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Previous Newsletters Current Newsletter OWNER AND CUSTOMER By Scott Docherty Last fiscal was a record setting year for Topflight Grain and we have many demands for capital. Our patrons wear 2 hats when conducting business with Topflight Grain. One as a customer and one as an owner. Our goal is to bring value and a balance to both of our customers and owners. Topflight Grain
Customer needs -Competitive grain bids -Competitive service rates -Quick truck unload times -Timely and easy to read grain settlements -A knowledgeable staff and marketing options Topflight Grain owner
needs -Strong balance sheet -Access to different truck and rail markets -Capital to expand capacities and maintain strength and stability -Strong financial results to pay patronage -Sustainable business model to serve all customer needs When you look at this list what is important to you and your operation? We address all of these items at our staff and board meetings when making key decisions for facility maintenance and upgrades. Topflight Grain has been busy preparing for harvest by moving grain and performing repairs and maintenance on our grain dryers, grain legs and conveyors. We have had a 13 month crop year with the late wet spring and cooler than normal temperatures pushing back the beginning of harvest. Last year’s average corn moisture was 18.7% and this year could be even wetter and that doesn’t even account for a possible early frost. We have posted our new drying and service rates and lowered our drying rate slightly from last year. Remember Topflight charges are on dry bushels not wet! Natural gas prices are down approximately 35 cents per therm as opposed to last fall. Topflight Grain’s challenge this fall will be wet space and drying capacities. The question of the season is; “Is this a new trend or will we go back to a more normal planting season and have corn dry down closer to 17% moisture? “ We are working hard to complete the Emery projects which consist of a new 105’ diameter GSI tank, new pit and 20, 000 bushel per hour leg. Our goal is to be filling the new bin by the last of October. Our crop tour indicates we will have on average better yields than last year if, we don’t get caught with an early frost. The early indications from the mid South yields are very promising and showing much better yields in those areas. Beans are still a big question mark with the cool weather and plants that are still flowering or filling ?? Annie is a freshman in High School and is playing volleyball this fall for the first time. She is driver’s education this fall so it is a very exciting
time for Annie. Dillon is a freshman at Harvest is upon us again and we feel we are well prepared, with larger yields and wetter moistures it could be a long harvest for Topflight Grain as well as you, our customer and owner. This looks to be a season that we will talk about for years to come. To quote Yoda from Star Wars , “Do….or Do Not… There is no Try.” All of us at Topflight Grain are Doers and are here to ensure a safe and bountiful harvest!
WOW!! By Sandy Davenport Wow, what a summer! I know that our summer didn’t have ideal growing conditions for the corn and beans, but it was “my kind of summer”. I didn’t miss all the heat and especially the humidity. This past week’s temps were more like fall and we actually got to enjoy it since we are still a few weeks away from harvest. As many of you know, Emery is in the process of a major construction project. Work has been going on all summer. In the end, we will have a new 105’ bin (same diameter as the last bin we put up, but a couple of rings taller), a new pit, a new leg and conveyors. All of this will not be completed in time for harvest, but we do hope to put grain in the bin towards the end of harvest. There also have been upgrades done at the bean bin. This should speed up the handling of beans. Needless to say, there has been a lot of activity going on and has been fascinating to watch. Emery will not be taking Non-Gmo beans this year. All Non-Gmo beans from this area will be delivered to the Maroa facility. I think my harvest helpers will miss them. I think they enjoyed doing the test on the beans. On the other hand, I don’t think Charlie will miss them at all! Speaking of
harvest, I know that everyone has had lots of questions, concerns and unknowns this year, from planting to harvest times. I know this can cause stress and we all know that stress isn’t good! So, I thought maybe some of the following questions might make you smile. Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside of the bottle? Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase? If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? Why do “tug” boats push their barges? Why is the third hand on a watch called the second hand? Why does “fat chance” and “slim chance” mean the same thing? I don’t think
there is much new with Charlie or me.
Charlie took 2 weeks vacation this summer. I believe that he stuck around home and
enjoyed doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. Jerry and I went to Okay, I think I have rambled on enough. We are looking forward to seeing you this harvest and hope that it is a safe on for everyone!!! LAPLACE By Vanessa Stinson If you have new farms or splits please come in and get them taken care of before you come across the scales. This makes things a lot smoother when we are in the heat of harvest. We will be taking non-gmos beans post harvest again this year. I know some of you do not like this, but it does help with the flow of harvest. It looks like quite a few of last years help will be returning again this year its always nice to have people with experience. The summer has been an enjoyable one for Keith and me. We took a trip to the Wisconsin Dells in July and, of course, spent time at the trailer and on the lake fishing. Our youngest daughter Nicolle is engaged. She and her future husband, Kyle, are getting married next June. Poor mom has to keep working to pay for a wedding. We are excited to have a new son-in-law. Gretchen and Ashley are still plugging away at their jobs. Mark took some vacation this summer also. All I could get out of him is he played some game on his computer. We are looking forward to a great harvest and want to wish all of you a safe and profitable season. BUSY & FUN By
Pam Jarboe What a busy and fun summer!! We started a little bit early in the summer, with a wedding shower for my niece, Tricia. I was in charge of cookies and mints, and we had a great time visiting with the aunts and cousins who came to the shower. That evening, I changed clothes and came back to Bement to give the Survivor’s speech at the Piatt County Relay for Life. I was quite honored to speak to so many friends, and the Relay was a great success, thanks to everyone who helped. Most of the spring and summer, Gene Schnierle and I had been selling tickets to the 50-60’s show that was a part of the Old Glory Days of Lincoln-Douglas, in June. The festivities were in conjunction with the Bement Lions Club Chicken Fry. Gene & I have been co-organizing the 50-60’s show since the Bement Sesquicentennial. We had a show that year to raise money for the 150 year celebration and it was so much fun that we have continued the show. The Bement Country Opry is great to work with, and accompanies local talent in the second set of the show. The State Bank of Bement very generously sponsors the show, so that the proceeds from the show can be donated to local organizations. Also, during Old Glory Days, I organized an antique tractor show. I know very little about tractor shows, but we’ve had some good help and some good participation. This year was even better than last year. We had tractors from Frank Bragg, Roger Harris, the Walshes, Jack Funk, Paul Frank, Morris Rittenhouse, Les Syfert, and Jennings Implement. Some of the guys are close enough they drive their tractors in; others have to put the tractors securely on a trailer and bring them to town, then take them back home. This year, Chuck and Tom Walsh suggested that we play the DVD from the WILL show about the Walsh tractors, featuring Ray and Mike. I thought that was an excellent idea, but . . . . I didn’t have a DVD player. Kevin had one we could borrow. But I didn’t have any electricity. Jack Beebe had one we could borrow. The Walsh crew even helped set up the tent and take it down. It was a great day, and I certainly appreciated everyone who helped with the tractor show and the 50-60’s show that day. I also had the pleasure again this year, of emceeing the Junior Miss and Little Mister pageants for the Piatt County Fair. It’s so much fun to watch the participants mature just during the practices, and even more so from year to year. Tricia’s wedding was in late June. Of course, she was the most beautiful bride! Her sister was the most beautiful maid of honor and her brother was the most handsome groomsman. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun reception. I wanted to print a few pictures of our customers, at the reception, but it was forbidden! A good time was had by all! Tricia and Brett now live in Bartonville, which is a short drive from a yarn shop in Morton that my cousins and I like to frequent. Yes, one of my weekend pleasures is yarn shopping! We split our shopping between Ruth’s shop in Maroa and the shop in Morton. Now, it’s time to prepare for
