Wiebe seeks re-election to MKC board of directors

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

Three positions on MKC's board of directors will be decided by a vote of the membership during MKC's annual meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m., at the Sunflower Building located on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.   Cecil Wiebe is seeking re-election to District 1.

Cecil Wiebe and his son, Curtis, operate a diversified grain operation east of Newton. They also operate a grower and finishing cattle operation to make use of the crops they raise. Cecil and his wife, Jacque, have four married children who are all involved in farming. His primary MKC location is Burns and he feels he has benefited from the upgrades MKC has completed at this location.  

Cecil previously served on the board of directors for Farmers Grain Cooperative and was president when it merged with MKC in 2002. He has previously served as secretary for MKC’s Board of Directors and on various committees. In addition, he has previously served on the board of directors for Team Marketing Alliance.

Randy Ellwood seeks re-election to MKC board of directors

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

Three positions on MKC's board of directors will be decided by a vote of the membership during MKC's annual meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m., at the Sunflower Building located on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.   Randy Ellwood was first elected to MKC’s Board of Directors in 2007 and is seeking his third term as an at-large director.
 
Randy has operated a diversified grain operation in the Windom, Marquette and Nickerson area since 1980. Along with his wife, Nancy, their operation is run by their children and his uncle, Bill Teeter. Their operations consist of wheat milo, soybeans, hay and silage, along with Randy’s cow/calf operation. His primary MKC location is Groveland. Randy has previously served on several committees including Haven Commodities, MKC’s Scholarship Committee, and the safety committee for the Windom Fire Department.

Randy sees key issues facing cooperatives today as increased costs of operations, construction and repairs. Another issue is staying current with government regulations. He believes the greatest strength of a cooperative system is its access to quality supplies and services at a reasonable cost. By banding together to purchase supplies and services, cooperatives offset the advantage of larger companies.

When asked about the role of a director, Randy commented that it is to define and set the cooperative’s overall objectives and policies and set long-range goals with management. In addition, a director’s role is to listen to patrons’ concerns and relay them to management.

Randy believes his past participation in various workshops and trainings has helped him gain the knowledge needed to be an effective member of the board. A number of ideas he has presented to the board have been implemented.

Randy feels his experience of 34 years in agricultural business will help him to continue to serve and make decisions that are best for MKC.

Area youth learn about ag safety

Sixty youth, ages ranging from 9-12 years participated in the Annual Farm Safety Day Camp hosted by the McPherson County Extension office with help from MKC, Farm Bureau and many volunteers.

According to Jonie James, McPherson County Extension Agent, youth started

their day watching the McPherson EMS, firefighters and police demonstrate how they respond to vehicle rollover accidents. Participants were even privileged to see the medic helicopter land nearby. Following the demonstration the youth were able to ask each department questions and were able to see the rescue equipment up close. 

"It was a good opportunity for the youth to know who in their community are available when accidents occur," stated Jones.

The youth were then divided into smaller groups and rotated to different
sessions focused on farm safety. The sessions included PTO safety, grain bin safety, first aid, fire safety, pinch points, livestock safety and pesticide safety. Participants were also provided a farm safety kit.

"Farm safety cannot be stressed enough to our youth as we strive to keep them safe," stated Jones. "This camp’s objective is to help youth understand how dangerous farming and ranching can be and to emphasize the importance of being aware of these dangers so that they will think about what they are doing, and then plan ahead to stay safe while working."

Gaeddert seeks re-election to MKC board of directors

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

Three positions on MKC's board of directors will be decided by a vote of the membership during MKC's annual meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 11, at 6 p.m., at the Sunflower Building located on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.  Jason Gaeddert, is seeking re-election to District 3.
 
Jason, along with his family, operates a diversified, dryland and irrigated grain operation in the Buhler area. Their operation consists of corn, soybeans, wheat, milo and sweet corn. His primary MKC location is Buhler.

Jason was first elected to the MKC board of directors in 2007.He is seeking re-election to District 3 because he feels a sense of responsibility to MKC to not only do business with the cooperative, but also contribute to the leadership and direction of the company. Jason wants to do his part to insure MKC’s future remains strong so that it will continue to help in the success of everyone’s farming operations.

He believes MKC’s strengths include the many employees that are dedicated to helping members farming operations be successful. The ability to market grain and purchase inputs in today’s global market and joining others in a cooperative provides a competitiveness that can’t be achieved as individuals. Jason believes MKC’s tag line, "Shared Growth. Shared Success." truly defines what a cooperative is.

Local producer appointed to national committee

The National Sorghum Producers (NSP) recently announced 17 appointments to its Legislative Committee. McPherson County producer, Larry Dahlsten, is one of those appointees.

National Sorghum Producers is leading legislative and regulatory change through effective policy and relationships for a more profitable, diverse and competitive sorghum industry. The NSP Legislative Committee exists to provide input to the NSP board of directors and staff on how proposed legislation and regulations will impact member operations and to provide input on new legislation that will help increase sorghum producer profitability.

Other appointments to the committee include J.B. Stewart of Oklahoma (committee chairman), David Watkins of Arkansas, Earl Roemer of Kansas, Luke Sayes of Louisiana, Don Bloss of Nebraska, Lance Herndon of North Carolina, Adam Schindler of South Dakota, Jim Massey of Texas, Burl Scherler of Colorado, John Williams of Illinois, Greg Stone of Kansas, Stephen Bigge of Kansas, Stan Fury of New Mexico, Dani Bellmer of Oklahoma, Kathy Brorman of Texas, and Jason Frantz of Texas.

Employees help with cleanup following storm

By Melissa Woeppel, Communications Intern

Loss of power, blown out windows, debris and fallen branches were just some of the destruction left by a tornado that touched down near Bennington, Kansas on the early evening of May 28. While no damage was reported at MKC’s location in this small community, several of our customers were not as lucky.

According to Ron Wenger, location manager at Bennington, the tornado that touched down "stayed in an area about three miles long and three miles wide for over an hour resulting in a lot of damage [that] I can’t justly describe."

In response to the destruction, employees of the Bennington location volunteered time and resources to assist in the cleanup efforts. MKC also provided a tele-handler and skid steer to use in the cleanup process.

On Wednesday, MKC provided pizza for approximately 25 volunteers who helped to bring trash to a central location. Thursday also included much of the same work. Clean-up efforts continued on Friday as MKC employees and community members, 70 in total, used a large backhoe, a large cat, skid steers, service trucks, farm trucks and trailers to assist with the efforts.

"We were thanked more than once for what we considered our duty as part of the community," said Wenger.

Despite the amount of property damage caused by the tornado, no one was injured.