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by Russel Wright
As stated in the last issue of the “HIGH FLYER” newsletter, Topflight Grain was hoping to pass the ISO certification audit. We selected Det Norske Veritas as the certification company. This is a worldwide certification company that mostly certifies manufacturing and automotive plants. The initial audit was done at Bement, Monticello, Milmine, and Pierson locations. After the audit was completed, Barry Bristol, DNV’s lead auditor found only twelve non-conformities. Needless to say all of us involved with ISO were very satisfied with the results of this first audit. Barry gave us ninety days to have these non-conformities fixed. However, with the top-notch employees of Topflight Grain these problems were fixed in a little over a month or so. After satisfying the auditor’s request, Topflight Grain was issued a certificate of registration for conforming to Management System Standard ISO 9001:2000. When contacted by DNV, they stated that Topflight Grain was truly a “first in the grain industry”, something all of us at Topflight Grain as well as the patrons can be proud of.
Once we reached certification status, the work doesn’t stop there. We are constantly making improvements in the system. Internal audits, made up of Topflight employees, see to it that all operating procedures as well as training materials are being followed. The next scheduled periodic audit will be in June at Bement (head office), Atwood, and Cisco locations. All Topflight locations will be audited by the end of 2007. The certification is valid until February 05, 2008.
As Larry Stapleton stated in his article in the last newsletter, change is necessary to satisfy our customers’ needs. Moving forward will not only be a challenge for all but will be rewarding as well. Added to Topflight’s logo in the near future will be DNV Certified Quality Management system ISO 9001:2000 ANAB logo. This will tell everyone that Topflight Grain is ISO certified. So spread the word to everyone you talk to, regarding the grain industry, TOPFLIGHT GRAIN IS ISO CERTIFIED. If you have any questions about ISO and Topflight, feel free to contact me at 578-2215.
By Scott Docherty
We just witnessed the most exciting weekend in college basketball with 4 NCAA regional games and 3 of them decided in overtime. The Illini made an unbelievable come back against Arizona to reach the final four in St Louis. The Illini have been able to win with team work all season and continue to share the ball better than any other team this year. The college basketball season is coming to an end and it sure has been a great one to watch and cheer for.
The planting season is just beginning for many of you and Topflight Grain has been busy with different meetings to share information and other meetings to gather information from you. Topflight focus meetings shared with you marketing information and updated you on new projects for the year. We share with you how we were doing financially and also asked for your feedback on a short survey. Topflight Grain values your thoughts and ideas so that is why we asked you to let us know what was most important to you - for Topflight to build and maintain facilities, buy back stock, or pay patronage? Build and maintain facilities was the number one answer at all three focus meetings. If you did not have a chance to attend one of our focus meetings then you may have had the chance to answer this question for one of our branch managers on a farm visit. Build and maintain facilities again was the number one answer. We have decided to build a 105 ft diameter tank at Emery this spring to help with the shortage of space in that area. For Topflight Grain to stay efficient, we need to continue to upgrade and build storage and handling capacity at our fulltime locations. Coops handle 38% of the first handled grain in IL with privates at 26% and multinationals at 36%. If corn acres are up this spring by 10%, that could mean another 2 million bushels for Topflight Grain next harvest. The advances in seed technology could also test our unloading capacities and storage capabilities so you can see we do need to continue with an aggressive building program if we want to take your grain in a timely manner, which you have told us that is less than 10 minutes at harvest time. Our farmers are getting larger and more efficient and Topflight Grain has to be able to meet these needs in the future.
We are seeing some change in the grain flow patterns in the Midwest as BN rail shuttle houses are being built and Ethanol plants are coming on line in IL. When you look at the grain usage in IL we are in a great area of the Midwest. Illinois has the 2 river systems in the Mississippi River and Illinois River, and we have the largest processing plants in the state within 25 miles. and we have 4 class one railroads running into and through the state as well. What this means is you will get a competitive price for your grain as Topflight Grain will continue to look for the best market for your grain, as these markets will change from year to year.
Ethanol plants coming on line seem to be the hot talk this winter as crude oil continues to make new highs and energy in general is eating at all of our bottom lines. Returns of 20 to 30% were being talked about at some of these capital drive meetings and ways to finance 80-90 % of your purchased shares. These new ethanol plants will also change the flow of grain as more come on line in IL so Topflight Grain will look at all opportunities to keep us competitive and give you our patrons the best possible return for your business.
The family is staying busy as always with Denise keeping up with the kids’ schedule and also taking a writing class at Parkland College this spring. Serge is still working around his dialysis schedule and trying to pursue schooling next year and also playing in a band. Dillon is busy with track, which will run into baseball, which will run into soccer and before you know it he will be a freshman in high school next year. Anna Marie is in the Gym 2 to 3 times a week and always looks forward to summer vacation. I am looking forward to another great Cardinal season and maybe getting some tee times set up.
Thank you for your business and think safety first as you put in longer hours this spring.
LAPLACE HAPPENINGS
By Vanessa Stinson
I woke up this morning; saw the sun
coming up in the east and the birds singing a song. I knew right then it was
going to be a good day. Thank God for the beautiful days that he has given us.
In LaPlace this winter we have been busy
getting grain in off of the farm and shipping grain to the processors in
Decatur.
Mark has been busy this
winter. He is a new grandpa and is
going to be a new father-in-law by the time you read this article. His daughter
Tracy is getting married April the 9th. Congratulations to Mark on his new additions to his family.
I have
been trying to get out and visit customers this winter. I have visited with a few and still have
more to go. So I might be giving you a call to come and visit real soon.
On the family front, 2005 has not
been the healthiest for our family, but we are working through that and trying
to get back on the right track. Our family is looking forward to a great
summer. Hope all of you have one also.
NEWS FROM MILMINE
By Lindy Powers
I am sure glad winter is over and we can look forward to warm weather. It’s seems like the older you get the longer the winters are. We have had a very busy winter emptying bins, loading out trains, and taking in farm-stored grain. Good job Rick, and Jeff.
We had a new addition to our family. Autumn Elizabeth Bartell was born March 14th, at 6lbs.19 in. long. This is our 3rd. granddaughter. We also had great news from our daughter Katie she will be a cheerleader next year for Clinton Junior High’s 8th grade. (Way to go Katie we’re very proud of you).
We recently lost a good friend and a good Topflight customer, Lewis Trummel. He was a regular visitor here and will be sadly missed. I also lost another good friend Donna Vermillion, Mikki Burns’ mother. She was a very special person.
Ann and I are looking forward to camping with our friends, fishing, and I am also going to try to teach her how to play golf. Since she has never played before this will be a real challenge.
I hope that everyone has a safe spring, and look forward to our golf outing in July.
As I write this letter Illinois is about to play Louisville in St.Louis. And the Cubs are about to open their season. I think this might be the year Illinois NCAA Champions and Cubs World Series champions; wouldn’t that be nice?
In closing I just want to thank all our customers, and all the staff of Topflight for making my last 7 months a very enjoyable experience.
By Sandy Davenport
There are many signs of spring besides looking on the calendar. Farmers have been getting their fieldwork done and getting the planters ready, flowers are popping through the ground, birds are chirping in the mornings and we just had another successful Topflight Women’s Program.
I guess the big story at Emery is the new bin. Dimensions are 105’ in diameter and 85’6” to the eaves with an overall height of 114’6”. Bushel capacity is rated at 691,309. This will really help with our ground pile situations, but in some years will probably not eliminate ground piles at Emery. Groundwork began on March 14th. Concrete work is expected to begin around April 18th with the bin being delivered around May 16th.