harvest, and finish up a few projects, including the newsletter. One last plea for help --- recently in
Bement, we tore down the old “Moore” building, named from ATWOOD HAPPENINGS by Russel Wright Since the last newsletter, spring was sprung, summer is almost turning to fall, and the upcoming harvest is only a few weeks away. The planting season was almost a carbon copy of last year’s planting. Heavy rains and lots of ponds delayed corn and bean plantings. But like in years past our farmers endured and got it planted. There was even a white flag in a farm pond north of Atwood signifying that one farmer has surrendered to the weather. After scouting a few fields around Atwood, the yields might be a little lower, but all in all, not to bad. This summer has been busy, a lot of
our corn went to Bement or Milmine to be loaded on trains, the beans of course
went to ADM. The maintenance crew worked on replacing old panels in the dryer,
and getting it ready for the harvest. Some grain spouts, drag conveyors, and
bearings have been repaired. Another improvement was installing a catwalk on
the wet corn bin, so there would be easy access to sweeping it out. The paint
crew from Sky-works was here painting the rusty leg at the uptown facility. We
will be dumping all soybeans in the west elevator this year. This should help
speed up corn dumping at the east elevator. This year at Atwood, there will be
a truck route; this will help the semis and tractors pulling wagons to have a
wide turn getting to the elevator. If coming from the south as soon as you
cross the main railroad track turn right, cross over the rail siding, rock has
been spread to accommodate a safe passage, and proceed around the visitor’s
center ending back up on In May, Debby and I went to Lexington Kentucky for the annual Vietnam buddies reunion. What a nice place to meet, and renew old friendships. As the summer progressed, we attended a lot of Little League baseball and softball games. Now school has started and we will be going to a few of the early football games before harvest starts. So remember, use the truck route, watch the lights on the sign by the scales, and please use cards to let the scale attendant know who to put on the ticket. If you need any cardboard signs, please let me know and I will make them for you. Also iF you have any new farms or to change percentages of farms, please let us know in advance so we can get them entered in the computer. Please have a safe and bountiful harvest and THANKS for your business, it is greatly appreciated. A GREAT YEAR By Chuck Bentley For those of you that missed it, your company had a record breaking year that ended May 31, 2009. Earnings for your company were $9,956,000 before taxes and patronage. Patronage paid out was $3,000,000. Working capital ended the year at $11,799,000. All of these are records. Way to go! The earnings that your company made are exactly what it needed. These earning will enable your company to continue to build storage capacity, upgrade leg capacity and maintain its equipment. The increase in working capital will enable your company to borrow the needed money necessary to operate on without preconditions from our lending bank. These are all good things. Although it has been another trying spring for planting, it does appear that this year’s harvest will be good or better than last year. This will hopefully translate into another profitable year for your company. Have a safe and bountiful harvest. AGRICULTURE TRENDS By Amy Brammer Hello all! I can’t believe harvest is right around the corner. Where did the summer go? Time flies when you are having fun right? Well, Brenden has been such a joy this summer. He is almost 20 months old now and loads of fun. Every day he learns a new action or word and is constantly surprising Elliott and me with how quickly he is absorbing the world around him. He loves to be outside and will stand at the door saying “outside!” tirelessly. So, we have convinced him that the outside toys have to go night-night. It’s amazing how savvy a negotiator my son is when he wants something! J As I’ve worked on several different projects over the summer, I’ve noticed a few interesting tidbits I thought I would share. TFG has approximately 1400 active customers. Of those 1400 we actually speak to about half of them. The rest are handled through farm managers or selling agents, etc. Of this ~ 700 customers we directly do business with, 55% are over the age of 60, 38% are 40-59, and 7% are under 40. The American farming community is “graying.” This trend is not new, but it is accelerating. Why are older farmers slower to leave the farm than in the past? The most likely explanation is that improved health and technology allows individuals to work on the farm much longer than previous generations. Today’s 65+ farmer would have begun his farming career when off-farm migration was at its peak. They have a strong commitment to the farm and are reluctant to leave it. Perhaps it’s that there seems to be a “declining” of the family farm as more and more farm children choose off-farm careers. (I’m an example of that myself. Neither my brother nor I live/work on the family farm.) Or possibly it’s that even within the Ag Sector there is more of a push for agriculturalists, as opposed to farmers/ranchers. In 1988, even the time honored FFA Organization dropped the Future Farmers to encompass an ever changing, diverse agriculture world. There are so many varied opportunities in agriculture these days, that is seems like production agriculture has been pushed aside. Another possibility is multiple-heir ownership has put more land in the hands of individuals who live away from the farm. Perhaps this is resulting in elder farmers hesitating to leave as they must choose a non-family successor or sell off parts of the farm? Now, don’t get the wrong impression, this pattern of prolonged work life on the farm is not distressing, but it does bring back a question from one of my earlier articles on who is the future of farming? This “graying” phenomenon is not just an agriculture industry occurrence. In the job sector as a whole, the 55+ age range comprises the majority of new job hires. There are many possible reasons why. You could start with the fact that the economic losses over the past year are sending many back to work. Some continue to work for social reasons as today’s 55+ are more active than ever. Moreover, it seems like the younger generation seems to be expanding their college years as opposed to going straight to work after getting a 4 year degree. Lastly, let’s face it, the Baby Boomers simply account for a considerable larger majority of people than the current Gen X or whatever they are calling it these days! One interesting side note in
considering the changing face of farming that I couldn’t resist
including…according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture there are ~3.3 million We are always here to help you with your marketing decisions. We will have 2010 marketing program sign-ups post harvest, so when you are in the combine/truck/tractor/etc be thinking about what your marketing needs will be for the 2010 year so you will be ready when sign-ups begin! I wish all of you a safe and
successful harvest season! THE REAL COMPARISON By Derrick Bruhn Each year Scott works with the board to determine what the service fees should be for the company. In doing this, they look at all the costs associated with these services. Many times the service fees between companies differ in many ways and it deserves some time to dissect and compare those rates. As we get questions about our service rates there are many things to consider: Storage rates: Rates can be structured many different ways. There can be a minimum till a deferred date and then a daily rate or there can be a drop fee and a daily rate until priced. Corn that is applied to storage gets shrunk down to 14% moisture. The producer retains ownership to the grain if they choose to store. DP: Rates can be structured differently just as the storage rates are. The major differences are for DP corn. Corn that is put on delayed price is shrunk to 15% moisture. That 1% shrink difference at a shrink factor of 1.4% per point is equivalent to 4.2 cents per bushel on $3.00 corn. This can make a big difference when comparing storage and delayed priced rates. The other difference is the farmer releases ownership to the buyer when the grain is placed on delayed price. Drying Rates: On corn that is above 15% moisture there will be a drying discount. It can be all monetary or it can be a combination of monetary and shrink. Some have a graduated scale that increases the rate when the corn is above certain moisture. When looking at rates make sure you understand what the rates are. Some companies charge the drying rates on wet bushels and some on dry bushels. This can also make a big difference if you have corn that is very wet. The chart below will give you an idea of the comparisons between charges on wet bushels and dry bushels. MST Chg/wet bu Chg/dry bu SAV/BU SAV/ACRE SAV/ACRE 3.75 cents/bu 3.75 cents/bu (175 bu/acre) (200
