicate that inventories have been good. Some of our thoughts about the fertilizer market include; so much for watching the corn market to see the trend for fertilizer prices. Recently you would want to say, watch the fertilizer prices to see which way the markets are going to go. What we would like to make sure you realize is that the $90 that urea has increased since year end ($465 vs. $555) can be wiped away with only a 10 cent swing in the price of corn. The $90 per ton extra in the price of urea will cost you $0.045 per pound. Assuming you are applying 300 lbs. per acre of urea, the increase will cost you $13.50 per acre. 150 bushel per acre corn at an increase of $0.10 per bushel equals $15.00 per acre. Call the Casselton office and ask for your sales agronomist if you have any questions on fertilizer or other agronomy needs.
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Spring Seed Update Mike Weed - Sales Agronomist
Well folks, here we are with spring right around the corner! It seemed as if winter was never going to end. In preparation for the upcoming planting season, we want to thank our customers who have booked their seed with Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC. It appears that there is still a fair amount of indecision on what to plant and make money on this season. It is looking like there will be more soybeans and a little less corn planted. Looking ahead, we still have a decent supply of soybean seed to work with. Some are cyst beans and some are not. If you think you have cyst, plant a cyst resistant bean and also use the Acceleron Poncho – Votivo seed treatment. If you do not think you have cyst and plant a non-resistant bean, I would definitely recommend using the Acceleron PonchoVotivo treatment. It is not a 100% cure all, but it will be money well spent. Also, it seems that there has been less inoculant being used over the past few years. I would recommend getting back to using inoculant to help ensure that the plant can produce its own nitrogen later in the growing season. This year we will be using Vault HP. It is a very good product and has a two year average of 4 bushels per
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acre versus untreated. If you have open acres going into the spring planting season, please call us and we will secure the seed you need. As far as corn seed supplies go, there doesn’t appear to be much of a problem. We should be able to get almost anything that you would need. For those of you that can take corn seed early, please let us know and we will get it delivered to your farm before the spring rush hits. We have two delivery trucks available for delivering soybean seed also. Anybody needing this service should give us a call and we will get your seed delivered. We do have more hopper bins to work with this spring, with one being setup for custom seed treating. If you need something treated that you have not purchased from us, please give us a call at Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC and we will get the job done for you. Have a safe and productive planting season!
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Grain Manager’s Minute Alex Richard - Grain Division Manager
The previous six months we have seen new record highs put in for freight values. We are seeing freight trade at numbers never thought fathomable. With the extreme cold conditions we have seen, the railroads have struggled greatly to get trains to their destinations. With the reduced turn times on trains- it has reduced the supply of cars available to the market; hence driving the freight market higher. On top of that, the major railroads have seen more demand in almost all sectors of their business. We have all heard of the crude oil business that continues to develop. Intermodal movements are higher. There is talk that because of rising natural gas costs and lack of availability, they have put another 100 shuttle trains of coal on the track. All this is causing a capacity issue to develop in the Midwest. BNSF keeps talking about capital improvements that they will be making this summer. The latest press release states that they will be spending $5 billion in 2014 to make track improvements, with $900 million being spent in the northern plains. With that much construction going on, we might see slower service this summer while construction is in progress. There is no immediate fix to the problem but we hope over time it will improve. As I write this article, the Canadian government has imposed quotas of grain that have to be moved to the export market for the Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) Railroads. We hope to see the situation get better, but when dealing with the railroads the one thing I have learned is- there are no guarantees.
Looking long term, there is yet another reason to be building more storage. We need to be flexible to be shipping grain during non-peak time periods. We need to continue to adapt to this ever changing market in order to stay competitive. On the bright side, spring is just around the corner. Planting intentions are still up in the air. We have noticed a general consensus that corn acres will be down 5-15%. Soybean and wheat acres look like they will be higher compared to last year. We will see if the spring weather changes these thoughts as we get closer to field work.