As with all winters, Charlie and I were kept busy by receiving farm stored grain and shipping grain out. There sure aren’t too many days of the year that we aren’t receiving or shipping grain.
As many of you know, Charlie and I are the only two working at Emery now. Right before Christmas, Boomer retired from Emery and went to his “retirement” home in Maroa, which happens to be Charlie and Linda’s house. I thought maybe Boomer would come to work with Charlie every once in awhile, but so far he is very content on staying at home.
Speaking of retirement, we can’t seem to get rid of Jerry Lambert! (Maroa’s semi-driver who retired on March 19, 2004). He and Juanita supposedly moved to New York, but you couldn’t prove it by me. I have seen and talked with him more since they moved than when he lived here. He even crashed the Women’s Program! I knew he would miss us!!
Jerry has our camper ready to go for the season. With the price of gas, we may have to leave it behind our house and build a campfire there. I’m glad Weldon Springs isn’t far from us. We are taking a week of vacation around Memorial Day. Going to leave the camper at home. We have rented a cabin somewhere between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee. Then we are going on to Ashville, North Carolina. During that time we will be celebrating our 38th anniversary.
I hope that everyone has a smooth planting season and a great growing season.
SEYMOUR SCENARIO
By Richard Thomas
I’ve been filling in at Seymour until they find someone to fill Doug’s position and have found it to be very interesting. First of all, in my 35-year career with Topflight Grain I always walked to work. I only lived three houses from the Bement office. Now I have to travel 20 miles to get to work and with the price of gas I have come to realize how fortunate I’ve been all those years. Not to mention having to get up earlier to make it to work on time. I do however get to see the countryside and flash my lights at Pam as we meet each other on the Ivesdale road.
I’m getting to know our great customers at Seymour a little better. Each morning we have a group that comes in for coffee and they solve most of the world problems. Bill Scott and Ron O’Connor are usually the first to show up. Then Chris Foran comes in on his way to work at United Parcel. Bill Young is in and out several times a day, but you would expect that because he’s a politician. He’s been the road commissioner here for 24 years and it’s election time, so he’s in and out drumming up votes and putting out signs. Chris Karr shows up most days when he’s not practicing calling hogs. You know he’s one of the past State Hog Calling champions. The Nibling brothers, Mark and Jim, will show up to talk about the markets and the Fighting Illini. Jim likes to boast about how many awards the Parkland pulling tractor has won. Maybe it’s because he raises money for the project. Some days a guy by the name of Pete shows up and everyone calls him the Mayor or Sheriff. Seems to me his main interests are where he’s going to go out to eat for lunch each day. He takes his wife and family out for lunch because it’s cheaper than dinner. Heck, one day my old buddy Delmar Castor showed up to steal some railroad cars from us. Delmar is the manager of Rising Grain and his elevator at Bondville needed some railroad cars that the railroad had mistakenly delivered to us here at Seymour. He showed up in a Ford pickup and we all wondered if he was going to pull the cars back with it. We later found out he had a trackmobile on they way to hook onto the cars and drag them back to Bondville. It sure was great to visit with Delmar for a while and lie to each other about the grain business.
Well a customer just came in and now that I’m not the boss I got to be productive so I better go wait on him.
It is a beautiful spring day at the time I am writing this article. It is more than a little difficult to be inside writing it, but it is the day before the deadline and here I am. It has been a busy winter since my last article, and we have managed to finish several projects around the elevators that I consider to be priorities going into summer. Both rings at Pierson have been emptied, and came up in great shape, and the non-gmo flat at Atwood has been emptied. We have also managed to complete most of our regular on the farm hauling and grain-vac jobs. This is always a huge relief to me. Along with several other bins cleaned out, or ready to be cleaned out, it has been a very productive winter.
We continue to improve safety training with our employees at our monthly safety meetings, and with summer weather coming, I always look forward to moving our meetings outside for more hands on demonstrations. Speaking of warmer weather, it will soon be time to be out in the fields for planting season. United Prairie has already been working hard through anhydrous and fertilizer season and is currently delivering smart boxes and seed. On a personal note, summer tractor pulling season is coming up and I can’t wait to get the old Minneapolis Moline out of the shed and back to pulling down the track. Thank you for your business and until next time, be safe.
MONTICELLO NEWS
By Jason Geppert
Bring on spring! Monticello has been a busy place this winter. Loading trains, hauling out grain by truck, the markets rallying and grain coming off the farm has kept us on our toes this winter.
We have a new outside elevator employee; Jack Warren has come from Bement to run the elevator at Monticello. He is learning the ropes and has been doing a great job. Sherryl Young has been kept busy by all the offers coming in and making sure that the position balances. On days that the market rallies this can be a tedious task. Sherryl has done a good job of keeping this under control on those big purchase days. Derrick Bruhn has been busy making grain sales, watching the markets and with crop insurance. Jim Shaffer has been busy at Lodge transferring corn to Monticello and has also helped out this winter dumping trucks at Monticello. Stason Kopps has been busy loading trains, working at Seymour and picking up ground piles at Maroa. Rob Dick has been busy with repairs, loading trains and helping pick up ground piles. Chris Frye has also helped loading trains and working at Seymour.
This winter I took and passed the state insurance exam. I was licensed in time to sell crop insurance this spring. Derrick has been great at teaching me the ins and outs of crop insurance. I look forward to learning more and assisting customers with their crop insurance needs and questions.
I hope that everyone has a safe planting season, and will look forward to visiting you in the fields this spring with a soda and candy bar.
IT’S SPRING AGAIN
By Stason Kopps
Spring is upon us once again. This means corn and beans will soon be planted. Harvest will be here before we know it. Here at Topflight we are busy shipping grain and performing maintenance to be ready for the next harvest.
I would like to welcome Jack Warren back to the Monticello facility. Jack is now running the elevator. This is like a homecoming for Jack, because he worked for Monticello Grain from 1981-1995. Chris Frye has been working every day at Seymour lately, since Doug Adloff took up a career in farming. Rob Dick is keeping busy with maintenance. He and I have also been helping pick up ground piles at Maroa. Jim Shaffer has been shipping grain out of Lodge. Jim was also around to help Jack get familiar with the Monticello equipment.
On a personal note, I decided to spring into action and lose some weight. The pants are fitting a little too tight, and I run out of breath too quickly when I climb the leg. I enjoy the exercising, but the Slim Fast lunches are hard to get used to. Wish me luck.
I hope everyone has a safe planting season.
NEWS FROM MAROA
By Denny Hill
It seems like we just finished harvest and here go the farmers out to plant their crops for the coming year. I have always been told how fast time goes by as you get older and I am seeing it first hand now as I enter my 30th year in the grain business.
We have been busy this winter taking grain off the farm and shipping grain to ADM and Staley’s. So far we have received around 750,000 bushels of corn and beans from farm storage and have shipped 1,400,000 bushels to the local processor in the past 4 months. Gary Liggett and Ronnie Miller have been very busy this winter outside, with us being short handed with Gary Wood off work for 3 months with knee surgery. So far with the help from other locations we have picked up both rings of corn and will have the 500,000-bushel bunker picked up by May 1.
