MKC sponsors food drive

MKC’s Community Involvement Committee will be kicking off a month-long food drive starting on June first. Donation drop off sites will be located at MKC co-op locations.

Non-perishable items collected during the month of June will be donated to local food pantries. Donations will be kept in the county they were donated in as much as possible, depending on the capacity of the food pantry and need.

Jason Creed, Director of Energy Operations and Community Involvement Committee member, said that the food drive is an excellent way to involve employees as well as customers and producers.

Bags to return donations in will be handed out to clients and producers as they travel to and from the co-op during harvest.

A competition has been established between the northern and southern districts to see who can collect the most food, with 500 pounds being the minimum goal for each district.

This is the second project of the recently formed Community Involvement Committee; the first was a month long blood drive that ran during May.  The Community Involvement Committee was formed after the MKC Way Committee conducted three employee focus groups and found that employees of MKC wanted to be more involved in their communities.

Another employee who's making a difference

As previously reported, several of the employees at MKC take great pride in donating their time and talents to their communities.  Matt Henderson, Location Manager, in Longford, Kansas volunteers as a little league wrestling and baseball coach for youth and teens ages 6 to 18 years.  He has been coaching for the past six years.

"I volunteer not only because I enjoy spending time with the kids and helping them learn a new sport, but also because I think sports can help kids develop skills they will need as adults.  Dealing with adversity and achieving goals are some of those skills."  - Matt Henderson

Double crop soybean revenue program now available

MKC recently announced they will once again offer a revenue program designed to assist growers in managing the risk (primarily weather) associated with growing double crop soybeans. 

Last year, MKC was the first in the nation to offer this one-of-its kind program when double crop soybeans weren’t traditionally eligible for federal crop insurance.  At the time, the program was offered in 11 counties but has since been expanded to include 21 counties in the south and north central counties of the state. 

AnswerPlot® serves as classroom for producers





Producers will have an opportunity to learn about different corn and soybean varieties as MKC takes the classroom to the field to participate in an AnswerPlot® Tour scheduled for Thursday, May 31.  The tour is designed to provide attendees with information that explains why one product may perform differently than another and how different crop protection and seed products perform in soil and weather conditions.   Producers will also learn more about MKC’s tissue sampling program and how this information is integrated into the crop system to increase fertilizer efficiency and yields.

Located 3 miles south and 2¾ miles east of Inman at 1084 Arapaho Road, MKC's Answer Plot® has a sub-surface drip irrigation system and will feature variety trials for corn and soybeans along with demonstration plots that show the differences between varieties. Dryland corn and bean variety trials will also be showcased in a plot located across the road (south) of the Answer Plot®.

The first tour is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 31 (meal included).  Additional tours and times will be announced at a later date.

Scholarship recipients announced

Nine area high school seniors have been selected to receive MKC’s scholarship in the amount of $500 each.

“The selection process was difficult as we received more than 90 outstanding applications,” stated Kerry Watson, MKC Communications/Administrative Specialist. “We are proud to support today’s student leaders on their path to becoming tomorrow’s business and community leaders.”

Applications were reviewed by a committee of five people including two board members. The recipients were selected based on academic achievements, honors, leadership, and school and community activities. Along with the application, students were asked to submit an essay about the value of the cooperative system.

 
Recipients of the 2012 scholarship are: Nicholas Vogts, Canton-Galva High School; Taylor Harms, Marion High School; Lori James, Smoky Valley High School; Emily Harris, Abilene High School; Nathan Peterson, Southeast of Saline Senior High School; Lauren Barlow and Lance Schroder, Inman High School; Grace Heidebrecht and Kassidy Glazner, McPherson High School. MKC began offering the scholarships in 2008 and has awarded a total of $22,500 to date.

Soybean revenue program still in development stage

MKC management continues to work with Swiss Re to develop a revenue program designed to assist growers in managing the risk (primarily weather) associated with growing double crop soybeans.

Last year, MKC was the first in the nation to offer this one-of-its kind program when double crop soybeans weren’t traditionally eligible for federal crop insurance. The program was offered in 11 counties last year and representatives are working to expand to additional counties.

According to Dave Spears, MKC’s Chief Marketing Officer, Swiss Re has recently asked for more detailed information to assist in the completion of the data analysis. Spears commented that the variation of risk in each county is creating a challenge.  “The variation between counties is amazingly different,” stated Spears.  “Swiss is taking a hard look at this and it could mean that costs may vary per county.”

Swiss Re is still determining the availability of the program for our area at this time.

Making a difference

MKC employees take great pride in donating their time to communities. MKC encourages their employes to help keep their communtiies strong by supporting organizations of their choosing.  Matt McCune, Location Manager at Talmage, Kansas is one more employee who volunteers to make a difference in his community.

Matt is a volunteer firefighter for two rural fire departments in Dickinson County.  He is currently taking classes to further his training as a fire fighter and estimates that he will average 80 calls throughout the year.

"I volunteer for the fire department because my brother's life was saved by a local fire department. This is my opportunity to pay it forward to someone in need - possibly even on e of my customers some day." - Matt McCune