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By Richard Thomas
Since I have kind of grown up with this company when it comes time for evaluations and reviews, I set in on all of them. This year we had 45 full time employees so it took quite a while to go through them all. I have experimented with lots of different ways to do evaluations and none of them are easy. I always feel like I set myself up as God sitting across the desk from the person being evaluated and telling him or her how much money they will be making the next year and what they have done well and what they need to improve upon. I’m sure they would like to turn the tables on me and tell me a thing or too, but someone has to do it, and as some people would say, that’s why I make the big bucks!
I do involve some employees who have people reporting to them in the evaluation process and it always amazes me how close their evaluation is to mine in almost all instances. I do a lot of managing by walking around so I have a pretty good idea of how employees are performing plus we have checks and balances so they know how they’re performing as well.
This year I gave all the employees the company’s five goals for the 2003/2004 fiscal year and then had each of them write down five goals they could work on to help the company achieve theirs. The five company goals were as follows:
1. We want a return on invested capital of 10% or better
2. Improve the quality and quantity control of our grain
3. Continue to improve our customer service and increase volume
4. Provide a safe working environment and continue to train and educate our employees
5. Expand efforts for more dialogue with our customers
The employee goals had to be SMART - specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely. In the interview we spelled out the individual goals and the performance metrics. Then we put a % on each goal as to its importance to meeting the company’s goals. I hope to review these goals with each employee sometime in Nov. or Dec. to see how they are progressing. Then at the end of the fiscal year when we do evaluations, we will see if the employee met some objectives, met most objectives, met all objectives, or exceeded all or most of the objectives.
I’m sure with the work force we’ve got they will all have exceeded their objectives by evaluation time next year. But I must remember, as the manager of this company that employees are in greater need of my praise when they try and fail, than when they try and succeed.
By Vanessa Stinson
What a busy summer at LaPlace!
It felt like harvest had never ended. We have been busy with grain
coming in from other facilities and then shipping it out by rail to the
southeast. There have been a lot of small projects completed here. The roof on
the house and concrete elevator has been repaired, the rail has been fixed
behind the elevator, the parts are here for the new dust system, which will be
put in at a later date.
You will see that we did some landscaping by the scales. Someone
said, “you can tell a woman runs the
place there are flowers out in front."
Just wanted it to look nice for all of my customers this fall.
Scot Daily is the new man running the outside this year. He comes from
Chrisman. He is a recent graduate from Southern Illinois University with an ag
degree. We welcome him aboard the topflight crew.
On the home front, I learned to jig fish this summer and caught my
first 13" crappie. It was great! I don't think Keith thought so! Our oldest daughter, Gretchen, is still
working at Krogers in Mt Zion; Ashley is taking classes at Richland; and
Nicolle is starting her senior year at CGHS. I cannot believe that my baby is a
senior. Our family hopes that your family had a great summer and is looking
forward to a safe and rewarding harvest.
Another busy summer at Pierson is over. We finally got all the rail cars loaded. All total we had over 500 to load, while Brock and his cleaning crew had to clean out around 400 of them. Now comes the bin cleaning, pit cleaning and general maintenance work before harvest gets here. I want to thank Jesse and Jeremy Woods for all their hard work this summer. They have really been working hard, from mowing the grass, scooping out bins to cleaning the boot pits; thanks guys. I know they are looking forward to harvest.
Summer is always a busy and fun time, going to ballgames, watching or participating in parades, watching fireworks, golfing, and just plain relaxing. Brock went four-wheeling in Wisconsin for a few days, he also went to some tractor pulls. Willard enjoyed his time off by visiting his son and family in Alabama, as well as working on a fix-em-up truck. Did you happen to see him in the Apple Dumpling parade? He had fixed up the ole “ tin lizzie” that he bought off of Warren Van Horn, and pulled his grandson in a little wagon. Gloria spent a few days in the Ozarks as well as a couple of days in St. Louis. She also attended Hillary’s softball games and spent time with her grandson, Michael. Fred and his wife Pat went camping a lot, Fred even went flying with his son Chris. Debby and I went on a few short drives with the top down. We did manage to go to Rantoul in August to watch the skydivers. That was a fun time, seeing all those fancy and colorful parachutes in the air. I couldn’t quite bring myself to tandem jump, but I did ride on a helicopter. We also spent a lot of time with the grandkids; Zac can ride his bike with no training wheels, Kady enjoys all Thomas the Trains and being outside, and Tatum is the cheerleader, always cheering for the little league team or the South Piatt Wildcats. Everyone have a safe and bountiful harvest.
By Sandy
Davenport
I would like to start the Emery newsletter by introducing myself. My name is Sandy Davenport. I came to Emery via the Topflight-Maroa merger. Prior to the merger, I worked at the Waller location, just 1 mile south of Emery.
I was raised on a farm on the north edge of Forsyth. My husband Jerry and I live in Forsyth and have 2 sons, 1 daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons. Devvon will be 9 in January and Max will be 3 in October. In addition to spending time with the boys, Jerry and I like to camp and fish. Our favorite campground is Weldon Springs. We especially enjoy our family and friends being able to come up and sit around the campfire with us. Jerry is a good crappie fisherman; I do better at eating them. When we are at home, I enjoy working in the yard. Mowing and pulling weeds are my kind of fun. I have been accused of riding my John Deere on the streets of Forsyth looking for yards to mow. Oh, I am also a Cub fan, but please don’t hold that against me.
I want to thank all of the Topflight employees for making me feel like a part of the company. I know exactly how Denny felt about leaving Emery as I have worked at Waller for 22 years. I guess a person can get into a “comfort zone” and change can be a difficult thing sometimes. Getting older might have something to do with it too! I do hope that all my Waller customers will make the change with me.
There is a lot I have to learn about Emery. Charlie has been filling me in as to which direction truck traffic flows, which bins have corn and which bins have beans. There are going to be a lot of new faces and I look forward to meeting everyone.
The new scales are finished so we started trucking corn out. This is giving me much needed practice on the “One Weigh” scale system. The elevator should be pretty much empty just in time for the new crop to come in. Charlie has been working on outside maintenance projects to have the facility ready to go.
My goal for this harvest is to have things run so smoothly that you won’t even miss that guy that used to be here! But, it is still nice to know that he is just a phone call away. Please feel free to come in or call me with any concerns you may have or just to introduce yourself.
Have a Safe Harvest
By Louie
Tieman
Well as I am writing this harvest
has just got underway here at Milmine. My first load was 5 days early; must
have been a push in the market. Thanks,
Scott. My first load was 29.4% and test weight was 56.3. That tells me this
corn will be a little better than we thought. Rain makes Grain.