The months of February and March have seen the bean market rally from below $5.00 to around $6.50 a bushel. This unexpected increase after the record bean crop we had last fall has led to an abundance of bean sales the past couple of months. Marketing analysts were convinced the bean market, with a decent South American crop, would be pressured well below the $5.20 marketing loan rate and to see it take off like it did really increased the cash flow projections for our farmers. The 20 to 25 cent gain in the corn market during this time also was unexpected and helped created some new sales.
Everyone is looking forward to the new bin at Emery that is being built this spring and summer. This nearly 700,000 bushel bin will help alleviate a lot of problems we run into each fall over here in the western region of Topflight Grain. Lets hope our crop is still big enough that a ground pile will still be needed in Emery.
My wife Terri and I spent most evenings this winter watching basketball games as our youngest daughter Meghan played for the Maroa-Forsyth High School team. We also enjoyed many of the Maroa-Forsyth boys games as both teams had excellent seasons. Our oldest daughter, Jessica, is finishing her first year at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, so we spent a couple of weekends visiting her this winter. With spring here the softball season has started, so we will be bundling up and sitting out watching the girls play softball.
Have a save planting season!!!!
By Mikki Burns
I’m always excited about the time change—it brings longer and warmer days!! It’s time to enjoy the outside—working and playing. It’s time to clean off the debris from winter and watch the flowers grow and bloom. It’s time to enjoy the outside with our kids and grandkids. They should really enjoy the outdoor activities this summer—
Time has sure changed the kids. Blaine is almost 3, JD is almost 2, and Audrey is almost 1 ½. They have had a pretty rough winter being sick, but hopefully the change in the weather will keep them well. It is unbelievable how they can talk and communicate with us now. And isn’t it amazing how you can understand them? Bet you didn’t know that ‘tetop’ means ketchup!?!—‘dup’ means up!?!—and ‘dayday’ means orange juice!?! The boys have been saying ‘go yi-ni’ (Illini)!! It is the cutest thing and we love it!!!
There have been a few changes here at Cisco—Koehl’s finished the re-claim leg so we can empty our new bin. All the kinks have been worked out and the landscaping has been completed. Our rail siding will be upgraded soon. We have been shipping a lot of grain plus receiving grain off the farm. It is hard to believe that it is time to start the process all over again. It’s time to go to the field and plant the crop—please have a safe spring season!!
By Eric Clements
Spring is just around the corner. The fields look pretty good considering all the rain we had this winter. I am glad that we didn’t have very much ice or snow this winter. We did load a train on a Saturday this winter when the cars were icy on top. But our dedicated staff carefully climbed up and opened and closed the lids to get this train loaded on time. We have twenty-four hours to load NS trains from the time they are placed in our facilities. This includes weekends as well. We can load a fifty-car train at Monticello in about eight to nine hours. If we split a fifty-car train between Bement and Milmine we can load in about four hours. A typical railcar holds about 3800 bushels and a fifty-car unit holds about 190,000 bushels. It usually takes us two or three days to truck this much corn to Decatur. So the trains are an efficient way to move the bushels. But, we cannot rail all the grain so we are thankful for the truckers who brave the winter weather to haul the grain out of our elevators. Two of the most challenging places we haul out of in the winter are Maroa and Emery. It is hard to get a pickup truck across Route 51,never mind trying to get a semi onto this highway. They have to be very careful when they cross over to get into the southbound lane. I do not think that we are going to get an entrance ramp any time soon.
The concrete contractor is starting the new bin at Emery on the 18th of April. It will take him approximately four weeks to pour the footings and foundation for this bin. The bin parts will start arriving on semi trucks on the 16th of May. It will take the bin erector approximately four to five weeks to erect the new GSI bin. This project is about one month behind schedule but it should be finished in plenty of time for the fall harvest. There are a lot of new bins going up around the state this year. I am surprised about this considering the higher cost of steel this year. I am hearing about thirty to forty percent price increase on steel products. I thought that we would have some sticker shock this year on bins but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The shortage of space is due to better yields and additional corn acreage. The new tank at Emery will hold 690,000 bushels.
We have been emptying our temporary grain piles this winter and hope to have everything picked up by the end of May. We have a 500,000-bushel bunker at Maroa and a 470,000-bushel bunker at Seymour yet to finish. We have emptied 480,000 bushels of temporary storage this winter in four different structures. We have six tractor mount augers to help us empty all the ground storage piles that we have around the company.
Please
remember to be safe and careful as you head back to the fields. I hope that
everyone has a great spring.
By Russel
Wright
Winter is over and spring is here, the time will change, it is almost predictable. The Pierson crew was busy during the winter months; they picked up both rings of corn, which was early this year. A big thank you to all the extra help that was sent our way in doing these projects. This winter, Gary Speagle has been helping us. He helped us at harvest. They also loaded rail cars,(at least the weather cooperated) and loaded out corn and beans for delivery by truck to ADM and or Staley. Willard has been working on winter projects. Fred is happy the rings have been picked up. Brock has been busy with all the safety meetings agendas as well as coordinating all the work that needs to be done on the south end of Topflight Grain. Gloria has been busy with the women’s program as well as billing all the fertilizer that the United Prairie customers have been putting on recently. If the weather cooperates in the next couple of weeks, there will be a lot of corn planted in this area. I have been busy with getting Topflight Grain ISO certified, a tremendous undertaking to say the least.
All of us are looking forward to spring as well as summer. Baseball season will be here, Debby and I like to attend the T-Ball games as well as pony league games. We are also looking forward to a new grandchild. Marcus and Nicole are expecting their first baby in June. Gloria and Rob are also expecting a new grandchild. Gloria’s daughter Stacey and her husband are waiting the arrival of a brother or sister for Michael in July. Willard and his wife Jean will be taking a motorcycle trip again this year. Fred and his wife Pat will visit with their grandchildren. Brock is getting his tractors ready for the tractor pulls this year.
Everyone have a safe and fun spring and summer, take time from your busy schedules and enjoy what life has to offer.
My wife and I have just returned from a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia and Washington D.C. It was interesting to see places in Williamsburg that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison walked and talked and sat. It makes you think about these men and how could they do what they did in their time.
In Washington D.C., we toured the Capital and Library of Congress. It gives you an awesome feeling of responsibility and pride. We also visited the Vietnam, Korean, and World War Memorials. It makes you want to say thanks to every serviceman you know. We also walked around the White House, but didn’t get to see my friend George.
This trip made us rethink American values and principals. You do not want to take things for granted. There is a cost for freedom and you must be willing to do your part.
Now for a little financial news about the company. At the end of February the company was showing a profit of around $700,000.00. Our budget is $661,000.00 profit, so we are on target at the moment. We still have three months left in the fiscal year and hope to end up in this area or better.
By Derrick Bruhn
The markets have surprised everyone by the rally the past few months. Coming off of record production in both corn and beans no one had much hope for any big rally, but the markets fooled us once more. From February 4 to March 15 beans rallied from $5.01 to $6.84 ½. In the same time period corn went from $2.02 ½ to $2.31. This was a great selling opportunity for those that had been carrying corn and beans on storage. The farmer came out of harvest having only sold 30% of the corn and beans that were delivered in the fall. Today he has sold about 80%. The reason for the big rally and the selling opportunity was because of buying in the commodity markets by the index funds. Index funds are fund managers that invest money in the markets to make money for the investors. This money can be in the stock market, bond market, or the commodities market. We have seen money coming out of the stocks and bonds and entering the commodities, metals and energy markets. Compared to other investment opportunities the commodities markets appeared to be under valued. This is why we saw a very large amount of money flow into the markets very quickly. The fundamentals associated with the markets do not matter to these investors. The index funds are considered a hedger and are reported the same as an elevator or end user of the commodity. It is impossible to differentiate between actual hedgers and the index funds. There are no limits to the size of position that the index funds can have. Another type of fund is the spec fund. They look at the fundamentals and trade based on the charts and moving averages. This type of trading must be reported weekly and is recorded by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This is very easy to track because these numbers are published by the CFTC.