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Futures
Garret Brown - Assistant Grain Merchandiser
To quote Bison football commentator Scott Miller, “my oh my”… and what a ride we’ve endured. It has been a very interesting winter with the market struggling to put a value on the future price of corn and beans. Rail expansion, a harsh winter, and a large crop have set BNSF trains back anywhere from several weeks up to two months. Then you have corn and soybean acreage up in the air with approximately 90 million acres of corn and 80 million acres of beans expected to be planted this upcoming year; and these numbers are changing constantly. What this has done is sent the futures on a tear higher calling for grain that cannot move, forcing commercials to widen basis to stem the flow and flush out the pipeline. Discussing futures in a publication that won’t be out for several weeks is tough so I’ll be keeping the forecasting to a minimum and we’ll look at current trends and how to do your own forecasting. There are a few powerful tools that you as a farmer can use when trying to put the market into perspective. Most likely you aren’t doing day trading and you are using a long term approach to price your grain. Your focus is more on whether or not the futures are going to be higher in a week, a month, or several months down the road. For help in spotting trends, one tool you can use is moving averages. They are useful for smoothing out those outlier moves where we may trade up 10 cents one day and correct down 8 cents the next. For a few examples, I have included 3 charts showing the daily price movements for July corn, December corn, and November soybeans since September. I used a 9 day moving average (blue line), 20 day (orange line), and 50 day (purple line) to show long term trend changes. When the 9 day moving average crossed the 20 and 50 day moving averages, it indicated a short term trend change. When the 20 day crossed over the 50 day it indicated 14
the same thing, but it carried more weight as it is a longer term movement. What you as a farmer can do with this information is see if a longer term trend is broken by shorter term price movement. The longer the “short term” trend cross, the more powerful the trend change is. May corn has seen roughly a 50 cent move since the 9 and 20 day crossed. November beans has seen nearly 75 cents of gain.
JUL. CORN
DEC. CORN
NOV. SOYBEANS
For most, live quotes are not a necessity. However, having the ability to do basic charting can be very useful to you as a producer. There are a multitude of paid and free programs out there that are available to you. One that I found recently is on www.barcharts. com. All you need to do is sign up for a free account and the charting is interactive. You can use multiple studies in various commodities and futures months. If you have any questions on software that fits your operation or ways that you can incorporate basic charting into your marketing plan- please feel free to contact me.
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Safety First
Ben Bush - Safety Director
We all know that agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries. Farmers are at very high risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries. But agriculture has a significant difference. Farming is one of the few industries in which family members (who often share the work and live on the premises) are also at risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries.
Who is at Risk? Approximately 1,823,000 full-time workers were employed in production agriculture in the U.S. in 2010. An estimated 1.03 million youth under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2009, with about 519,000 youth performing farm work. In addition to the youth who live on farms, an estimated 230,000 youth were hired to work on U.S. farms in 2009.
Fatalities: In 2010, 476 farmers and farm workers died from a work-related injury, resulting in a fatality rate of 26.1 deaths per 100,000 workers. That is more than 9 people every week. Tractor overturns were the leading cause of death for these farmers and farm workers. The most effective way to prevent tractor overturn deaths is the use of a Roll-Over Protective Structure (ROPS). In 2006, 59% of tractors used on farms in the U.S. were equipped with ROPS. Today, and in this area, I’m sure that percentage is much higher. But, we still use smaller utility tractors and garden tractors that are not equipped with ROPS, and often we do this on uneven ground or in precarious situations. Using figures available from 1995-2002; on average, 113 youth, less than 20 years of age, die annually from farm-related injuries, with most of these deaths occurring to youths 16-19 years of age.
Injuries: Here is a statistic I’ve shared before. Every day, about 243 agricultural workers suffer a lost-worktime injury. Five percent of these injuries result in permanent impairment. In 2009, an estimated 16,100 youth were injured on farms; 3,400 of these injuries were due to farm work.
Dads and grandpas working on farms with young people watching; model safe behaviors every day. Nearly everyone involved with agriculture as an adult, worked on a farm in their youth. This article is not meant to discourage you from allowing young people to work on the farm. My purpose is to remind you that everyone has different levels of skill, maturity, experience, and attention span. First, be sure to assign tasks that are appropriate to each person’s abilities, and second, take a little time to do the necessary supervision. Let them know if they are working efficiently and safely, or correct an unsafe practice before it becomes a bad habit. It looks like we are setting up for a late spring. Time pressure and working hurriedly often conflict with safety, but it does little good to preach safety to young workers and then turn around and cut safety corners ourselves. So remember, all you dads and grandpas working on farms out there with young people watching; model safe behaviors every day. To drive that point home, I’ll end this with a quote from Albert Schweitzer, “Example is not the main thing in influencing people. It is the only thing.”