Just had a small 25-acre patch make 212 bushels to the acre. It depends where and when you got the rain. I think it will be a little better than we predicted but there will be a lot of variance. So I will start taking my LITTLE NOTES, for my next newsletter so watch what you say.
Brian is back at home here in Milmine. He was in the foothills of Kentucky, and I mean foothills. He is going to help thru harvest; then decide what he will do later.
Travis is still in Texas, west of Ft. Worth on a horse farm. Sounds like he really found something he enjoys. Poor Debra is still in Chicago. Now that’s a long-range romance.
My grandson is almost 9months old now and just loves his PE PAW to death. Pe Paw really knows how to make him laugh. I usually take about 100-150 pictures of him when I am down there but have learned that I can’t print off every one. That gets expensive. So I learned how to burn them on a CD.
This is a short newsletter article for me, but the next one will be a tad longer as I am taking notes now. I guess I should let my Main 7’o clock coffee drinkers write an article also, as they have a lot of time to take notes along with me.
I am riding my beans that I have in the elevator. I wanted $6.00 plus my storage. Well they were at $6.20 and I wanted $6.50 plus my storage. Now they all call wanting to know if I have sold yet. They say “you sound like a farmer”.
One thing about it we got our money’s worth out of them by talking , even if we didn’t get the right price.
By Jeremiah
Osborne
We have had a great summer here at Atwood. The Apple Dumpling Festival went well. It was pretty hot though. We have been busy cleaning and painting in preparation for harvest. My daughter and I have been going to quite a few races this summer. She really gets into them. Bill worked at the state fair again this year and his colt is coming along well. We have been steadily working on getting Topflight ISO certified. It is coming along nicely. The leaves are gonna start turning here soon and I’m sure not ready to start picking them up. We have had a real nice summer weather wise and I can’t complain. I hope that everyone has a safe harvest and look forward to seeing you all. God Bless!!
By Eric
Clements
The harvest has just begun and it looks like yields will be improve this year. We always like to receive some early corn to test out the grain dryers. Topflight has a total of sixteen grain dryers with a combined dryer capacity of 45,500 bushels per hour at five points of moisture removed. Topflight’s largest grain dryer is a 5,000 bushel per hour Zimmerman Grain Dryer at Pierson. The smallest dryers we have are 2,500 bushel per hour. One of our biggest challenges is to find harvest help that can operate the grain dryers at night. If you know of someone who may be interested in this type of job in the fall let us know.
The operations staff has been busy cleaning out bins and performing maintenance on equipment. We will have more storage space going into this fall than we have had in a long time. That is good because it appears we are going to need the space this year. The maintenance staff is getting the big conveyor belts ready to pile corn at Shacks, Emery and Maroa. At our August safety meeting Brock spoke to us on harvest and driveway safety. Some of the items discussed were no smoking in the elevators and proper truck unloading. Topflight holds monthly safety meetings and the meetings are a great safety tool. With all of this maintenance and safety training I hope that we have a safe and productive harvest.
This summer my family went to Indianapolis for the weekend. We went to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. The Indians are a triple A baseball team affiliated with the Milwaukee Brewers. At these games they really do a good job of entertaining the crowd between innings. As we were leaving the game Hayden proclaimed this to be his greatest day ever. Since he is only five I will assume this event will be surpassed in the very near future. Mitch and I had another enjoyable summer of little league baseball. Mitch did some pitching this year and did a good job.
I hope everyone has a safe and productive harvest.
By Stason Kopps
As I write this, harvest has begun. We have had a busy summer getting ready for what looks to be a big harvest. The guys are still finishing up a few projects, but for the most part Monticello, Seymour, and Lodge are ready to go.
Bob Boughton is looking forward to his first harvest. Bob has been busy cleaning bins, moving grain, and learning about our harvest procedure. Rob Dick has had a busy summer. He rebuilt a boot pit at Monticello, replaced a pit auger at Lodge, replaced a dryer floor at Emery, and still had time to take care of any breakdown we have had. Jim Shaffer has been cleaning bins and getting Lodge ready for harvest. After working in Monticello through the summer, Chris Frye is at Seymour. This will be Chris’ first year at Seymour.
This will be my third harvest in the Monticello area. Each year harvest seems to get a bit easier. We have some ideas to get your grain dumped more quickly, so please feel free to give us some feedback.
I hope everyone has a safe and bountiful harvest.
The yields look good for corn. Early indications show above to way above normal yields. Anytime this happens it will be good for the farmer and good for the elevators financial success. Early beans look normal to below normal, but most of our territory has later planted beans that will hopefully benefit from the late August rains.
Of course it is way too early to predict end of year results, but early harvest indications show promise. This is one of the lowest carryover years for grain in the elevator in some time. With bigger than normal corn harvest it appears the extra room will be filled quickly. Outside storage will also be needed to handle the crop. Hope for cool, dry weather after harvest.
Summer seemed to fly by again, but I am looking forward to fall weather. Early September already has been great. Have a safe and bountiful harvest.
NEWS FROM MAROA
By Denny Hill
A very busy summer has flown by and now the combines are starting to hit the fields as another harvest is set to begin. I thought around the 4th of July this harvest would be pushed back due to a shortage of heating degree-days, but an unseasonably hot and dry August caused some corn to die prematurely.
When Maroa became part of Topflight on June 1, we still had 1.5 million bushels of corn to ship to Decatur and we were dealing with an aflatoxin problem that was giving us some extra concerns. The rejection in Decatur at ADM stayed around 25% throughout the summer, but we were able to ship those loads on over to LaPlace to rail to the Southeast market. This turned into a lot of extra work for the truckers and the Topflight employees, but we didn’t put any of this extra cost back on the farmer.
As we were putting this merger together we didn’t have a full-time position available for Sherryl Young who had been working up here at the Maroa office. Our plan was to have her help during fall harvest and help fill-in during vacations. Then we had an employee at Monticello take a different job and his position was offered to her and she accepted and is doing a great job with it. The only negative out of this was I was planning on her excellent help during harvest, but Jill and I were happy she was able to get a full-time position in the company.
Sandy Davenport stayed up here most of June, before going to her new position at Emery, to work with Jill and myself to learn the grain software that we have here at Topflight since it was different than what Maroa had been using. Both of them are picking it up quite well considering the poor teacher they have had.
Gary Wood, Gary Liggett and Chris Wood have been busy all summer getting bins emptied up, doing some repairs, mowing grass and keeping the facility here and at Waller looking nice. We hired Ronnie Miller back in the middle of the summer to help with all the work that needed to be done and he has done an excellent job. Jerry Lambert has been hauling grain daily with the Topflight-semi and getting ready for his retirement next spring. We sure are going to miss his smiling face every morning.