The planting intentions report was released and showed an increase in corn acres to 81.413 mil acres and a decrease of bean acres to 73.910 mil acres. This is 500,000 more acres of corn than 2004 and 1.3 mil less acres of beans than 2004. Depending on the spring weather these numbers can change, so we will have to wait and see what Mother Nature has in store. Quarterly grain stocks report showed corn stocks at 6.754-mil bu vs. 5.271-mil bu in 2004 and bean stocks at 1.381-mil bu vs. .906-mil bu in 2004. Export sales can change these numbers by year-end.
Lynne and I have been enjoying watching Mabry grow and develop. She is 19 weeks old now and is changing daily. On her 3-month birthday she started sleeping all night and we have been blessed ever since. You come to appreciate a good night’s rest a lot more when you haven’t had one for a while. Lynne is looking forward to school being out so she can spend the summer with Mabry. Mabry attended her first Women’s Program this year and was the youngest in attendance. Many of the wives got to see her as Lynne and I were there helping out.
By Rodd Runyen
It’s springtime again! The signs are all around us. The trees and grass are turning green, the robins have returned to our area, baseball practices and games have begun, and of course, the planting of the fields has started. But the way that I know spring is here is because of my children.
At our house, it used to be that our 15 year-old, Sara, was on the phone or the internet all the time with her girl friends. But now she is always talking to boys! That can’t be my ‘little girl’ talking to all of these boys!! It seems like there are boys calling all the time now. This dad isn’t ready yet for driving and dating! But there is no stopping the hands of time. So like it or not, I better get ready. But the boys better be ready to be grilled by mom and dad!
I can also tell that spring is here because our 10 year-old son, Bailey, is itching to get out their on the pitcher’s mound. He LOVES baseball and can rattle off stats for everybody. He also loves watching our beloved Chicago Cubs. I have raised a really smart boy!
And of course, I can tell spring is here because of our 7 year-old daughter, Autumn. She is never in the house! She can’t sit around and do nothing. She always has to be playing. So it is a good thing that we live near the school in Cerro Gordo so she has lots of playground equipment to play on. She is our bundle of energy.
So we are ready for
spring at our house. We have tickets to go see a couple of Cubs games this year
and already have a booked solid summer schedule planned. I’m also happy to
report that Tera has continued to have great progress reports with clear MRI’s
and chemotherapy treatments winding down. Thank you again to all who ask about
her and pray for her.
I hope everyone has a great spring and summer.
By Pam Jarboe
When Russel emailed us, and told us that the ISO auditor was recommending us for ISO approval, it was a wonderful feeling; an accomplishment that I wasn’t sure we’d ever meet. We started working on ISO procedures a LONG time ago. It was a one-person project at that time, assisted by our two Milllikin professors and our extension specialist. Soon, I was asked to help. I remember at the first meeting, thinking that this task was close to impossible. We were asked to document everything we did, and implement new procedures for quality control, and I just didn’t think that we could do it. We went through two ISO managers, and Russel Wright accepted the position. Russel came into it, about mid-way through, getting to know Larry and Charles, and Paul, and trying to understand what was supposed to be done, and how to get it done. He did a superb job. Once he understood it, he had to get everyone else on board. Everyone had to document their jobs, adapt to new standards, know their portion of the ISO manual, and know the general content of the entire manual.
It was a great company task, and one that we met. Russel led us through it, and to our goal. The internal audit committee has reviewed the manual, our jobs, and asked enough questions to be sure we’re doing our job as described. I’m sure there was mumbling and grumbling (I did a lot of it!) but everyone did as they were asked, many new ideas were produced out of the process, and it forced us to do some things that we knew we should be doing, but weren’t.
It was a great team effort. We can all be proud of the company and the employees for their work and dedication to ISO certification. That was just the first step (it was a long step). Now, we must work to maintain the certification through continual monitoring of our work and processes.
We hope that the ISO certification will eventually be recognized as a higher standard of grain handling and generate new customers and new business. Until then, it has standardized some of our procedures, and made all of us more aware of ensuring a quality product. ISO is a very well developed quality control management system that has international recognition. So, when you see that “DNV” logo on the front of our newsletter, it’s a symbol to all that we are working on ensuring that your needs are met. This is an on-going process, so please let us know when your needs are not met, and how we can improve.
Congratulations to all!!!
CROP INSURANCE
By Derrick Bruhn
Market volatility has increased the need for crop insurance to offer a revenue guarantee. This allows the farmer to sell grain before it is harvested and allow protection if the prices go higher. When talking about the revenue based policies there are several questions that come up concerning coverage and costs. There are many programs to choose from and many times the program that was used last year is no longer the best choice. Jason Geppert and I have been working with customers and helping them understand what programs there are and how crop insurance will work best for their operation. Different farming operations may require different programs. We spend time with customers that buy insurance from us and with customers that just want a better understanding of the programs. We really enjoy speaking to farmers about these programs and helping them select an insurance that works well for them. If anyone has any questions about crop insurance or hail insurance feel free to call Jason or myself at the Monticello office anytime and we will do everything we can to help. Call 1 (217) 762-2163
By Derrick Bruhn
The European Union is very hesitant to accept some of the new varieties of corn that are on the market today. The EU did approve Roundup Ready event NK 603 for feed and food usage. This Roundup Ready trait stacked with any other trait is not yet approved. The EU has approved NK 603 and has approved the BT trait, but has not approved the two traits stacked. The EU does not yet approve Rootworm resistant corn at this time.
Topflight Grain will accept all of the traits at 4 facilities; LaPlace, Pierson, Seymour, and Cisco, for delivery in the fall of 2005. This will give farmers the ability to plant the non-approved varieties of corn and deliver them to Topflight Grain during harvest.
The rest of the Topflight Grain facilities will accept only the EU approved varieties and traits at this time. Each day more work is being done to gain approval on more traits. It is important that our customers communicate and understand good grain stewardship when growing the traits and varieties that are not yet approved by the EU.
AVERAGE PRICE PROGRAM
By
Jason Geppert
The average price program began pricing on January 6, with the price of fall delivered corn at $2.15. This program will continue to price until the 21 weeks are complete. The pricing takes place every Thursday at 10:00 am. As of March 24 the price for fall delivered corn is $2.14. After the program completes pricing, we will be offering to those patrons involved in the program an opportunity to purchase a call option to protect them from the risk of the market going up this summer. If anyone has questions please call the Monticello office and Derrick or I will be glad to assist you.
Our sympathies to the families of . . .
Imogene Perabeau, George Stoerger, Betty Johnson, Donna Vermillion, Lewis Trummel, John Wentworth, Beth Wilson, Virginia Sievers, Dorothy Haynes, Inice Shambaugh, Gene Phillips, Anamary Feeney, Ronald Boyer, Wendell Bolin, Dale Landgrebe, John Pickrell, Herman Stahl, Ruth Bell, Anna Cain, Milton Tabaka, Glenn Rodgers, Dale Mackey, Victor Kizer, Beth Simmons, Robert Blood, Don Mauck, Lova Schwenke, Jack Davis, Quintor Miller, Ruth Van Horn, Bill Berry,
and all others who have lost loved ones.