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Agronomy Matters Mike Flaten - Agronomy Manager
We hope that spring is just around the corner and the agronomy team at Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC is getting prepared for the upcoming season. This past winter we had some turnover in our sales staff and I believe we have resolved this issue with the addition of Jared Pokrzywinski; who joined our agronomy sales team in March. Jared has a strong agronomy background on both a managerial and sales level. There is more to learn about Jared in this issue- so check it out! We welcome Jared to our team and are glad he is here. Jared will be based at our Casselton office so feel free to call or stop by for a visit. We are preparing our inventory for spring and are filling the fertilizer plant as full as we can get it. We do have railcars on order; however, the railroad is not as prompt in getting the cars here with a lag time of up to a month before the cars actually arrive to our facility. Luckily, we planned ahead for this situation and have secured enough products for what we have estimated. With our inventory on track, we have also been servicing and preparing our equipment for the spring fertilizer application season. We have five dry fertilizer machines on hand currently and we recently purchased two new machines to be able to handle all of your spreading needs this spring. Along with operating our dry
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machines, we will have our liquid spreader and both our sprayers’ busy applying pre-plant and pre-emerge chemicals when you are busy in the field getting seed planted. To deliver our products to our customers in a timelier manner, we also added two semi-trucks with belt conveyors to our fleet of tender units. We now have a total of twelve semi-tenders along with four 16-ton tender units available for delivery use. We have continually made improvements in our application equipment and support fleet to be able to better service our customers’ needs today. We will continue to capitalize on those accomplishments for future growth and better service opportunities for our customers. We hope you have a safe and productive spring season!
BOTTOM LINE : SPRING 2014
Plant Performance & Optimal Yield Tools Thomas Paulson - Sales Agronomist
As what seemed to be the longest winter of my life comes to an end, planting season is right around the corner. As we all know, the extreme cold throughout winter drove the frost levels to depths that could keep our soils cooler than normal up to and through the planting season. Knowing this, we can plan accordingly to utilize tools to help us mitigate risk of stand loss and slow emergence. Liquid starter fertilizer along with products such as Ascend, Accomplish LM, and Stamina seed treatment can aid in keeping our plants healthy while boosting root development to help drive our plants out of the soils faster. We all know the importance of maximizing our day from emergence to maturity and these particular tools can add seedling health from germination to emergence, early season vigor, and the plants ability to take in nutrients vital to the plants performance in optimizing yield. In 2013, plant stands increased 800-1,000 plants per acre vs. untreated. Over a four year period and 1,000 Answer Plot Ascend trial replications, the average bushel per acre increase is approximately 5 bushels. Even corn at $3.50 yields a gross return of $17.50/acre; which is double what you’ll have into it.
In 2013, Riser and Accomplish LM trials at Larson Grain showed results with a 9+ bushel response
over bare seed. Whether it’s a stressed environment due to overly dry conditions like in 2013 or cool soil conditions like we could potentially see here in 2014, it’s essential to help these plants be as productive as possible. Utilizing tools like Ascend, Accomplish, and Stamina are an efficient and cost effective way for the producer to maximize yield.
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BOTTOM LINE : SPRING 2014
Railroad Day on the Hill 2014 General Manager Terry Johnson was invited to Railroad Day on Capitol Hill in Washington DC by the Red River Valley and Western Railroad (RRVW), to share the needs and concerns for the short line railroads that service our industry. There are over 550 short line railroads that cover 50,000 miles that connect and partner with businesses such as ours. They are critical to preserving the first and last mile of connectivity to the main railways like BNSF and Canadian Pacific. Without the short line rail we could not conduct our daily business. The Railroad Day on the Hill is a way for the rail industry to work with our government on key issues to keep the short line railroads running and ease the burden on highway infrastructure. Currently the short lines save shippers 20% to 50% over comparable truck transportation and keep 30 million truckloads per year off the highway; saving billions per year in highway damage costs. By inviting Maple River Grain & Agronomy, LLC to participate, the RRVW has given our industry an open forum to speak with the Senators and Congressmen to ensure our voice is also heard on the impact of future legislation on our local cooperative and their rail service. Andrew Thompson, President of Red River Valley & Western Railroad, Dan Zink, Director of Administration out of Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Terry had a full 12 hour day of meetings and met with many Senators and Congressmen and their staff members. The information shared with legislators on the cooperatives and our railroad issues gave them a view point that was significant. It was a very productive day.
General Manager Terry Johnson and Senator Heidi Heitkamp
the main line rail industry has also struggled with commodity shipments. The Railroad Day on the Hill was an opportunity to share how the delays have impacted cooperatives and the affect it has had on Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC. There are many issues in our industry that need our attention and the support of cooperatives and railroads. By participating in events like Railroad Day on the Hill, we build partnerships and work for a better future. We were thankful that so many Senators and Congressmen made themselves available to work with the attending members of the short line railroads and cooperatives like Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC.
With the recent events in December regarding the railcar explosion, Casselton was put on the national map regarding railcar safety and the North Dakota oil boom. It was the topic of the day on Capitol Hill. Although safety is a large national and local issue, Left: Andrew Thompson, Terry Johnson, and Dan Zink
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BOTTOM LINE : SPRING 2014
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1630 1st Avenue South Casselton, ND 58012
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