bu/acre) 25.0 0.37500 0.32250 0.05250 $9.19 $10.50 24.0 0.33750 0.29498 0.04253 $7.44 $8.51 23.0 0.30000 0.26640 0.03360 $5.88 $6.72 22.0 0.26250 0.23678 0.02573 $4.50 $5.15 21.0 0.22500 0.20610 0.01890 $3.31 $3.78 20.0 0.18750 0.17438 0.01313 $2.30 $2.63 19.0 0.15000 0.14160 0.00840 $1.47 $1.68 18.0 0.11250 0.10778 0.00473 $0.83 $0.95 17.0 0.07500 0.07290 0.00210 $0.37 $0.42 16.0 0.03750 0.03698 0.00052 $0.09 $0.11 15.0 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 $0.00 $0.00 For beans the discount can also be structured as all monetary, all shrink or a combination of both. On $9.00 beans the discount for moisture can add up quick. All Topflight Grain locations inbound tickets should have wet and dry bushels on the tickets. The dry corn figure will be to 15% moisture and the dry bean figure will be to 13.0% moisture. If the corn is stored then the bushels that are stored will not match the scale tickets due to the additional 1.4% shrink to 14.0% moisture. It’s back to school time for Lynne
and Mabry. Lynne is teaching 6th
grade language, reading and social studies this year. This is her first year teaching social
studies. She spent a lot of time this
summer getting ready for this year.
Mabry is in the 4 year old class at NEWS FROM MAROA By
Denny Hill As another harvest begins to unfold here in Maroa we have been preparing for another wet corn crop to be delivered to us. With the wet spring we had along with the cool summer, it looks like this crop will be much later and wetter than last year’s and it was one of the wettest on recent history. The men have checked the dryers out extensively hoping to get the full capacity out of them where we can stay up the best we possibly can. It is going to be one of those years where farmers will have to be patient and just take each day as it comes as I anticipate some early closing because of the wetness of the corn. We had another
busy spring and summer here as we took in over a million bushels of grain from
off the farm. Between the everyday shipping to The outside help remains the same with Ronnie Miller, Gary Liggett and Andy Hunter handling the grain and Aaron Hill is in our semi when needed or helping the men in the operations. Inside the office, Jill retired at the end of June this summer after 32 years of service to Maroa Coop and Topflight Grain. We all wish her a happy retirement and she will be missed by all. At this time a replacement as not been hired but we hope to have someone by harvest. Our oldest
daughter, Jessica, is back after graduating this summer with her Masters from HAVE A SAVE HARVEST! EXCITING SUMMER By Adam Jackson Another busy summer is winding its
way into another harvest. The biggest event in my personal life this summer was
that I proposed to my girlfriend, Lindsay. She said yes and we are busy making
plans for a May 29th 2010 wedding in eastern Again, this year I participated in
the calf dressing competition at Things are going very well in I hope everyone has a safe harvest season. SUMMER OF MEMORIES By Stason Kopps Fall is once again upon us. At the time I am writing this it is anyone’s guess when harvest will begin, but it looks to be a late harvest. This has been a busy summer both at work and at home. The On a
personal note, I got married over the summer.
On August 8th Marsha and I got married in I hope everyone has a safe and productive harvest. WEATHER – SAYINGS AND SIGNS By
Gloria Litwiller Weather….weather….weather that is the main topic at the elevators and coffee shops. The rain seemed to have the same pattern as last year, right along Route #36. You can check out Topflight’s rain totals on the web page. You will notice that Pierson takes the prize, if that’s what you want to call it. Well, it proved to us that it can happen two years in a row. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t happen in threes. I’ve always heard the old” wives tale” that says, “Things happen in threes”. Speaking of ole “wives tales”, here are few more: -When spider webs in air do fly, the weather will soon be dry -Farmers and gardeners thought that Good Friday was the best day for planting because it was the only day of the year when the devil was thought to be powerless. -Lots of nuts on trees, means whopper snows -If ant hills are high in July then winter will be snowy -If the first week of August is unusually warm then winter will be snowy and long -Much rain in October brings much wind in December -If the first snow falls on unfrozen ground expect a mild winter -When the sunshine is hot and the shadows cold, there is frost in the air -Transplant when you see swallows swooping close to the ground. -If it rains on Easter, then we will have 6 more Sundays of rain -If the cows lay down in the pasture, then a thunderstorm is coming -If birds feed in a storm, it will rain for a long time -Leaves on a tree will turn over before a storm -A ring around the moon means rain in 1-2 days -When the rain makes bubbles in the puddles, means high water -A sneezing cat means rain is on the way -Red sky at mornings, sailors warning: red sky at night, sailors delight “Old wives tales’ and folklore like the ones above came about because folks noticed patterns in nature and passed them down from generations to generations. Today we just turn on the TV or computer for the local forecast (science). However, there are some scientific theories to these “wives tales” and folklores. On the home
front: Hilary is back at SIU at Brock and Erica are proud new parents of Morgan Paige born in July. I’m sure you will hear more in Brock’s article. When you see Willard or Jean ask them about their two week trip on the motorcycle. Randy and Sherrie had a quiet summer. Sherrie did spend two weeks with her daughter, who is expecting. Watch for the ole “wives tales” and their signs. Have a GOOD HARVEST SEASON. HARVEST 2009 By Mikki Burns It’s going to be a late one this year!!! We are getting ready!!! We know there will be lines – we know the dryers won’t keep up – and we know everyone will probably be frustrated!! BUT – we will do our best to make it go smooth. Here at Cisco, we are asking that everyone proceed across the tracks and then turn east to line up to get weighed and also to get in line for whichever elevator you are directed to go to. Any questions about that procedure just come in and ask. We hope you will have any NEW farm codes or CHANGES set up prior to pulling on the scales. Please check your tickets to make sure we have the correct code on them. Justin McCabe is back in Cisco for harvest. Jon Sago and Joyce Bennett will be here again in the office. It is great having experienced people return to help us!! Grandchildren Update – Harvest will be a trying one – so please take your time and be careful and safe!! LONG AND LATE HARVEST AHEAD By Jason Goodner Hello to all of our customers, family, and friends from the Seymour location. I know that they say two years are never alike. Well, I might have to argue that this year. We still have a few weeks until harvest kicks off towards the end of September/ October. This year we didn’t have replant issues, just getting it in the ground the first time provided enough challenge. We have been working hard this summer to get everything emptied out before harvest. I can tell you that we have cleaned a lot of bins this summer, and should have plenty of room for the crop. We did have an upgrade this year. We have a completely refurbished dry leg coming out of the dryer. We have a new motor, reducer, belt, buckets, and take ups. This will make sure that we are moving as much dry grain away as possible this fall from our dryer. This summer has been full of good times. The Annual Fourth of July parade is always a great time. This year it was drizzling most of the morning, but right before the parade started it quit until close to the end. I didn’t have any co-pilots this year due to the rain. Matter of fact I might have lost them for good since they were able to get candy instead of throwing it. This year’s entries were down, but we still had 97 entries. We didn’t think the crowd turnout would be that good, but it was amazing to see all the people appear from their houses to line the street. Not so many
weeks ago we conducted our annual Crop Tour.