Our congratulations to . . .
Evelyn Westerman, who celebrated her 90th birthday with a family gathering; Kyle & Cindy Johnson, recently married; Helen Agee, who celebrated her 90th birthday with a family gathering; Dick & Mary Lou Munson, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house in Cisco; Shannon & Jenn Carroll, parents of Wade Michael, born on Valentine’s Day (we bet he’s a sweetheart!); Robert Luka Sr, whose 80th birthday was celebrated with an open reception; Andy & Junie Wallace, proud parents of a new baby; Dave Syfert, his first novel recently published, and more books soon to be published; Hazel Crowe, who celebrated her 90th birthday, with an open house; Nellie Boyd, who celebrated her 90th birthday with an open house; Nichole Foran and Christopher Keenan, engaged to marry in November; Ruth Groves, who celebrated her 88th birthday; Amanda Holt, named Bement Student of the Month in February; Harold & Flora Wittig, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house; Jean Trolia, who celebrated her 80th birthday; Imogene Zelhart, whose family helped her celebrate her 80th birthday; Jim & Dorothy Hackett, whose 50th wedding anniversary was celebrated with a family dinner; Lindy & Ann Powers; their new granddaughter, Autumn was born in March; Garold & Joyce Hilligoss; their new grandson, Blake, was born in November; Rick Stone who celebrated a “special” 40th birthday in March; Wileva Williams, honored as “Volunteer of the Year” for Arthur; Frank Mauck, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday; Andréa Burns who had a “special” birthday celebration for 30 years; Mark Albert, new grandpa to Makenzie Albert; Rick & Tracy (Albert) Neinas, recently married; Dominic & Shilo Melendez, welcoming their new daughter, Anabelle Grace; and Rick & Debbie Beauchamp, recently married.
One of the many good ideas proposed during the 2005
Topflight Grain Board Retreat, was a director’s column in the High Flyer. Our first contributing director is Richard
Larimore, your board president:
Pride in Ownership
Do you have it? You should!
By Richard Larimore
President, Topflight Grain
Did you ever think about how many places you do business that the product you buy is all you get for your money? Here at Topflight Grain, your company just keeps giving. Your company uses your money to provide all kinds of services, storage, drying, trucking, settlement paper work, revolving stock, good employees, good facilities, marketing programs and crop insurance. The biggest reason your company does all of these things and many more is because of you.
You have a board that is made up of people just like you who are working for the same things that you are working for. We recently had a board retreat in conjunction with the Feed and Grain Convention in Springfield. It is always good to get the board together like that to brainstorm. As a company we are looking at storage and rail transportation, and purchased stock in the alcohol plant at Lincoln, Illinois.
It’s great that we have a board and employees who are willing to give the extra time for the good of the company. We have a management team that is working together. So, the next time someone asks you what you do, tell them that you are a farmer or a landowner, and that you own Topflight Grain, because you do!
Thank you!
By Scott Docherty
As most of you know Topflight Grain has not assessed grain settlements
since December 31, 2004, for the grain insurance fund. That will most likely change. Starting July
1 of 2005, if the balance of the fund is less than 3 million dollars, we will
start assessments again and will continue for 12 months to June 30, 2006. If
there is no insolvency keeping the balance above 3 million then the producer
assessments will stop, but the elevators will continue to fund until the fund
reaches 6 million dollars. Remember up until 2003 this IL grain insurance fund
was completely funded by state licensed grain warehouses. Grain sellers will contribute .0004 times
the net market value of grain settled during any assessment period. Coverage for producers has been changed,
also, from 270 days for price later to 365 days. The amount producers can
recover has been changed from 85% of a valid claim up to 100,000 dollars to
250,000 dollars. If you would like a
complete list of producer coverage please call one of offices and we would be
glad to forward a copy to you and answer any additional questions.
AND THE WINNER IS . . .
Stuart James, Bob Day, Joyce Hendrix and Lori Auth were the winners of the recent Trivia contests on the Topflight Grain website. Questions have asked about TV shows from the 70’s, Illini fever, seasonal topics, and how much popcorn Americans eat. We ask a new question each week, and a winner is drawn from all the correct answers each month. Log on and send your answer to us.
The prize? It’s a world famous, much desired, Topflight Grain T-shirt.
One of our December questions asked how many lights were on the Bement cross. One answer was “ we can see the beautiful cross from every window in the back of our home. . . . I challenged my son, Garrett, to the Trivia . . . so binoculars in hand, his guess is 40.”
SPRING INTERNS
Topflight Grain was fortunate this spring, to work with 3 interns. They came to us from high school, junior college and four-year college. One stayed a week, one was here several weeks, and one will be here through the spring.
Chris Stringer, is a senior at Southern Illinois University with a major is Ag. He actually chose to spend his spring break with Topflight, rather than those other places that college students visit on spring break. He was with us for a week, spending time with several of the employees, learning about the various jobs within the company. We were very honored at the reply he sent to us, and would like to share it with you:
Just wanted to thank you for allowing me to spend last
week at Topflight. Everyone was extremely nice, and while they were very busy,
took the time to tell me what they were doing, show me how they did it, and
answer any questions that I had.
I can’t tell you how impressed I was with how well management works together and how much each individual person is responsible for. Another thing that stood out to me was how well everyone got along, and how much the staff enjoys their work.
Please tell everyone at Topflight thanks, and let
them know how much I enjoyed learning about your company. I hope to meet you again
someday!
Thanks
again,
Chris
P.S.
My Salukis almost did it yesterday!
Rory
Wright, a
senior from Bement High School, was here to help us in late winter and early
spring. He moved around to several locations,
to learn some of the duties of each employee.
He was eager to learn, asked some good questions, and was very
attentive! Once the weather improved,
he moved on to Taking Root LLC, to learn more about landscaping. He turned in this report:
On February 22, 2005, I started my internship with
Topflight Grain. I was there for a
total of 5 weeks. I did a little bit of
everything, from working outside with Murphy to doing office work with
Pam. I learned a lot of different
things about how the elevator worked.
The
first couple of days, I was with Jim Murphy.
He showed me what he does outside.
I was lucky, on one of the days I was with Murphy, a train was being
loaded, so I got the opportunity to see that process. I didn’t realize what all goes into loading a train car. He also took me on a tour of the
elevator. I had never been on the top
before so that was very interesting. You
can see for miles and miles.
After
being with Murphy, I headed to Pierson to spend a couple of days with
Brock. He showed me the southern part
of Topflight. We went and saw all the
elevators he is in charge of. Brock’s
job is pretty tough. He has to go
through all of the safety manual and then rewrite it to make it understandable
to everyone else in the company. It
looked like it was a long boring process.
After the first day with Brock, we figured out that we are cousins, so I
learned something else that day, too.
The
last thing I did was work in the Bement office with Pma, Chuck, Rodd, Scott and
Eric. That was always very
interesting. Rodd and Chuck showed me
all about the accounting part of the business and Pam just had me do whatever
needed to be done. I printed out yield
report after yield report for a couple of days, and I helped her get ready for
the women’s group.
I just
want to thank everyone at Topflight for being so nice and fun to be
around. I really enjoyed my five weeks
at Topflight. It was a great experience
and I learned a lot. I didn’t realize
that so much work had to be put into making the elevator work and I don’t think
there can be a better elevator than Topflight.