Around the Hill’s house we are back to the busy schedule with the kids, as Jessica is in her last year of cheerleading here at Maroa-Forsyth and Meghan is a freshman on the Volleyball team this fall. My wife Terri is still teaching 8th grade math at Blue Mound for the Meridian School District and busy running carpools for Meghan’s activities.
I look forward to having an excellent harvest here at my new office and it is comforting to know that I have some excellent people on my team here.
By Scott Docherty
The summers always go by too fast, but coming off the short crop we had last year, I really am looking forward to the new crop and fall season. We have shipped out a majority of our old crop stocks and we have more space in the elevators than we have had since 95/96 crop year. It was a real challenge this past year as we moved grain into the rail feeder markets and transferred grain from one location to another but we made it work, with the help of some really dedicated employees.
What a difference in rain fall between July and August this year with July being one of the coolest and wettest that I can remember and August with no measurable rain fall until August 29 and the 6 inch rain on Labor Day weekend. The crop tour on August 20 showed us 35 bushel improvement in corn yields over last year and much better quality of corn also. We did not attempt to predict a soybean yield this year with the dry August weather and bean pods aborting and shrinking from three beans pods to two bean pods. The low team for corn came in at 146 bu. per acre, up to the high of 186 bu per acre. Now that the combines are running the yield monitors are showing us a range of 170 to 230 which means we will see field averages above 200 bu this fall. The early yield indications on the soybeans are 45 to 53 bu. per acre and with the Labor Day rain we can hope to see 55 to 60 bu bean yields on the later group beans.
The USDA report surprised everyone on the soybean production estimate with a 2.643 billion bushel crop and estimated the corn crop at 9.944 billion bushels. The national average yield for beans was dropped from 39.4 bu to 36.4 bu and the national
Corn average was dropped from 139.9 to 138.5 bu per acre. I question the USDA corn average used for IL at 154 and keeping IA at 154 also? The USDA raised the average price range for soybeans from $4.55-$5.55 to $5.25-$6.15 and raised the price range of corn from $2.00-$2.40 to $2.10-$2.50 per bushel. Brazil and Argentina should be ready to expand soybean acreage by 10 to 15% with beans rallying right into their spring planting season in the next 30 to 60 days. The tight world coarse grain stocks should give us a good support and good opportunity to price corn in the $2.40 to $2.50 price range between now and early next spring. I have to look back more than a few years to see an opportunity to price beans off the combine at $6.00 or better . The beans could run to $6.40 to $6.50 to ration some demand in the next few months so have your offers in and be ready to pull the trigger.
We still have room in our nongmo bean program with a premium of 35 cents for the 2003/2004 crop year. There seems to be more interest in nongmo bean products and we will continue to explore bringing you more value for your crops. Please remember that we require the new crop high oil corn to be under 20% moisture for harvest delivery.
My family has been busy as we have moved into our new home and the kids started back to school. Annie is busy with dance and gymnastics and Dillon is playing soccer and still playing the saxophone. Serge is taking dialysis 3 times a week and going to school and Denise is teaching dance and gymnastics and cantering at church along with the full time chauffer job for the kids. I wish everyone a safe and bountiful harvest.
By Derrick Bruhn
Summer has gone by fast and harvest is here. The guys have been busy working hard to get the facilities ready. Stason has taken some of Richard Thomas’s advice about surrounding himself with good people. Bob Boughton is running the outside this fall and is doing a great job. There have been some other Topflight facilities that have found out about Rob Dick’s talents as a millwright. Rob has been traveling this summer throughout Topflight Grain helping with repairs. We can’t forget about Jim Schaffer. He is still here working everyday. Jim has been helping out with whatever needs to be done, but he has a hidden talent to run Lodge. He will be running the show at Lodge again this fall.
Sherryl has fit in perfect with our company and has done an outstanding job here at Monticello. We just never know what she is thinking because she is so quiet. The last couple of months leading into harvest have been busy with offers and Sherryl has done a great job with those. Scott had been busy selling the old crop to get it cleaned up and putting some needed new crop on the books. He is becoming more and more popular with people calling for him to speak at different meetings around the area. Since starting work with Topflight Grain it has been a continuous learning process. The past year working with Scott has taught me a lot about marketing and about conducting business. With Scott working out of the Monticello office I have had the opportunity to meet customers from different areas that come in to speak with him. The Monticello facility is just about empty going into harvest and is ready for a good crop. I hope everyone has a safe and bountiful harvest.
By Mikki Burns
Our second grandchild, James Dean “JD” Benson was born Saturday, July 26, 2003, at 11:22 p.m. He weighed 8# 9 oz. and was 21” long. JD is a month old now and doing great. We all think he is adorable!!!
Blaine turned ‘one’ on July 30th. He had a birthday party with all his relatives. Grandpa made him a toy box – big enough for him to get inside. It will hold a lot of toys – and that is good – because Blaine is going to have a new little brother or sister in December. We are being blessed with grandchildren…and we are so excited!!!
As of today, September 10th, we have one farmer harvesting corn and three farmers combining beans. Several others are planning to start next week. We are empty and ready for the crop. Everyone here has really worked hard getting things ready and in shape. Not too many changes in personnel – Jon Sago and Joyce Bennett will help me in the office during the week. Meaghann Reeves and Courtney Turner will work on the weekends. Heath Conover is back to help this fall. Jerrid Peeler has joined the outside crew. Roger Clymer, Garold, Rick, Heath and Jerrid will take good care of everyone. John McCabe is at the Emery location for harvest.
Can’t believe that the summer is over—
But it is and harvest is here. Hope everyone has their forms signed at the FSA office!! Have a Safe and Plentiful Harvest season!!
By Brock
Casteel
At the time I am writing this article we are receiving new crop corn, at La Place and Pierson. Along with the new crop come some new faces. Say hello to our new elevator operator at La Place, Scot Daily, and at Pierson Fred Thompson is taking over the helm after Benny Ayers left to work for Bill Schable.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of our customers with dump trailers and dump beds, to hook the safety chains to the gate. This simple practice greatly reduces the possibility of injury do to a gate swinging into an employee. Help us, help you, by double checking all equipment to be brought into the elevator for any possible hazards.
This past year has been a busy one. Our monthly safety meetings have been a success. I have received a lot of positive feed back from our employees. I feel we are better arming our employees through continued training, improved equipment, and new administrative measures. I look forward to seeing you all this fall. Have a safe and profitable harvest.
By Doug
Adloff
Harvest is here once again. It seems like the summer just flew by, and now it’s time to get down to business. As I write this article, the corn is starting to come in, with some really good yields being reported. I haven’t taken any beans yet, but hopefully they will also yield above average.
There is a new face at Seymour this year. I’ve hired Chris Frye to run the operations of the elevator this year. He is from Monticello and has worked at the Monticello elevator part-time for the past couple years. He has been doing a really good job over here, and we welcome him to our staff.