I went out over a couple of days and toured in all directions around As a reminder again this year, please get any changes that you’ve had to your farming operation to us before harvest starts. Changes in farm divides, percentages, land no longer farmed, or accounts no longer used. If you have had anything that could affect your grain account, please come see us before rolling across the scale. One last reminder, please make sure to display your farm codes for which you are hauling in for. We will have new scale help this year, and it will help us get it right the first time. If you need to make some signs, we will have material in the office to do so. Thanks for your help. As we start
harvest you might see a familiar face from last fall. Steve Schoonover has been hired on full
time. Steve helped us here last fall,
but will be taking over at Lodge this fall.
Steve and his wife, Shannan,
live here in Seymour. Hopefully
you’ll see him in Last but not
least. Kolby
started first grade this year in Mahomet.
He has become a very big and smart boy in the last year. Addi wasn’t real
fond of him going to school all day this year.
They played together all summer long, so it’s been a little bit of adjustment
for both of them. Kolby
did get to play coach-pitch baseball this summer with good old Dad as his
coach. We had a good time, and hopefully
they all learned something. Kari is
planning on working again this harvest on her days off. I appreciate her help, not only here, but at
home keeping things going while we put in our long hours. I am really thankful to have her as my
wife. We were able to get away this
summer. We went down to I hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well, and we would like to wish everyone a safe and bountiful harvest. As you start harvest, please be patient as I expect to be drying every bushel that comes in. As always, if you have any problems this fall please give us a call. Thank you for all your business, and we’ll see you in a few weeks. BUSY SUMMER By Eric Clements This has been a busy summer full of many projects for Topflight Grain. It was also a challenging year for corn shipments with the extra FM in our corn. We had to unload some railcars and refill them. Unloading the cars was very frustrating for the all of us involved. We screened more corn bushels than I can ever remember. I talked to a lot of other grain superintendents across the country and everyone seemed to be having similar problems. We think it was because of all the bushels that we had to dry last year and that stressed the kernels. Topflight
hired MJ trackworks from We are
installing quick closing doors on the elevators at Cisco. We have had some dust complaints at Cisco and
this is Illinois EPA’s and our resolution to these complaints. We have similar doors at The biggest project for us this summer is the new bin, dump pit and leg for the Emery elevator. The bin is a 105’ diameter tank that will hold 730,000 bushels. The new leg is rated at 20,000 bushels per hour. The new dump pit will hold 900 bushels and is big enough that a semi will only have to stop once before leaving the pit. We also installed a new conveyor on top of the existing concrete bins. Cleveland Grain is the general contractor on this project. Craig’s Concrete from Gilman is the concrete contractor and Paul’s Machine and Welding is the millwright in charge of installing the equipment. The bean leg at Emery was increase from 5,000 bushel per hour to 10,000 bph. These improvements should really help shorten the lines at Emery. WELCOME MORGAN PAIGE By Brock Casteel It has been a busy summer sweeping bins and shipping grain. Maintenance projects seem to be on track, and we are currently loading some of the last trains with old crop corn. Soon we will be looking for rail wheels and trucks to move this crop to the processors in order to keep the doors open during this upcoming harvest season. Harvest help will be joining us sometime in late September, and I am sure it will be the normal hustle and bustle fall harvest, with everyone in a hurry to get the crop in before the first snow fall. Tractor pulling this year was a good time as usual, although we ended up with three canceled events due to rain outs for the season. We have some changes to make next year for improvement, so I am looking forward to that. Recently Erica and I have had a major change in our lives. On July 14th we welcomed a healthy 6 lb. 14 oz. 19 3/4” long baby girl into the world. Her name is Morgan Paige Casteel. She is cute as a button, and is already giving mom and dad a run for their money. I once thought that sleep deprivation was a torture technique, and something that happened at harvest time. Now I know it is also part of being a parent. I’ll see many of you this fall, and I wish you all a safe and profitable harvest. GOOD THINGS By
Rodd Runyen Have you ever heard the old saying, “you
don’t know you have a good thing until it is gone”? Well, living in About 2 years ago, Price’s Service
Station closed, leaving Another inconvenience has also been
refilling the gas can for your lawn mower. You had to carry a gas can with you
in town in your car instead of being able to run over to the gas station a
couple of blocks away and filling it up. Then driving around with a gas can sloshing around in your trunk. Just a big hassle for
everyone! But But this also brings to mind another
saying, “Too much of a good thing”. For as nice as Casey’s is, it is also nice
to have a grocery store in I also realize how good I have it with
my family. My wife Tera hit the 5 year mark of being
cancer-free in July. This has been a huge blessing for my entire family. Our
children continue to rapidly grow up but also continue to make Tera and myself proud parents. Sara is starting her second
year of college at BUSINESS AT MILMINE By Terry Kuhn Milmine has been fairly busy this spring and summer. Shacks and Voorhies have been transferring corn and beans here or being weighed here on their way to ADM, Tate and Lyle or a couple other locations not requiring near the volume. Shacks has trucked out over one million bu. of corn this year. Rick has been transferring, cleaning, bringing in and shipping out corn and beans by truck and rail. It seems like everyone has been helping fabricate and replace the 8,000 bph leg to 11,000 bph, new belts and buckets on the legs in the main house and increasing the capacity of one of the pits. A couple augers under bins have been replaced after cleaning. We’re still plugging away to be 100% prepared for harvest. I’ve had the opportunity to meet a few farmers but I’m looking forward to harvest to get to know others. My wife Susan is now working at an
elementary school in Everyone have a safe and successful harvest. TAKE OFF WITH TOPFLIGHT!! Ashley Jennings interned in the
Monticello office this spring, through the Bement High School training
program. She has continued to work for
Topflight Grain, as we needed part-time office help and we’re looking forward
to her assistance this fall. Ashley is
continuing her education at I came into my senior year of high
school knowing that I wanted to go into business and accounting. I plan to go