Amanda Bruce, is a student at Lakeland Junior College. She will be working in the Bement office, and learning to assist in other offices as needed. She is from Lovington, and has also worked at other grain facilities.
Hi, I am Amanda Bruce, a sophomore intern from Lake Land College. My major is Ag Business and Supply. I hopefully will be working in an elevator after I graduate in December. I have had quite a bit of experience working in elevators. The summer of 04 I worked at Moultrie County Grain in Cadwell and Chips (just north of Sullivan). Last fall I worked at ADM Grain Elevator at Sullivan. What an experience I have had. I’m a farm girl myself, but sitting on the other side of the desk, wow, was a lot different.
I was born and raised in Lovington and graduated from there also. I grew up running around in Sullivan on my grandfather’s farm. It was a small farm, but I thought it was the world! He had about 130 acres tillable, but Grandpa never really let me out in the field, only to spread manure! We also had about 20-30 head of cattle, which I loved and took care of all the time. Whenever Mom or Dad couldn’t find me they would always call one of the neighbors or drive over to the farm. They could always find me there. In the fall of 2000 my grandpa decided to sell the farm because of health problems. If that didn’t break my heart!! So that is when I decided I was going to have something to do with farming for the rest of my life.
So far at Topflight I have had quite an experience! Pam has showed me how Agris works. I have made out contracts, sold corn and beans, and even made out checks for the farmers. One day when we weren’t busy Chuck had me to…should I say, “reorganize” his filing system. Good luck on that next year Chuck! One day I went to La Place to see how Vanessa ran it, so I could run it the next day. Boy was I ever nervous, I don’t know how many times I called Pam that day, but we got through it and they even sent me back a couple of times. The Women’s Day Program was great. Everyone seemed to have so much fun. I know I did! A big THANKS to everyone at Topflight for taking time out to work with me. And I hope to work with you and the farmers some day.
WHAT FUN WE’VE HAD!!!
Our fun with the Bement 2nd Class has continued through the winter months. In December, we joined them in their classroom, as they showed us some of their favorite Christmas songs. As we were enjoying their words and actions, we heard that familiar “Ho-Ho-Ho”, and the jolly elf in the red suit appeared at the door. Santa had plenty of time that afternoon, and visited with each student, taking note of each one’s desires for Christmas. He handed a sack of fun stuff to each student, and bid us all a Merry Christmas as he whistled for Rudolph and the team of reindeer.
In February, Tom’s Bowl was our host as Teri gave tours to small groups to show them the equipment that re-sets the pins and returns the bowling balls. Then, we bowled! We bowled all afternoon! There were some strikes, some spares, some splits, even a few gutter balls. It was all fun, and we finished with cookies and soft drinks.
We have two more outings planned for the spring, and then, on, no! school will be out for the summer.
CAN YOU READ THIS???
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,
the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was
ipmorantt!
DOWN THE MIDWAY AND IN THE GRANDSTANDS
The county fair was the scene of this year’s Topflight Grain women’s program. 175 ladies joined us at the “fair” on Wednesday, March 23, at the Cisco Center. At the fair gate, each one was given a Topflight Grain tote bag to carry through the fair. Strudel and muffins were served in the “food tent”.
Kristin Strike, Miss Piatt County 2004, welcomed the guests to the fair, as she described the local pageant and the State pageant. Kristin talked about the experiences she has had as the reigning royalty of Piatt County, and displayed some of her mementos and dresses. She had entered the Piatt County pageant prior to winning in 2004, and enjoyed the experience so much and met so many wonderful people that she entered again in 2004.
Food displays and demonstrations are a part of any county fair, and chocolate was the food of choice for the Topflight County Fair. Joel Williams, from ADM, delivered samples of chocolate wafers for all to taste, and talked about the growing and harvesting of the cocoa bean.
The “Midway” opened up, as 35 local vendors displayed their products and services. Displays included ag finance, ag research, ag equipment, health, floral, landscaping, hobbies, collectibles, make-up and jewelry, travel, hair design and more. Goodies of all sorts filled the tote bags, and many door prizes were awarded. It was fun and exciting.
Fair time food – pork chop sandwiches, salads and desserts – was served by Basket Case Catering, It was a great taste treat!
The day at the fair concluded with the Grandstand Performance of the Wesley Wranglers. The group of men from the Maroa Methodist Church sang many favorite songs, read some entertaining stories, and told some funny stories. Dr. Jenny Powell joined that as a guest artist, with some great Patsy Cline, (and other) tunes. Their performance concluded as the audience rose to “Proud to be an American.”
Looking for some fun this summer? Come, join the villages of Bement and Cerro Gordo, as they celebrate their 150th birthdays.
The Bement Sesquicentennial Celebration will be the last weekend of July, July 29 – 31. It will kick-off with breakfast at St. Michael’s Parrish Hall, on Friday morning. Exhibits are planned for the day, at the school. Friday evening, the Bement Country Opry will present a special Sesquicentennial show at the Opry, and DJ Todd Thomas will entertain at the tennis courts.
Saturday’s activities include vendors and activities in the village park, all day, with special musical and entertainment performances, and a parade at 1:00. An art show and games for the youth are included in these activities. Bryant Cottage will sponsor a Cemetery Walk, featuring portrayals of Bement’s distinguished citizens. Margo Smith and Billy Walker, well known country music artists, will present two shows on Saturday, and a gospel show on Sunday. Sunday morning begins with a community church service, followed by a community lunch. Plans are tentative yet, with more events planned, and the committee is still seeking ideas. Soon, the Sesquicentennial events will be listed at www.bement.net. If you have questions, or suggestions, you may contact Irene Hooker at 678-2881, or Pam Jarboe at 678-2261.
Cerro Gordo Sesquicentennial is Friday – Sunday, June 17 – 19. Nancy Born provided this information:
Mark your calendars! It will be here before you know it! Preparations have been underway since last summer and the pace is speeding up. This event will begin at 6:00 pm on Friday, June 17, and close on Sunday afternoon, June 19. An important part of all this is fundraisers. Available are souvenir plates, special license plates, coverlet, shirts, buttons, raffle and Sesquicentennial Memories book following the celebration. The community was invited to make quilt blocks and from these blocks, two quilts are being made for a quilt auction.
Friday activities begin at 6:00 pm, with Opening Ceremony, Sesquicentennial Queen(s), Beard/ Bonnet judging, Children’s Parade, Pee Wee Pioneers Baby Contest, Bed Races, River to Ridge Twilight Run, entertainment and concludes with fireworks.
Saturday activities include the parade at 10:00 am. There will a Quilt Exhibit, encampment, old time crafts, Fun Time Cruisers Car Show, Antique Car Show, antique tractors, antique display, children’s games and activities, waterball competition, 3-on-3 basketball, beach volleyball, Alumni Banquet at noon, horseshow tournament, and other activities. Evening is chicken dinner, pageant, with quilt auction following. Entertainment will be on-going in the afternoon and end with the Hitmen band playing following the pageant and quilt auction.
Sunday will begin with community church service at 10:00 am. Lunch will be served. At 1:30 pm, a patriotic concert with Tammy Renee Harris, vocalist, old time baseball game, and cake and ice cream will provide activities for all ages.