I want to encourage everyone to have a safe and bountiful harvest, and let us know if there is anything that we can do to make your life easier.
By Pam
Jarboe
When the phone rings after closing time in the Bement office, we look to see which line is blinking. The market tapes answer the first two lines, so if the third line is lit up, we know it’s someone who wants to bypass the market information and talk to us. (That number is 678-2281, if you need it.) Most of our spouses have that number, and call to check on us from time to time.
Working after closing time, on this newsletter, I was about pooped, and feeling a little depressed. We are about a month late in getting this newsletter to you; we shortened the “Annual Meeting” article, short of avoiding the topic, because the speaker was so bad. I was just wasn’t in the mood to keep working.
The phone rang in on the first line; the second line rang; the third line rang. It could have been a rollover from the first lines that were still busy, or it could have been someone important. So, I answered it. Well, yes, it was someone very important! She asked me what I was doing here so late. I told her I was working on the newsletter, but I could give her the bids. The conversation immediately turned to the newsletter, and how she enjoyed it and read it all, all the way through. She didn’t really know all of us, but yet, she felt she did know all of us, through the newsletter. After several more wonderful compliments, she said good-by, and that she would call back later to get the bids. Needless to say, she sparked my enthusiasm to add some more time that evening to the newsletter.
We added a couple of “letters to the editor” in this issue, from people who enjoy the newsletter. Especially to people away from here, it’s a tie back home, to the land and the people they knew when they grew up. When Dick spoke to the Macon County Lady Landowners, several of the compliments he received, were about the newsletter.
Our newsletter truly is a company project. Almost half of the employees contribute news and pictures, for the newsletter. They make suggestions, and they serve as a liaison between you and us, for improvements. We don’t hire someone else to write the articles or take the pictures; the newsletter is us, grass roots and all. We do hire the formatting and printing. The girls at East Central Illinois Communications (they also print the Piatt County Journal) are fabulous at taking our bunch of type written pages with pictures clipped to them, and turning it into something that you will read.
Although this is about a month late, we hope you will take it to the field, and have time to read it while you’re waiting for the truck to load, or while the combine fills with fuel. We appreciate the many compliments we receive, and the constructive comments we receive.
And we’ll keep answering that third line – it will be someone important!
Fall not only brings harvest activities and the beginning of a new school year, but also a new 2nd grade class, adopted by Topflight Grain. Our first visit with the 2nd grade class was September 8. We showed them the office, the elevator, and explained to them a little about farming and agriculture. They had many good questions, and were a very attentive group.
Other events this year will include a trip to Curtis Orchard, a Christmas party, bowling at Tom’s bowl, a field trip and a play day. Working (or playing) with this young group of students is very rewarding, and builds friendships that last a long time.
GRAIN PAGE
Producers growing nongmo beans and high oil corn, must have a grower contract signed, to participate in the premium program. Please be sure that you have a signed contract that allows you to collect your premium. If you have any questions about that contract, please call you local Topflight Grain office.
Cleaning 50 cents per bushel
Bagging 90 cents per bag
We cannot clean RoundUp Ready beans. It is illegal for growers to save this seed and replant it.
TOPFLIGHT MARKETING POOL
By
Denny Hill
Once again Topflight Grain will be offering to their patrons this coming year the opportunity to enroll in a Marketing Pool concept for the 2004 crop. The sign-up period runs from Septemeber1, 2003, until January 1, 2004, and includes both corn and soybeans.
The producer commits a percentage of his corn or soybean production to Topflight Grain and we use our marketing knowledge in making use of option strategies and CBOT future positions to market your grain. Topflight merchandisers work with other grain brokers to accomplish pricing of the grain using conservative risk management strategies.
This has been a very popular program as it has grown from 1 million bushel for the 2000 crop year to 2.5 million for the 2003 crop.
In the 2003 corn pool, our customers received $2.51 cents across the scale and we showed a loss of 8 cents in our options for the year, to net them out $2.43 per bushel. This fell in the top 1/3 of the marketing year, which is the goal we try to maintain each year.
To participate in this program you need to determine how many bushels of corn and soybeans you want to enroll in the program, choose the pay dates you need to fit your cash flow needs and read thoroughly the marketing pool agreement and sign-up.
Topflight will be offering another version of the marketing pool this year to satisfy some request from several patrons. A person can sign up his bushels to have us market them before harvest, but doesn’t want to participate in any option strategies we might feel necessary after harvest. The difference between the 2 programs is that after harvest the people in the cash sale only pool will not have an opportunity to capture any gains from a price rally from harvest thru the next summer.
If you believe this is something you might be interested in please give Denny Hill a call @ 1-800-955-2180 and I will be glad to answer your questions.
By Derrick Bruhn
The average price contract this year ran from January 9th to May 29th. The price for fall delivered fall pay contract ended at $2.26 ½ and the Jan pay will be 1 cent more. Jan delivered corn ended up at 2.33 ½. I hope to have more participation in this program next year. The program forward contracts corn at a historically high pricing period. Sign up for next years program will begin Dec 1, 2003 through Dec 31,2003. Call the Monticello office for details about this program. 1(888) 762-2163
Summer time is for fun, and the Topflight float enjoyed several parades this summer. It opened the summer in the Fat Hill Fest parade in Cerro Gordo on June 21. The next week-end, it joined the Monticello Rodeo Days Parade. On the 4th of July, it really traveled! It was in the Seymour parade at 10:00, the Hammond prade at 12:00 and the Bement parade at 2:00. The following day, it participated in the Maroa 4th of July celebration. The last parade of the summer was the Apple Dumpling Parade in Atwood on August 16.
Doug coordinated the parade schedules, lined up employees to drive the truck, and to ride on the float, or walk with the float, and made sure everyone had enough candy to hand out to all the parade viewers!
When the float couldn’t be in two places at one time, the pickup truck and employees with buckets full of candy, joined in the Argenta parade on June 28th.
Our activities in Argenta also included a Pedal Tractor Pull, hosted by the Piatt County Farm Bureau Young Farmers. About 20 young pedallers, participated in the pull, in three different weight categories. Each one anxiously sat in the tractor seat, waiting for the official “Go”, to begin the pull, as the sled behind the tractor became heavier with each round of the pedals.
Three places were awarded in each class. Each of these winners were eligible to participate in the Pedal Pull contest at the State Fair in Springfield. Each participant earned a gift certificate for an ice cream treat at the “Locker Plant” in Argenta. These certificates were generously donated by the “Locker Plant”. We certainly appreciate their gift!!