to I walked into the office on Wednesday February 3rd not knowing what to expect. The first couple of days were shaky; I worked with Adam and the scales and started to learn what Chuck does. Now most of my days are spent running the scales, answering phones, filing and doing odds and ends around the office. Now after about two months I am able to run the scales (mostly without problems!) by myself, I still have to ask Adam and Derrick which drivers are which though. These last two months have been tons of fun with all the guys here; will miss them after I leave in May. I came into this knowing nothing about the grain elevator and how it works; I will leave here with so much more knowledge about what is going on in these offices. I can’t thank everyone enough for this opportunity. Congratulations to . . . . Rebecca Pickrell, 90 years old in March; Earl Gisinger, 90 years in June; Alyssa Hendrix, Anna Hendrix, Emily Stoerger, Katelyn Rogers and Sabrina Tucker-Hinton, recipients of the Academic Achievement Award during Bement Middle School promotion; Samuel Brandenburg and Kyle Vogelzang, scholarship recipients from the Piatt County Farm Bureau Foundation; Josh Hendrix, recently engaged to Katie Wright; Jake Lieb, recognized with the District Young Leader Achievement Award and District Young Leader Discussion Meet Winner, from the Illinois Farm Bureau; Matthew and Michelle Perry, parents of Mason Reed, born on August 29. Marcus, Maxwell and Mayleigh welcome him home. Grandpa Fred Perry calls the grandkids his “little M & M’s”; Tim, Tylene & Jordan Crouch, welcoming home little Ethan; Scott & Callie McFarland, winners of the District Young Leader Excellence in Agriculture Award, from the Illinois Farm Bureau; Harris Agricultural Museum, featured on WEIU-TV Heartland Highways 700; Jonathan Chenoweth and Henry Dunn, Illinois State Scholars from Sangamon Valley; Jordan Zelhart, Junior Achievement, Maroa-Forsyth; Roger Harris and Don Moody, 50 year members of the Atwood Masonic Lodge; William & Elizabeth Cresap, parents of a Sarah Margaret, born last January; Ken Frye, recently named assistant director of Scovill Zoo; Alex Gaitros, and Lance Muirhead, American Legion Contest Winners; Ron & JoAnn O’Connor, proud grandparents of Kenady O’Connor, born in May. Proud parents are Matt & Melissa
O’Connor; Gary Appleby, named 2008
Republican of the Year; Melvin &
Carol Gulley, who celebrated their 50th anniversary
(unfortunately, Melvin passed away a short time later); Sara Hendrix, recently engaged, planning her 2010 wedding at Disney
World; Nicolle Stinson and Kyle Shay,
engaged to be married next summer; Jeff Lonnon, promoted to head coach of the Lady Rams
basketball team in Mt Vernon IL; Robert
& Joyce Williams, who celebrated their 50th wedding
anniversary in May; Will Foran, joining the Big Blue of Millikin
University football team; Melanie Brine
& Sean Olson, married last February; Mr & Mrs Dan Morris, welcoming home
little Grace, last November; Jack &
Kay Drew, married 50 years in May; Jessica
Price & Shannon Somers, married in June; Kaitlin Magsamen, Illinois winner of the
2009 GrowMark essay contest for FFA members; Ken Wright, who celebrated his 50th
birthday in May; Margaret Wright,
grand marshall of the Piatt County Relay for Life; Mallory Reeder and Rick Crist,
married in June; Christina Bolsen and Bart Baker, married in June; Jim & Mary Leach, celebrating 60
years of marriage in June; John & Mava Herbst, who celebrated
their 65th wedding anniversary in June; Anna Hendrix & Alyssa Hendrix, competitors in the IESA state
track meet last May; Olivia Warren,
valedictorian of the Bement Class of 2009; Sabrina Tucker-Hinton, salutatorian of
the Bement Class of 2009; Joshua Nichol, triathlon participate in the Fairview Park event; Hailey Briggs, placing 8th
in the State Track meet; Jodi Morris, 40 years old in June; Edwin & Kay Wallace, married 50
years; Bailey Runyen, member of the
2nd place baseball team, in the July tournament; Jeff Davis, 50 years old in June; Kathy & John Terril, grandparents of Caleb Nelson
Terril, born last November; Tom & Stephanie Stoddard, who celebrated their 25th
wedding anniversary in June; Richard
& Mary Mumm, married 50 years in April; Welcome
home, Grant Briggs, after serving in
Afghanistan for 1 ½ years; Huey & LaDella Connour, married 50
years in June; Annie Docherty,
qualifying for the 100 meter hurdles in the state track meet; Gene & Mary Helen Holt married 60
years in July; Sierra Day, showing
the winning heifer in the 2009 Illinois Junior Angus Field Day; Gay & Dolores Maden,
married 60 years in July; 2009 Piatt County Fair Royalty – Brooke Morris, Cassi Erwin, Caleb Branch
& Jadyn Hannah; Art Wilkinson, named Illinois Banker of the Year for 2009; Ralph & Judy Myers, married 50
years in July; David & Barbara Ekiss, married 50 years in August; Eddie & Dee Elson, married 50 years; Bibby Appleby, Happy 60th Birthday; Jason & Rebecca Bolsen, parents of
Jake, born in March; Ralph & Louise Rigg, married 60 years in August; Leann Smith and Ryan Sosamon, married in
April; Ken & Janet Sawyer,
married 50 years in August; Jack Fombelle, graduating Summa Cum Laude at Illinois State
University; Laura Mills and Robert Sandheinrich, married in September; Jessica Lubbers and Jason Harmon, married in September; Mike Chenoweth, participating in the
American Poolplayers Association tournament in Las
Vegas; Paul Wright, placing 5th
in the U of I open golf tournament in June; Mr & Mrs Mike Myers, new grandparents; Adam Jackson and Lindsay Zscheck, engaged to be married. They are home-owners in Our sympathies to the families of . . . .Joe O’Kane, Viola Lilly, Margaret Curry-Winkel, Robert Luka, Bob Schable, Robert Hauskins, Mid Wilkinson, Marshall Stahl, Wayne Redman, Jocie Daggett, Mary Jane Harrington, Jim Oyler, Evelyn Westerman, Mary Fulk, John Dighton, Edward Gentry, Joe Boyd, “Nana” Docherty, George Meece, Bert Stoddard, Karleen Piatt, Lester Dalton, Wilma Harshbarger, Mary Caggegi, Ivan Benson, Donald Warner, Warren Hendrix, Katherine Woods, Mary Montgomery, Bob Moser, Richard Henry, Ada Meece, Zelma Fay, Pauline Foster, Elfrie Shepherd, “Dub” Patrick, Carol Feeney, Bob Romine, Wilma Lux, Isabelle Bodman, Carolyn Fair, Don Deering, Joanne Body, Roger Clark, Carl Laley, Doris Stoerger, Eugene Timmerman Jr, Matthew Birk, Juanita Beebe, Marvel Cordts, Jack Anderson, John Lamb, Warren VanHorn, Melvin Gulley, Don Piatt, Harold Blacker, Francis Early, Lois Vinson, Marilyn Morr, Thelma Downs, and all others who have lost loved ones. LOTS OF FUN IN 2nd GRADE We had fun and we learned a lot
with the 2nd grade class this spring. On March 20, Topflight Grain sponsored a