Attending Saturday will be author Richard Peck. Two books written by him were based on his experiences visiting his grandparents in Cerro Gordo. “A Long Way from Chicago” and “A Year Down Under” both won Newbery awards. A book signing will be at the library in the afternoon.
So, you see, a lot if being planned for your enjoyment. Keep watching for more information. Contact persons are Judy Tuvell and Nancy Born.
More events that are sure to be fun include:
June 11 – Bement Lion’s Club Chicken Fry
At Forest Preserve Park
Entertainment by the Decatur Park Singers
June 17 & 18 – Forsyth Family Fest
In the Forsyth Park
Fireworks on Saturday evening
June 23 – 26 – American Prairie Festival in Argenta
Events include a parade, vendors, food and more!
July 2 – Holiday celebration in Maroa
July 4 – Bement 4th of July
August 6 & 7 – KC Barbeque in Ivesdale
Entertainment, games, and lots of good food all weekend long!
And, this spring --- the 13th Annual St Judes Bike-A-thon
6th Annual Trike-A-Thon
5th Annual Walk or Jog-A-Thon
Saturday, April 23rd, 10:00 AM
Starting at the Maroa elevator
Prizes include a new bike, money, a boom box, T-shirts, sweatshirts and sportbags!
Call 497-5210 with any questions.
With the recent craze of Texas Hold ‘em, and the gambling nature of farming, the 2005 focus meetings sported a gambling theme. The focus meetings were held on March 8,9, & 10, at LaPlace, Bement and Argenta. Following a delicious buffet breakfast, Eric Clements’ topic was “Full House”. Eric described some of the facility improvements planned by Topflight Grain. The main project this year will be the new bin at Emery.
“Keep them Honest” was Chuck Bentley’s topic, as he reviewed the company’s present financial statement, and projected year-end figures.
In the second hand, Denny Hill and Derrick Bruhn had the “Win, Place & Show” topics. Denny showed the summary of last year’s marketing pool, and the actions taken in the 2005 pool. Derrick reviewed the average price contract, the new accumulator contract; discussed crop insurance; and gave a brief market outlook.
In the third hand, Pam Jarboe showed the new Internet package that provides producers with access to their grain records. Staff members from United Prairie discussed Topflight’s ownership of UPLLC, and some of the concerns of this planting season, under the topic of “Bet the Pot”.
In the final hand, manager Scott Docherty addressed some grain related issues, including the grain insurance fund, ethanol plants, and shuttle grain loaders, in “Betting Stakes”.
Rain gauges were awarded to the winners of the high card draw, and all participants were given a gold dollar as they turned in their “tally card”.
A lot of good questions were asked at the focus meetings. If you were unable to attend, or have unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to call one of our offices, for answers to your questions.
Lock up 19 men in a room, for a day and a half, and you’re bound to come up with some good ideas!
That was the purpose of the 2005 Topflight Grain Board Retreat. All of the directors, manager Scott Docherty, controller Chuck Bentley, operations manager Eric Clements, safety manager Brock Casteel, merchandiser Derrick Bruhn, assistant manager Pam Jarboe and meeting facilitator Glen Ludwig met together on February 19 and 20, to plan and project the future of Topflight Grain. They discussed the farmer of the future, the needs of the farmer of the future, and how Topflight could meet those needs. Financing these needs was a very important topic of the meeting, which includes maintaining and improving facilities, stock revolving, and programs to assist production agriculture.
Projecting the trends of the future was a little frightening, but most had similar viewpoints, as direction was planned for future projects and customer services.
17 Chinese students met the Topflight, Bement, staff, on Wednesday, March 30, in a tour coordinated by Steve Ayers. The group has been in the US for almost a year, in various areas of study. Their agriculture tour included a visit to the Ayers farm, to Piatt County FS, to Topflight Grain, and a short history of the Lincoln-Douglas history in Bement.
Derrick Bruhn assisted with the tour, to answer their questions about marketing and merchandising. They asked how much corn and beans the elevator held, why we dried corn, but didn’t dry beans, how the grain was shipped out, and where it was shipped to. We showed them how inbound grain is weighed and graded, and they watched the golden flow of grain as it disappeared into the grain pit.
$ $ $ $
It was another busy January in the Topflight offices. The first two days of the New Year, $14,000,000 worth of grain checks were written. That compares to $28,007,000 the first days of January 2004. The entire month of January, we bought $32,153,170 worth of grain, compared to $49,319,285 in the month of January 2004.
CHECKOFF $$$
In the first quarter of 2005, Topflight Grain farmers contributed $35,173 to the corn check-off fund, and $117,408 to the soybean check-off fund. The money collected for the check-off is disbursed by state and national boards, who are elected by grain producers. They allocate the money for production research, new uses, and promotion.
HONORED EMPLOYEES
At Topflight, our employees are one of our greatest assets, and truly the foundation of the service to our customers. Some of our employees grew up here; others have chosen to make our communities their new home. They, and their families make a significant contribution to our company and to the towns in which they live. We’d like to honor the ones who have served you for 25 or more years:
Richard Thomas, served as your manager from 1969 to his retirement in 2004. As a retired, part-time employee, he develops special projects, fills in office vacancies during vacations, still develops customer and employee relations, and still works for the good of the company.
John McCabe has been working in the grain business since 1972, when he came to work for the Cisco Grain Cooperative. John ran the Argenta elevator for several years, and helped build the concrete elevator in Cisco. With that knowledge is very valuable to the Cisco facility. He also willingly helps out at Emery and other locations, when needed.
Denny Hill got his start at the Cisco Coop as he was riding into the elevator with his dad, and jumped out to help probe trucks (this is when the trucks were probed with a hand probe). His career in the grain business has been progressive since 1975. He has been the assistant manager at Cisco, manager at Emery, and now, manager of the the Maroa-Emery elevators, and the marketing pool.
Russel Wright was hired by Manager Richard Thomas in 1972, having recently returned from duty in Vietnam. He was hired to run the Voorhies facility, and soon became the company grain hauler in the semi truck. In approximately 25 years of driving the semi, Russel was the recipient of many safety awards, and never received a moving violation. He is now the facility manager at Pierson, and completed the ISO certification process for theTopflight Grain quality management system.
Roger Burton also had his start at Voorhies. He started there in 1975, covering the outside duties. Soon, his talents in maintenance were recognized and now, he is the maintenance supervisor. He works well with others on the maintenance staff, teaches his techniques to others, working patiently with all. His work is unsurpassed, and is a great benefit to the company, and to the farmers he serves.
Garold Hilligoss was hired in 1980, at the Cisco Coop. The bin site became his responsibility. He made sure it was full, and that the grain remained in quality condition. With the merger into Topflight, Garold has assumed more duties at all of the Cisco annexes, is great help loading trains and running the trackmobiles, and is often seen helping in the other Topflight elevators.
Jim
Shaffer has worked for Monticello Grain/Topfight Grain since 1972. Jim is the man that has never met a stranger.
He knows all the ins and outs of Monticello, Lodge, and Seymour
facilities. He runs the Lodge facility in the fall, and makes sure it’s empty
and ready for the next fall.
Jill Kuykendall
started to work for the Maroa Coop in 1977, after graduating from
Maroa-Forsyth High School, and a couple of years at Kemper Insurance. She likes living and working in Maroa, and
being involved in the community. She
has assisted the Maroa grain producers with great service for 28 years.
Pam Jarboe came to work for the company in 1980, assisting at the scales and grain
buying. Harry Funk dubbed her as
“Popcorn Pam” and the title still remains.