The “New” Illinois Grain Code: What It Means To Producers
What It Is: The Illinois Grain Code is the state law governing grain transactions in the state of Illinois. The Code is administered by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA). IDOA is responsible for inspecting and licensing all grain dealers and most warehouses in Illinois. Responsibilities include: 1) grain inventories; 2) review grain conditions; 3) analyze records to ensure grain facilities are fiscally sound and comply with state law; and 4) disburse monies from the Illinois Grain Insurance Fund to producers in the event of grain elevator failures.
The Illinois Grain Insurance Fund (IGIF) was established in 1983 and incorporated into the comprehensive Illinois Grain Code. The intent of the IGIF is to protect depositors (including producers) against losses associated with failed grain dealers and/or grain warehouses. Prior to 2003, the IGIF was completely funded by state licensed grain dealers and state licensed grain warehouses.
Review of IGIF Performance: From 1984 to 2001, there have been:
· 72 grain facility closures;
· 4,842 claimants against the fund;
· $92 million in total claims;
· $7.6 million in draws against the fund; and,
· $2.7 million in recoveries.
Contributors to the Fund: Before the 2003 rewrite, contributors to the Fund included:
· state licensed grain warehouses; and
· state licensed grain dealers
After the 2003 rewrite, contributors to the Fund now include:
· state licensed grain warehouses;
· state licensed grain dealers;
· sellers of grain (producers); and,
· lenders holding warehouse receipts as loan collateral or executing repurchase agreements with licensees.
State licensed warehouses and grain dealers will continue to contribute to the Fund at the same rate they did before the rewrite.
Grain sellers (producers) will contribute to the Fund based on a rate of 0.0004 times the net market value of grain settled during any assessment period. This equates to $4 for every $10,000 of grain settled for. Net value of grain settled is arrived at by deducting from the gross sales price the grain dealer’s discount schedule in effect at time of sale and any commodity check-offs. Other charges such as storage charges, drying charges, and transportation costs shall not be deducted in calculating net value of grain sold.
Examples of approximate costs/acre, based on:
$2.00 net value of corn and;
· 100 bushel per acre (bpa) – 8 cents/acre
· 150 bpa – 12 cents/acre
· 200 bpa – 16 cents/acre
$2.50 net value of
corn and;
· 100 bpa – 10 cents/acre
· 150 bpa – 15 cents/acre
· 200 bpa – 20 cents/acre
$5.00 net value of
soybeans and;
· 40 bpa – 8 cents/acre
· 50 bpa – 10 cents/acre
· 60 bpa – 12 cents/acre
$6.00 net value of
soybeans and;
· 40 bpa – 10 cents/acre
· 50 bpa – 12 cents/acre
· 60 bpa – 14 cents/acre
Producer contributions apply only to the first sale of grain to a licensed grain dealer. The Initial Funding Period will continue until the Fund reaches $6 million, however, producers will be assessed only until the Fund reaches $3 million. Under no circumstances shall there be more than 2 consecutive producer assessments during the initial assessment period, unless there is a failure that reduces the fund equity to below $3 million. After the Initial Funding Period, producers will be assessed only if the Fund equity drops below $2 million. Assessment periods are 12 calendar months beginning the first day of the calendar quarter. Producer assessments will be collected by grain licensees (elevators and/or grain dealers) at time of settlement during an assessment period and remitted to IDOA. Producer assessments are estimated to generate $2 million per year.
Lenders holding warehouse receipts on grain as loan collateral or executing repurchase agreements with licensees will also be assessed. Lender assessments are estimated to contribute approximately $250,000 annually until equity in the Fund reaches $6 million.
Fund Threshold Levels: The threshold level of the Fund has been raised from $3 million to $6 million. In addition, a new Reserve Fund of $2 million will be established which will be funded by all constituent groups. The Reserve Fund will be utilized in the event a catastrophic event that eliminates the $6 million equity base in the Fund.
Changes in Producer Coverage:
Delayed Price: The coverage period for price later (delayed price) contracts has been extended from 270 days to 365 days. To be covered, the later of the date of contract execution or the date of delivery of grain covered by the price later contract must not be more than 365 days before the date of failure for the producer to receive any compensation from the fund. The amount producers can recover on grain sold on a price later contract has been changed from:
· 85% of the valid claim up to $100,000, to;
· 85% of the valid claim up to $250,000,
assuming the price later contract in question complies with the “365 day” stipulation. If the price later contract is not signed within 30 days of the last date of delivery, the grain represented by that price later contract shall be priced at the market price on the first business day following the 30-day period.
Deferred payments: Deferred payments are covered by the IGIF and are not to be considered loans, even if additional inducement payments have been made, unless a promissory note has been executed and delivered to the producer.
Review of Producer
Coverage:
Grain delivered and placed into storage:
· 100% of the amount determined by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (A).
· Limit = $1 million per claimant.
Grain delivered and
priced:*
· 100% if delivered within 21 days before date of failure (B).
· 85% if delivered or priced more than 21 days but within 160 days before date of failure (C).
· Limit = $250,000.
*If delivered originally on a price later contract, either the contract execution date or final date of delivery must not be more than 365 days before date of failure.
Price later grain, not yet priced:*
· 85% of the amount of the valid claims determined by IDOA (D).
· Limit = $250,000.
*Either the execution date of the price later contract or final date of delivery of grain covered by price later contract must not be more than 365 days before date of failure.
Review of Dollar Limits:
The maximum payment per claimant for:
· Category A = $1 million
· Category C = $250,000
· Category D = $250,000
· Category C & D combined = $250,000
· Category B, C, & D combined = $1 million.
Categories A, B, C, & D are described above in the “Review of Producer Coverage” section. The letters A, B, C, & D appear in parentheses following their respective descriptions.
Claim Procedures: Hearings on claim appeals are to be conducted in the county of the claimant’s residence. Under no circumstances shall payment to claimants who have not requested a hearing be delayed due to a hearing request by any unrelated claimant. Claimants can be paid for the undisputed portions of their valid claims even if they are appealing disputed portions of the claims.
We’re always trying to make your life easier, and more informed. Our website is one tool we use. The blue bar “Grain Bids & Market Comments” on our home page, or the green link to “Grain Markets” takes you to CBOT quotes, cash bids, weather, and charts. The CBOT quotes are current to a 10 minute delay. If you want more contracts than are shown, click the little “?”, and it will help you. The cash bids, for all locations, are updated, versus the CBOT quotes, each time you refresh the page. The weather map shows the current radar, specific to your zip code, and weather forecasts are available from several sources. Clicking on “Custom charts”, you can create just about any chart you want, for just about any time frame you want.
The “iView” link is a fairly new feature, that allows registered users to view grain records – tickets, contracts, and checks written. Most of the information can be sorted to give you field deliveries, information by date, etc. To register, just click the “iView” link, and then the link that says “Not currently a member? Join now.” Completing the application form will send a message to us to set your accounts up. You’ll receive an email message back that your account is set up and ready to go. This feature is free; so don’t hesitate to use it. Of course, we would be happy to talk to you, if you’d rather call in for the information.