field trip to The next stop on the field trip was the Children’s Museum at Scovill Zoo. This was a program, specifically for 2nd graders, called “The Body Walk”. First, we had to wash our hands. Our first stop was the mouth, where we learned the importance of brushing our teeth. We ventured through the esophagus, the stomach, the lungs, the bones, the heart and the intestines. At each stop, we learned the function of each organ and ways to stay healthy. After the tour, we explored the museum, where the students worked in an auto repair shop, reported the news on TV, played virtual soccer, shopped at the grocery store, and many more activities. The museum is an awesome place, for children and adults! On May 8, we all enjoyed the afternoon at Tom’s Bowl. Each of the young students bowled, and bowled and bowled. They hit a few strikes and a few gutter balls, but most of all it was fun. We ended the afternoon, with refreshments, served by the great staff at the Bowl. We ended the year with our annual PlayDay. A few of us joined the students in their classroom for lunch. Scott usually accompanies us, and engages in an “open outcry” auction for special treats. This is a simple demonstration of trading corn and beans in the pits at the Chicago Board of Trade. Scott was unable to attend this year, so Pam auctioned off brownies, snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies. We bartered cookies for chips, cookies for drinks, and even cookies for empty cans (the can could be recycled). It was fun, and we discovered that in 2nd grade, oatmeal raisin cookies aren’t worth as much as chocolate chip or brownies. After lunch and a quiz on this year’s activities, we enjoyed games and relay races in Coles Pasture. We had potato sack races, wheelbarrow races, 3-legged races, tug-of-war and more. It was a great conclusion to all of our fun adventures with the 2008-09 2nd grade class. We are looking forward to another year of fun with the 2009-2010 class. HISTORY OF PIERSON Contributed
by Gloria Litwiller Pierson came into
existence in 1876. Pierson is an unincorporated village. Since the railroad
laid their switch on the Mr. Pierson married Eveline Reed on Sept. 27, 1846. The Piersons
had 13 children with 5 dying during infancy.
In March 1865, Mr. Pierson and his family started for Mr. Pierson and Mr. Chambers cleared and tiled the land that was wild and swampy in order to suit their needs for farming. The first grain
elevator was established on the west side of The Pierson Grain
and Supply cooperative was established in May 1918. John S Schable
served as the first president, J.O. Chambers the first secretary, and Mr. Baker
as first manager. The office was located on the west side of what is now Another elevator existed in Pierson for a very short time. It was nicknamed “Black Beauty”. It was last used for ear corn. When the elevator
office moved to the east side in 1974, Dave Conlin
was manager and managed until he retired in 1998. Pierson Grain and Supply
merged with Atwood Grain & Supply in 1994 and became Unity Grain and
Supply. Both Pierson & Atwood had a fertilizer/chemical department.
The fertilizer/chemical department became United Prairie LLC in Sept. 1996. The
elevator side merged in 1998 as Topflight Grain Cooperative. Both Topflight
Grain and United Prairie still run operations out of this location. GOOD NEWS!! This summer brought an agreement between the village of Bement and Topflight Grain. The long-standing, legal dispute over zoning on half an acre of ground for our rail siding has been settled. Village and Topflight representatives met and agreed to terms that allow Topflight to continue using the rail siding. We were pleased to settle the disagreement, and appreciate the Village representatives in their effort to close this case and move on to the business at hand for both of us. HAPPY RETIREMENT, JILL!! July 1 was the first time in 34 years that Jill Kuykendall did not report to the Maroa grain office as a full-time employee. Jill retired on June 30, after many, many years of assisting the Maroa farmers. Jill worked for Maroa Farmers Coop, just a few years after high school graduation. She was there through several managers, building the new office, and the purchase of the Waller Grain Company. Several generations of farmers have worked with Jill as she has watched the younger generations grow up, and watched as others retired. Retirement will give Jill more time to spend with her family and with the Maroa community. She & Jerry have already travelled to spend more time with their family. We thank Jill for all of her time and services, and wish her a very Happy Retirement! Sandy and Sherryl planned an open house for Jill, serving lots of good food, great punch and a beautiful cake. Many people came to enjoy the good food and thank Jill for all of her years of service. ONE EARTH ENERGY By Scott Docherty One Earth Energy started grinding corn on June 25 and has been running at a very good pace since firing the plant. Fagen/ ICM performed their test run and handed over the keys so to speak at the end of July. When you purchase a new piece of equipment there is always a loose bolt or something that needs to get changed out and with a new dry grind ethanol plant it still holds true. I need and want to commend Steve Kelley and staff for making this project happen and seeing it through to the end. It has been 4 ½ years in the making and lot of hard work by many people. The ethanol market went from boom to bust and back to margins in the black in that 4 year time frame. We are fortunate to bring the plant up with positive margins and crude and ethanol prices stabilizing with corn prices getting softer. The Board of Directors kept this project on budget and moving forward aligning with the right business partners. The market place is truly changing as Topflight Grain has seen the demand for corn move in direction that we have never seen before. This in turn will help all of our customers giving us another possible outlet for your corn. Remember this plant will grind 36 million bushels of corn and produce 110 million gallons of ethanol and 320,000 thousand tons of (DDG) Dried Distillers grains. OEE will have 45 fulltime employees on staff and hire local contractors for transportation and maintenance. We could also see demand improve and the ethanol blend rate move to 12% from 10% by January of 2010. We are very excited to be a small piece of the renewable energy marketplace and look forward to providing another market for east central IL corn production. TOPFLIGHT TRIVIA If you’re just cruising the Internet, looking for some fun, click on the Trivia tab on the topflightgrain.com website. The question changes weekly. We try to make it more fun, than tough, but enough to make you think a little bit. From each month’s correct answers, a winner is drawn. That lucky person wins the world-famous Topflight Grain T-shirt! We hope to hear from you this month! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! From Vanessa - - - Thank you to everyone who made my 50th birthday a great day. I told some of you paybacks would come, as they did for Duane Born on August the 17th. You see earlier this summer Duane had a mishap with his lawnmower and the birthday elves could not let that one get by. He got a cake with the mower and the truck stuck in the ditch, along with a new hat that matches his mood somedays. We hope we made your 75TH birthday a memorable one, Duane!!! Happy Birthday,
Sandy!! We also celebrated Sandy’s birthday in April. About 60 customers stopped to wish her a Happy Day, and others called. That was quite a bit of excitement for that little town! HOLE IN ONE!!! By Denny Hill Topflight held
their 12th annual Golf Outing on July 29th at the Ironhorse Golf Course in Tuscola, Illinois. Our luck with
the weather continued as we had a wonderful day with the temperature around 80