Whether she is serving popcorn, assisting with grain records, weighing
trucks or planning meetings, she enjoys her job and the people she is working
for.
FOOD CHECK-OUT DAY
Piatt County Farm Bureau and the Monticello Chamber of Commerce celebrated Food Check-out Day, on February 3, with a race through the aisles of the new County Market Grocery Store in Monticello.
The rivalry began in January, between the team of Gary Huisinga and Larry Head, of Heath’s Inc, and Scott Docherty and Derrick Bruhn of Topflight Grain. Each team’s goal was to put the most dollars of food into their cart in three minutes. The food items were to contain products of corn, soybeans, wheat or oats, no more than two of any product could be used, and the food items were to be non-perishables.
The two teams and supporting fans gathered at County Market. Reviewing the instructions, both teams raced away quickly at the starting whistle. They hurried down the aisles, destined for baby formula, breakfast cereals and snack foods. Both carts were full, as the 3 minute whistle signaled the end of the race. The Topflight Grain crew checked out with $375 worth of groceries, slightly more than the Heath’s team.
A portion of the groceries were then donated to the Piatt County Food Bank. The guys just couldn’t understand how it can women so long to buy groceries, when it took them just 3 minutes to fill their cards and spend in excess of $300.
Included in the food check-out day breakfast, was a quiz, by the Farm Bureau. Here are some of the questions they asked. How many do you know?
It was back to school on December 7, for the Topflight employees, as they met in the Monticello office, to review, learn, and practice their grain grading techniques. David Ayers of Champaign Danville Grain Inspection conducted the class. David reviewed the corn and bean grade standards, and helped each one of us grade samples, picking out damage, heat damage and mold damage.
We bid farewell to Doug Adloff, on March 8. Doug has worked at the Seymour facility for several years, often managing the office and the elevator as a one-man operation. He built some good relationships with the area farmers, with the community, and with his fellow employees. Doug will see a significant change in his life style, as he moved to the Maroa area, with his new wife, Coley Hoffman, and will assist her family with their farming and trucking operations.
We wish both of them a very happy future, together.
We all have our favorite people that we look up to, for information and guidance. Marketing is no different. We seek opinions of special people and gather as much information as we can. Many people turn to Topflight employees for marketing information. We thought we’d show you our track record.
Last year, a very generous, anonymous donor gave the Bement employees a few bushels of corn. This person wishes to acknowledge the employees for their work and dedication, and also wants them to experience the marketing grain. Here’s how we did, last year, in the 2003-04 marketing year:
Henry Lust $2.35
Richard Thomas $2.55
Chuck Bentley $2.61
Rodd Runyen $2.66
Pam Jarboe $2.56
Eric Clements $2.42
Jim Murphy $2.36
Roger Burton $2.40
Scott Docherty $2.91
Stacey Lehew $2.40
Rick Chestnut $2.37
Bill Benson $2.36
Jeff Stout $2.37
Tony Brittenham $2.34
Michael Burton $2.40
CONGRATULATIONS, JACK!!
Congratulations to Jack Warren! He has been promoted to facility manager of the Monticello elevator. Jack ran the Voorhies elevator for Topflight last fall, then working with the operations staff through the maintenance season. He worked for Monticello Grain for several years, is familiar with the facility, and the great customers of the area.
Congratulations to Jason Geppert! Jason has studied and successfully passed the tests to become a licensed crop insurance agent. He will be working with Derrick Bruhn in the Monticello office to assist producers with their crop insurance decisions. Either one of them is very willing to review coverage choices and help explain some of the differences in cost and protection. They can provide the insurance to you, or you can take the information back to your crop insurance agent and purchase the insurance there. Their main concern is that you understand the coverage you have selected, and feel that it is the best choice for your operation.
Manager Scott Docherty awarded the Cisco crew, represented by Mikki Burns, a plaque featuring the news article written about the new bin, built last year. This award recognized the Cisco crew’s accomplishment of the most grain receipts last harvest.
It was a Christmas Holiday season of fun, at Topflight.
We had entries in the Monticello and Cerro Gordo parades on December 4, and in the Bement parade on December 11. We saw many good friends, including Santa!
Good food was served at the open houses, in each location. We served food to some wonderful people, and had some time to visit with most of you.
By Richard Thomas
Never enough is said about the dedication and commitment some individuals have made over the years to the cooperative system. One such person is Carol Query. My first contact with Carol was over the phone to see if Maroa Grain would be interested in talking to Topflight about a merger. Maroa’s manager had moved on to a better job and they were looking at different options. Carol was the president of the board at the time, and it didn’t take me very long after our initial conversations, to figure out he was interested in doing whatever was the best for the company. As you know we were able to work out a merger between Maroa and Topflight that I hope everyone has benefited from.
I’ll never forget our first meeting when I met Carol and the Maroa board that consisted of Jim Stoutenborough, Tom Riley, Bill McGuire, David Zelhart, Roger Dial, and Jeff Heinz. We all met in the basement of the Maroa elevator and my first impression of Carol was that he kinda reminded me of a banty rooster, short, stocky, and ready to take on anything. Carol was recovering from a stroke he had had just a few months earlier and informed me he should probably be walking with a cane but didn’t want to mess with the darn thing. His determination and willpower to get the merger consummated once the board decided that was the direction they wanted to take was overwhelming.
As I got to know Carol a little better I asked him one day how he was related to the Query that played for the Green Bay Packers. He told me it was his son. I said how exciting that must have been. He said yes, I don’t think we missed many home games. He said he and his wife made lots of friends and had many good times on their visits to the Packer games. Then he went on to say, that when they started going to the games he went around and told all his landlords and farm managers what his plans were. It evidently didn’t affect his farming operation too much because that was back in the 1990’s and he’s still farming today.
I hope Topflight Grain hasn’t disappointed Carol or the board in the way we’ve run the operation since the merger. I know one thing for sure as a stockholder of Maroa Grain you couldn’t have had a more sincere or dedicated group of farmers looking out after your interest.
You know after
thinking about Carol and his banty rooster physique I bet he was a pretty good
athlete himself. I sure know he’s a
great person and someone I
look up to.
Many of producers with on-line access know how convenient it is to check grain markets and prices at any time of the day at www.topflightgrain.com. Grain accounting information is also available at any time, through the same address. At any time of the day, you can look up your open contracts and offers, open grain balances, and scale tickets for the last two years. This service is free to our customers, but you must register so that we can set up your account. To register, click on the “producer report” link at the top of the grain market page. If you have an account, you can log on from there; if you don’t have an account, you can register and your grain information will be set up.
The system updates each evening at 8:00, so your information should be current after that time.
Answers to food checkout day quiz:
Topflight Grain Mission Statement:
We are committed to the future of agriculture by improving the
profitability of our customers through quality service and exceptional people.
Did you ever notice: When you put the words “The” and “IRS” together, they spell “Theirs”?
I was visiting a friend who couldn’t find her cordless phone. After several minutes of searching, her young daughter said, “You know what they should invent? A phone that stays connected to its base so it never gets lost.”
Man, sitting at the IRS office: Wouldn’t it be easier if you just took my salary out of my taxes?
A bum asks a man for two dollars. The man says, “If I give you the money, will you buy booze?”
The bum says no.
The man asks, “Will you gamble?”
The bum says no.
“Then will you come home with me?” the man asks. “I want my wife to see what happens to a man who doesn’t drink or gamble.”