The rain map is updated as rain occurs throughout the Topflight trade area. Rain amounts are reported by each elevator and recorded in the table. Monthly totals are given, and past months are accessible.
Other links will show any events planned by Topflight, the newsletter (in text format), storage and drying rates, specialty grains, pictures and addresses of our elevators, and pictures of the employees with an email link to those who have email. If you need to share a compliment or complaint, the feed back button will send the message right to the boss.
The website is hosted and maintained by Ginny Dahms and Burr Nelson of Kestrel Technologies. They do a wonderful job, of making us look good!!
TOPFLIGHT GOLF
OUTING
By Denny Hill
The sixth annual Topflight Grain golf outing was held on July 23rd
at the Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth. The field of 140 patrons, vendors
and employees were blessed with a beautiful sunny day to enjoy the four-player
scramble event.
The Maroa-Forsyth cheerleaders greeted golfers as they arrived and their
clubs were placed on the proper carts while they enjoyed coffee and doughnuts
and some conversation in the clubhouse.
Several proximity prizes were being offered for the player who was
closest to the pin on the par 3’s, longest drive on several holes, closest to
the line on a hole and longest putt on a couple of holes. The big prize of $5000 for a hole-in-one on 13 went unclaimed
again this year. The winning team of Mike Ferrill, John Hill, Mitch Myers and
Ralph Myers shot 9 under par to edge out 3 other teams who shot 8 under for the
18-hole event.
After the round the players gathered for lunch, and prizes were awarded
to the winners. Everyone ended up receiving a prize as several vendors donated
gifts such as clothing, toy tractors, balls, hats, cash, 12 tickets to Cardinal
ballgames and many other nice gifts. We our fortunate and thankful to do
business with so many nice people who help make this outing special with their
donations. All the people who attended seem to really enjoy the day’s
activities and friendship with fellow players.
The date and location hasn’t been set for next year’s outing, so check
the website next spring or the spring High Flyer to
get the date marked on your calendar. We will looking be looking forward to
hosting another successful outing.
Our sympathies to
the families of . . . .
Don Young, Ruth Wilbur, Beryl Friesner, Gilbert Parker, Helen Dworak, Richard Ayers, Dick Anderson, Reid Voelcker, Wanda Zilliot, Jerry Cunningham, Goldie Taylor, Helen Wall, Herb Roberts, Jill Watkins Chandler, Russell Christie, Mary Ann Cole, Annabel Long, Jenimae Lonnon, Bob Moore, Bill Rohrscheib, Mary Ruth Oliver, Ruby Beauchamp, Lloyd Turner, Jim Stillwell
Congratulations to . . . . .
Don & Helen Henry, celebrating 50 years of marriage with a family dinner and vacation trip; Jenny Carroll, highlighted in the Decatur Herald, with a story about her time and studies in France; Dale & Lenore Boyd, celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary;
Elizabeth McCormick & William Cresap, married in April; Roy & Mona Babcock, celebrating 60 years of marriage with a trip to Palm Springs; Mr. & Mrs. Kris Roberts, parents of a new son, Dylan; Ron & Charlotte Eagan, who celebrated their 50th anniversary with a family dinner; Knox Morton, Charlene Smith, Marlene Schultz, and all the July 26 birthdays in Cerro Gordo, as reported in the local papers; Mikki & Jim Burns and Dean & Becki Benson, grandparents of James Dean (JD). The new parents are Stacey and Tim Benson; Elizabeth Hardimon and Jeff Grubich, married in May; Bement Majors Team #1, with an 11-0 record, won the league championship and the league tournament. The team included Joshua Sepke, Mac Gallagher, Kyle Bradley, Drew Bradley, Matt Foran, Colin Auth, Jimmy Dodge, Michael Scott, Dylan Trott, Justin Walsh, Ronnie Burns, and Tyler Auth. The impressive team was coached by Ted Auth and Steve Walsh; Carroll Elliott, celebrating his 80th birthday in August; Cecily Shambaugh, recipient of the Cerro Gordo American Legion Post #117 School Medal Award; Selby & Lotha Clark, recently celebrating 65 years of marriage; Austin Brandenburg and Lynn Peterson, ham radio operators who participated in the Ham Radio Field Day in Monticello, to test their emergency preparedness skills; Floyd & Roberta Larimore, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary and Floyd’s 82nd birthday; Bement teachers, Becca Massey, Melissa Cripe, Doug Kepley, Cathy Flood, and Jill Lawson, spending the month of June with elementary and middle school students in the “Summer Adventure” program; Andrew and John Robinson, pictured in the Piatt County Journal, “combing the area” for volunteers for the Piatt County museum;
Ashley Stinson, Cerro Gordo prom queen; Gloria & Rob Litwiller, Harold Ponder, and Russel & Debby Wright’s family, captured in 4th of July pictures in the local papers; Dale & Jan Riggins, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a family outing in Pigeon Forge; Bill & Marilyn Sago, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at a family dinner; Allison Ott and Jeremy Drew, married in Law Vegas, in July; TJ & Amy Dobson, parents of a new son, Luke; Annie Parsons and Joel Camacho, married in July; Wayne & Jo Redman, who celebrated their 60th anniversary and Jo’s 80th birthday in June; Richard Henry, who celebrated his 80th birthday in June;
Dale & Liz Bertsch, who celebrated their 50th anniversary at the Beef House in Indiana;
Recipients of the 2003 Piatt County Farm Bureau Foundation Scholarships – Jesse Allen, Cale Beccue, Eric Beckett, Dayna Cummings, Clayton Harper, Amanda Hayes, Andy Hendrix, Quint Shambaugh, Julie Vogelzang, Amanda Bennett, Andrew Hiser, Mindy Koss, Scott McFarland, Wyatt Muse, Allan Perry, Breine Stevens, & Ryan Vogelzang; Don & Marlene Betzer, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary at a family dinner; Angela Neef and Justin Huisinga, married in July; John & Mary Donovan, parents of Lucas John. Proud grandparents are Tim & Joyce Donovan;
Kurt & Christi Robson, parents of a new son, Ethan. Proud grandparents are Duane & Marlena Robson, Kevin & Cheryl Kaufman. Proud great-grandparents are Richard & Beulah Robson, Bill & Marilyn Sago and Betty Kaufman Molly Hendrix and Kory King, married in June; Quint Shambaugh, valedictorian of Cerro Gordo High School;
Lindsey Morgan, salutatorian of Cerro Gordo High School; Matt Zelhart, salutatorian of Maroa-Forsyth High School; Josh Hendrix, valedictorian of Bement High School;
Grant Briggs, salutatorian of Argenta-Oreana High School; Othella Remmers, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday; Les & Myrna Syfert, who celebrated their 50th anniversary; Rodd Runyen, Jim Burns, & Mark Morgan, co-winners of the Big Money Raffle, sponsored by the Cerro Gordo Legion; Brian & Jennifer Lehman, featured in the May-June Successful Farming, as young farmers, trying to make a profit;
Mike & Paula Hall, grandparents of Jullian Jacey Hall; Tim and Angie Schable on the birth of their son; Autumn Runyen, awarded the bronze medal in the AAU Junior Olympics in Detroit, in the beginners tumbling competition; Adam and Heather Logue, married in July; Chris Karr, winner of the hog calling contest at the Illinois State Fair;
Nicolle Stinson, candidate for Homecoming Queen at Cerro Gordo High School;
Ted & Amanda Romine, parents of a new son, Wyatt Earl.