and a sunny sky to play one of the top golf courses in The field this year numbered 120 golfers, consisting of patrons, employees and vendors mixed into 4 man teams to play a scramble format with a Banker’s Handicap system in place to make for an even playing field. The winning team this year was Roger Lewis, Aaron Hill, Jim Mattingly and Bill Roberts. They edged out the team of Adam Jackson, Ed Taylor, Kent Kidwell and Charlie Bolin. The team coming in third this year was Judy Newlin, Sherryl Young, Sherri Stewart and Terri Hill. After a nice lunch was served by the Ironhorse Golf Club several proximity prizes were awarded, including a first for our outing as Terri Hill (my wife) made a Hole-In-One on the 150 yard hole number 15. This was her first after many years of playing and she received a set of Calloway Irons from the national hole-in-one association we deal with for insurance on prizes for the par 3 holes. A drawing was held before we departed for the afternoon and several prizes donated by our vendors were given away. Shirts, jackets, golf balls, hats, gift certificates and Cardinal Ball Tickets were just a few of the prizes available to win. Thanks to all the vendors who donated prizes and all the Topflight employees who helped make this another fun day for all who participated. Our next golf outing will be in July of 2011 as we alternate with the woman’s program each year. We look forward to seeing everyone then. ANNUAL CROP TOUR Topflight Grain’s annual crop tour
was held on August 15 this year. Teams
scouted the fields around each of the Topflight
elevators to estimate the yield of the 2009 corn and beans. The teams and guests met that evening at the Bement Country Opry for a
delicious meal served by Shawn & Brenda Reeves (with homemade ice cream
provided by the We extend a special thank you to Kestrel Technologies for publishing the crop tour maps, historical maps and the aerial tour so promptly to our website! Prior to the actual field touring, Adam, Russel and Pam were fortunate to take an aerial crop tour, over the Topflight area. They saw quite a variance in crop conditions. Some areas had the beautiful, square full fields of green. Other areas had dirt holes spotted through out the fields. In other places, the yellow crop showed the water path of the spring rains. We thank our pilot, Bob Cundiff, for another safe trip. WELCOME!! We welcome Andy Hunter to the Topflight operations crew. Andy joined the full time staff earlier this year, working primarily at Maroa, but assisting at other facilities when needed. Welcome to Martin Guenther. Martin joined the operations crew at We welcome Steve Schoonover to the
full time operations staff. Steve will
assist Jason at TOPFLIGHT ECONOMIC STIMULUS Topflight Grain didn’t put up any big bright green signs that said “economic stimulus”, but we issued almost $3.5 million in stock redemption and patronage this summer. We redeemed all of the Third and Fourth Preferred Stock and all of the 1993 & 1994 stock. In addition, 20% was returned on drying charges and 7.2133 cents/bushel on grain sold during the past fiscal year. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you during this upcoming season. GRAIN PAGE/HARVEST PAGE HARVEST REMINDERS: If your farms have changed ownership or grain divides since last harvest, please notify a Topflight office with those changes, so that we can be ready when your truck pulls on the scale this fall. All drivers should check empty (and full) trucks to be sure that the end gates and grain hoppers are securely shut. Our operations staff does their best to fasten grain doors; a second check by your drivers should also be performed just to be sure that all doors are firmly fastened. Back for harvest!!! Jerry Horton will return to the Bement parking lot, with his Dixie-Q trailer, serving lunch sandwiches and chips. Jerry served lunch last year to hungry truck drivers and employees. It worked very well for us, and he enjoyed it, so he will be back this year, once harvest gets started. NONGMO beans If you are growing nongmo beans contract beans, you must designate those beans as nongmo when you sell them to Topflight Grain. If you just sell “beans”, that contract cannot be applied to nongmo beans. Accounting in the books, and handling and storage in the elevator must keep beans and nongmos separate. IVIEW Many of you have used the producer reports section of our webpage to access your grain records. Earlier this summer, that program was discontinued and the program was transferred to “iView”. This program, also, was supposed to allow you to view your grain records through a link on our website. We struggled with the program as did many of you, as users of the program. It was very difficult to use, and there were instances that the information it provided was incorrect. We felt that we could not continue a program that did not provide reliably correct information. This harvest, the program will not be available, as it has been in the past. Please call any Topflight office when you have questions about your grain balances, contracts or anything else. We will also continue to work with the iView programmers to improve the program, and will search for other programs. We know many of you counted on that information as you came in from the combine at night, and we’re truly sorry that we have no program running for the fall deliveries. We promise that we will keep looking for a good, user-friendly program. TOPFLIGHT STATS By Amy
Brammer On the 1st and 16th of every month I
put together a run-down of where the customer grain sales are for the current
and future years. It gives us a chance to see what percentage of grain has been
sold and at what price levels. It also compares the average Topflight Bid for
grain against where customers have actually priced/contracted grain. So, here it
is…my unofficial stat sheet for the 2008 crop. These numbers are all as of
8/31/2009, the official end to the 2008 crop. 2008 Crop Corn: Total Volume: 29,722,623.09 bu. Percent Sold: 98% Average Topflight Grain Bid: $4.39 Average Price Paid to Customer: $4.03 Rolled into new minimums: ~ 600,000 bu (just shy) Soybeans: Total Volume: 5,237,424.72 bu. Percent Sold: 98% Average Topflight Grain Bid: $10.79 Average Price Paid to Customer: $10.19 Rolled into new minimums: ~ 86,114 bu An interesting note: as of August 16th we still had close to 3 million corn left in storage. We priced all but approximately 600,000 bu by August 31st. So, you all sold about 2.5 million bushels of corn in two weeks! 2009 Crop Corn: New Crop Purchased: 4.7 mil bu (approx. 16%??) Average Topflight Grain Bid: $3.76 Average Price Contracted: $3.94 Soybeans: New Crop Purchased: 739,330 bu (approx. 15%??) Average Topflight Grain Bid: $9.16 Average Price Contracted: $9.52
This time last year we had approximately 33% corn and 32% soybeans purchased for Fall ’08 delivery, compared to the approximately 16% and 15% we have bought for this fall! 2010 Crop Corn: New Crop Purchased: Approx. 1.4%. Average Price Contracted: $3.95 Soybeans: New Crop Purchased: 9,250 bu Average Price Contracted: $9.14 We barely have any 2010 new crop grain bought. There really hasn’t been much interest in selling that far out, even when prices were over $4. If you have any questions on these numbers or what to run your own personal sales numbers next to the average Topflight Bid and average Topflight Customer Price Sold, just let your local elevator know and I’ll put together a sheet based on your individual numbers. ANNUAL MEETING 600 stockholders, guests and employees attended the Topflight Grain annual meeting, on August 14 at the Decatur Civic Center. A buffet dinner, prepared by Basket Case Catering, was served from 5:30 – 6:30. A choice of meat, potatoes, salads, vegetables, and fruit salad filled everyone’s plates, plus a choice of many tempting desserts. Shawn Reeves provided the invocation for the evening, and Cary Hinton, as annual meeting chairman, welcomed the guests. President Ron Meece called the meeting to order. In the manager’s speech, Scott summarized the year, mentioning the changes from the volatile prices of the previous year, ethanol production at One Earth Energy, and building projects for the year. Special introductions included employees Vanessa Stinson, Jim Murphy and Gary Wood, recognizing 20, 15 and 15 years, respectively, of employment. Following the normal course of business, John Hendrix presented the slate of nominees for this year, to include JW Day, Cary Hinton, Greg Briggs and Dave Zelhart. These directors were elected to serve another term, along with current board members Ron Meece, Kyle Johnson, Bill Schable, George Riley and Richard Larimore. The meeting was then adjourned. WORK AT Topflight Grain There is always something to do at Topflight Grain, and our maintenance has been busy, as we emptied most of the bins from last harvest to prepare for this harvest, and made repairs for this harvest. Charles & Willard tightened buckets on the Emery leg. Quick closing doors have been installed at both elevators in Cisco, to control the dust. Rob, Roger & Eric chained off the old cistern near the Moore Building site in Bement, so that heavy traffic could not cross the area. The new pit at Emery The foundation for the new bin at Emery, and new conveyor equipment across the top. Rob worked on new aeration tubes at Monticello In April, Roger, Pat, and others prepared the leg motor at the top of the Bement elevator, to be removed and replaced with a new one. A huge crane lifted the motor from the elevator, and took the new one to the top. It was quite a sight, and a traffic stopper. A few days later, Jim didn’t think the motor was working right, so we had it tested and evaluated and it was pronounced as okay. It wasn’t okay, so in late August, the crane returned, took the motor down, and tried to put up a new one. The new one didn’t fit. We took it to be fitted, and the crane took it back to the top. The next day, the motor was leaking oil, so the crane took it back down. It is now back up on top, and we hope it keeps working! It seems like it takes all winter, spring and summer to pick up the harvest corn piles! Other jobs of the operations and maintenance crew included manlift repair, attendance at the GEAPS convention, loading trucks, trains, more trucks, and more trains, dryer maintenance, leg & bucket maintenance, lots of grass mowing, spout re-aligning, safety meetings, spraying weeds, cleaning up along the railroad, truck and trailer maintenance, OSHA meetings, new sweep auger motors, new leg bearings, new catwalks, cleaning boot pits, putting tubes in the flats and bunkers to prepare them for harvest, painting, and just for fun, calf dressing contest at the Piatt County Rodeo. The office staff also keeps busy: Amy spoke to the Illinois AgriWomen about grain contracts and marketing. Several employees attended the Illinois Grain & Feed meeting in February. Pam & Vanessa attended the Agris Customer Conference in February. The Monticello office, with the FSA office hosted an ACRE meeting to provide information about the new farm program. Pam visited with the Piatt County Farm Bureau women about the grain markets. Everyone, inside and outside, helped with the year end audits and the state audit. Mikki painted and scrubbed after the scale office was remodeled, due to damage from water leakage. (The scale office looks really nice!) We also have a little bit of time for fun, in the summer time: Terry, Alex, and Andy drove the airplane float in the Bement 4th of July parade In Bement. Amy iced a King Cake, more of a Cajun tradition during Lent. (Cajun or not, it was delicious!) Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Stason
Kopps! Stason & Marsha were married in August on a FOCUSSED ON YOU . .. . This year’s annual Focus meetings were held in late February, in Maroa, Monticello and Hammond. At the meetings, we talked about the goals of the company, the financial strength of the company and the changes made due to the volatile high grain prices last year, market info and some of the marketing and communication programs offered by Topflight Grain. The focus meetings also provide a good opportunity to query management about policies and practices within the company. We enjoyed the visits with everyone who attended, and appreciate your comments and questions. LADIES DAY The ladies of Topflight Grain were
treated to Administrative Assistant’s Day with a trip to the Lincoln Museum in
Springfield and lunch at D’Arcy’s Pint. It was the first experience for most of
us to see the ROBERT AUSTIN We missed this one in our last newsletter. Even though it’s quite late, we want to share it with you: Robert Austin, elevator
superintendent at Maroa Farmers Co-op Elevator passed away October 17, 2008, at
the age of 77. He was married to Lorita McClenagan. Robert worked more than 40 years running the
outside operations. He was very
meticulous and his elevator was the cleanest and neatest in the surrounding
area. Robert also served many years on
the Maroa Fire Department and was the Masonic Lodge secretary for many years.
His church was very important to him. He
was a member of the COPPER WIRE After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 100 years ago. Not be
outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, a “ One week later,
The Pioneer Press, a local newspaper in “After
digging as deep as 30 feet in his pasture near Embarrass, ANNUAL TOUR In July, we were pleased to host a
Taiwan business class at the Bement elevator.
The class studies American business, particularly agri-business with
Larry Stapleton at BUSHELS FOR THE FUTURE By Scott Docherty I wanted our patrons to know that last year the Piatt County Farm Bureau Foundation donated $3,000.00 in scholarships to local students pursuing a career in agriculture. Topflight Grain Cooperative, Inc. has also been a proud supporter of the Foundation and Earth partners which help bring Ag into the local high schools through Agriculture literacy programs and workshops. You too can play a role with Ag scholarships by donating bushels of grain this fall in a program called bushels for the future. Topflight Grain will accept bushels for this program on a delivered or picked up on the farm basis. If you are truly interested in supporting our youth with the cost of secondary education, please contact Scott Docherty or Stacy Bradshaw Manager of the Piatt Co. Farm Bureau. 217-762-2128 |
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