Hannah Fleener received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from Harvard University during commencement ceremonies held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 5, 2003. She was awarded a Hoopes Prize for “outstanding scholarly research and writing” for her senior thesis in the comparative study of religion. Ms. Fleener also was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She will begin law school at Washington University in St. Louis in the fall. A 1999 graduate of Atwood-Hammond High School, she is the daughter of Tony and Audrey Fleener and the granddaughter of Wendell and Harriet Bolin and Paul and Juanita Fleener, all of Hammond.
(Our thanks to Juanita Fleener for Hannah’s picture and great news!!)
By Richard
Thomas
No, Bonnie and I weren’t bored at the annual meeting. We just couldn’t understand the speaker. He turned around and tried to get me into his act, but all I could hear at the head table was an echo. Bonnie asked him early into his speech if the audience could hear him and no one responded so we assumed it was okay for those out in the audience. Well, after the meeting was over we found out that some people had problems understanding him as well. He did talk very fast and with that South Carolina drawl it was hard to understand him even if he wasn’t having microphone problems. What I was so upset about was that I could see he wasn’t going over very well with most of the crowd, and all I could think about was what the whole affair was costing and no one seemed to be enjoying it.
Pam and I have learned over the years when picking an annual meeting speaker we need to have heard them speak. Last year Scott Docherty recommended the speaker because he had heard him speak at a meeting he attended and he turned out to be one of the best we’ve ever had. One other time we hired the annual meeting speaker without hearing him and he was the almost the World’s Worst Speaker. So accept our apologies and next year the committee will try and do better.
Once again, on just about the hottest day of the summer, Topflight Grain conducted its annual crop tour. 12 teams scouted the fields on August 20, counting corn kernel rows and width to determine an approximate corn yield for the trade area. Bean plants were also examined and pods were counted in those fields. The tour seemed to prove, what most suspected: that the timely summer rains benefited the corn.
Average yield estimated for the corn crop is 167 bushel per acre. Team averages varied from 153 bushel per acre to 186 bushel per acre.
The tour results were presented at the Bement Country Opry, that evening. A sandwich meal, complete with homemade ice cream from the Lake Fork Church men’s group, was served to all who attended. Crop tour results were summarized by Scott Docherty, as individual team described their findings. Brian Malone, County Executive Director, Piatt County FSA, reviewed LDP sheets and the rules to follow to collect LDP’s, should those procedures be needed this fall. Scott also presented a brief market outlook.
(our thanks
to Bill Blickhan for sharing this with us!)
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day.
Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the hotel. There, he decided to open his laptop and send hi wife an email back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address and sent the email without realizing his error.
In Houston, a widow had just returned from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister of many years who had been called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow checked her email, expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor.
The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen, which read:
To: My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject : I’ve Arrived
I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine. P.S. Sure is hot down here!
WELCOME TO OUR NEW
EMPLOYEES
From the merger with Maroa, on June 1, your company has gained some valuable and experienced personnel:
Jill Kuykendall has been at the Maroa facility for 26 years. She will work with Denny Hill to buy grain, operate the scales, and everything else it takes to keep the office running and the grain records accurate.
Jerry Lambert drives the semi, delivering grain from Maroa to the final destination. Jerry has been working for the elevator for 26 years.
Gary Wood has been at the Maroa elevator for 9 years, but grew up in the business, helping his dad “Woody” run the Waller and Emery facilities. He is in charge of the operations at Maroa.
Gary Liggett works with Gary Wood, making sure all the grain is properly conditioned and maintaining the Maroa and Waller facilities. He has 5 years experience at Maroa.
Sandy Davenport spent 22 years at the Waller elevator, and is now managing the Emery facility. She is learning the new computer system well, and adding some “touches” to the office.
Sherryl Young left the Maroa office after 6 years, to help in the Monticello office. She handles the outbound rail settlements, buys grain, operates the scales, and assists Scott and Derrick with the merchandising.
We also welcome Chris Frye, in charge of the Seymour elevator, and Scot Daily, in charge of the LaPlace elevator.
By Richard Thomas
If you haven’t read the book FISH you should. It’s about a fish market in Seattle and how their employees choose the attitude they bring to work each day. At a recent staff meeting I showed all the employees the FISH video. It’s a remarkable way to boost morale and improve results. At the end of the video I handed out blank Thank You cards and colorful markers. I asked the employees to identify three other employees in the room who had made a positive difference for them, someone who encourages or inspires them, someone who is kind, helpful, etc. I made sure they knew they were designing them to actually give to coworkers. I suggested they think of the people they take for granted on a daily basis or haven’t thanked lately. I told them to be specific about what those people did or said and why that “made your day.”
The results were unbelievable. Everyone was amazed at how good he or she felt about getting the Thank You and how good it made them feel to give the Thank You to someone else.
The operations and maintenance crew have meetings, too. Each meeting, some action is presented with safety procedures and demonstrations. Brock Casteel, safety manager, is in charge of the meetings. He presents the information, or will have a specialist present the information.
At the May meeting, in Cisco, the new fall protection was practiced. Each employee dressed in the harness that will protect them from falling when loading cars at Cisco.
At the Cisco meeting, Brandon, assisted by Adam Logue, also demonstrated how to load the trackmobile for transport, and the maintenance procedures for the trackmobiles.
We enjoyed several different tour groups this summer, at the Topflight offices.
The Morgan Park Academy visited in May, as part of their annual agriculture visit to central Illinois. This group is always interesting and full of questions, coming from the suburbs of Chicago.
Later in May, a group of Russian students visited. They were hosted by Pat Hunter, of Bement. He had arranged the tour of the young people who were studying in the US. They were full of energy and also full of questions. Their English skills were very good; communication was easy.
The Monticello facility hosted Piatt County Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom in July. This is a fine group of 5th and 6th graders learning more about agriculture, by visiting several of the agribusinesses in Piatt County.
Ducky Day Care visited the Bement office late in July. The young group was led by Ginny Einhorn, who was also an excellent tour guide, as she helped explain the agriculture industry to the youth.
Approximately 870 guests attended this year’s annual meeting, held at the Decatur Civic Center on August 8. The buffet meal, catered by Hump’s Cut Catering, was delicious, and provided a tasty beginning to the evening. Ron Meece, chairman of the annual meeting welcomed the guests, and President of the Board, Richard Larimore conducted the business meeting. Manager Richard Thomas highlighted the year’s accomplishments and the struggle to make a profit, with the low volume of last year’s crop.
The after dinner speaker was Jerry Carroll.
Thank goodness the food was good! Most of our stockholders were able to look on the positive side of the evening!!
The meeting, as always, provided the opportunity to conduct the company’s annual business, and for all of us, to see friends that we don’t see often enough.
Letters to the
editor:
Occasionally, we receive complimentary letters. We would like to share a couple of the recent notes, with you:
Dear Dick,
Just finished the last Topflight newsletter. You and your staff do a great job of getting each of the branch managers to give an update on their location; keeping the information and stories interesting to such a diverse patron group. An appropriate welcome to the Maroa patrons. You have always been concerned about your membership. A sure sign of a good leader.
Good Work,
Rich Connell
= = = = = =
= = = = = = = = =
Dear Dick,
It is always a great pleasure to receive your High Flyer magazine. It was especially well received this time.
Your article on Ayleen was one I read over several times. It gave a true perspective of a truly great lady. WE miss her. I have sent this article on to my brother, Glen, who graduated from BHS with both Ayleen and Barney.
Also, the pictures of Siders. I spent many an hour in there drinking their milk shakes and enjoying their sundaes. When I was a freshman, Coach Stewart thought I needed shakes with raw eggs mixed in. That was my steady diet at Siders for quite some time. Looking at me now, I think they did a better job than I hoped for.
The picture of Cary was good. I will carry it about with me, so that if he continues to pull my leg, I will have something to come back with.
We will see you in the fall at the reunion. Keep up the good work and keep sending the High Flyer.
Sincerely,
Dave Spearman
WHAT’S HAPPENIN’
The guys have been busy. In the summer months of June-August, they have shipped out 583,000 bushels of beans; 4,061,995 bushels of corn; 173,050 bushels of high oil corn; and 375,850 bushels of nongmo beans. Then, there were that many bushels to account for by the bookkeeping department.
After that, they had to sweep all the bins, and prepare them for harvest.
Of that outbound grain
2,563,195 bushels of corn were shipped by rail;
1,498,800 bushels of corn were shipped by truck;
173,050 bushels of high oil corn were shipped by rail;
583,000 bushels of beans were shipped by truck;
91,745 bushels of nongmo beans were shipped by rail;
284,105 bushels of nongmo beans were shipped by truck.
Hillary Lehew competed in the Miss Atwood pageant.
We sold a bag of nongmo beans to a Japanese couple, who live in Urbana. They made tofu from the beans and were satisfied with the beans, so came back to get more. They had plans to ship a container of the beans to Japan, but apparently it became too involved.
Autumn Runyen was a contestant in the Little Miss Piatt County Queen in Cerro Gordo, and her sister, Sara competed in the Junior Miss Piatt County Queen Contest.
Eric and Dick helped with some community beautification projects downtown Bement this summer.
Gloria & Pam were involved with the Piatt County Relay for Life.
ASE Blacktop coated the lot at LaPlace, to control the dust.
Garold & Joyce Hilligoss’s son was married in June.
Dick, Russ, and Pam attended the tool shed meeting at Josh Leib’s farm, where they also learned the signs and dangers of “meth”, the drug made using anhydrous ammonia.
79,151 bushels of wheat were delivered to Topflight this summer.
Brandon competed in the first ever lawn mower race in Bement on the 4th of July.
Jesse, Jeremy, and Brandon participated in the calf dressing contest at Rodeo Days in Monticello.
Dick and Richard Larimore traveled to Ralston, Iowa, to visit a biodiesel plant, always looking for ways to add value to your products.
Scott & Denise and their family have settled into their home in Monticello. Serge’s health is a concern, as his kidney transplant several years ago was not as successful as hoped.
The dust system on the new complex at LaPlace has been installed.
Denny participated in the Macon County Extension Crop Tour, in late July.
Scott presented a market outlook at the Hickory Point Ag Services Plot Day.
Willard drove his little red car and wagon in the Apple Dumpling Parade.
Dick spoke to the Macon County Lady Landowners about the grain business, and provided a brief market outlook to the ladies. The group is chaired by Sandy Muirhead.
Eric and Dick continue to work on re-zoning for the bunker at Seymour.
The bullpen at LaPlace has been torn down and cleaned up.
The LaPlace facility was featured in Grain Journal, showing the efficiency of the two scales and dump pit.
Jim Shaffer cooked pork chops for the 4-H Pork Chop dinner in Monticello.
New concrete has been poured in the driveway at Cisco,
and the old house west of the elevator has been torn down.
By Richard Thomas
As I wind down here as the manager of your cooperative I know how Jack Nicholsen felt in the show All About Schmidt. All About Schmidt is a person named Schmidt who retires from his job and all the frustrations that go with it. In one scene he goes back to visit the young man that has taken over his job to see if he could be of any help. Schmidt soon finds out the employee has redecorated the office and it looks splendid plus he’s getting along just fine without Schmidt. Upon leaving the office and exiting the elevator on the ground floor he sees all of his old files piled next to the dumpster ready to be thrown away. Today I asked Chuck if he thought he would need any of our old financial statements. I have every monthly financial statement for the 34 years I’ve been your manager. Chuck’s answer was the only financial statement he needed was last month’s. So with that I started carrying out two filing cabinets full of old financial statements. I would carry awhile and then sit down and read some of them while I rested. For over 15 years I have written a weekly newsletter for the employees and saved every one of them as well. So I asked Pam if she thought I needed to save them. Her answer was maybe; they might be of some help to me when I write the last 25 years history of the company. Guess what, I’ll use the News and Views and High Flyer newsletter for that information if I decide to do it. So now I’m throwing all of the weekly newsletters away. In the movie Schmidt, his wife dies and that’s a sad moment, but funny when he decides to go to the bathroom for #1 standing up. All the while his wife was alive he had to sit down to do #1. He takes great liberties when he’s free to do it standing up and goes all over everything in the bathroom. The show ends with Jack Nicholsen in a hot tube and a naked Cathy Bates jumps in with him. Jim Fendley can best explain that scene to you, plus I think we’re the only two people that thought the movie was funny.
I just couldn’t help but think about the movie as I’m preparing for the new person to take over. Hopefully I’ll have most of the stuff thrown away so they can start with clean files.