Delivering a Helping Hand

By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

July through August is a busy time for Kansas farmers. Throw in record-setting rainfall, and the pressure is multiplied many times over for producers, meaning busy times for their cooperative. MKC saw this pressure this past summer but was relieved to know some friends up north were there to deliver a helping hand.

 

"This year was a very unusual year for our trade territory due to all the rain we had in late July and early August," said Erik Lange, Director of Southern Operations for MKC. "Generally by mid-August we are beginning to get busy with pre-plant wheat fertilizer applications but due to very wet soil considerations we were unable to start in a timely fashion. By the end of the second week of August, Steve Peterson and I had begun to talk about alternative methods to get our customers taken care of. It came to mind we should call South Dakota Wheat Growers and see if they had people or assets available to help us get caught up."

 

According to Lange, this relationship started with a phone call with Phil Gilbert, SDWG regional manager. Over time, Gilbert and Lange have built a relationship, continuing to find ways to help the other organization when they can.

 

"It isn’t easy to move rigs, but people and tender trucks move quickly," Lange said. "We looked at our situation and realized if we could just tender our existing equipment better we could cover more acres."

 

According to Lange, MKC consciously understaffs tender drivers because it is a seasonal task and normally elevator employees can be relied on to fill in. This year fall harvest started and the elevator employees were engaged in servicing grain customers at the same time fertilizer needed to be applied. "SDWG’s assistance worked out great as they were in their very slow time of the year and had drivers and extra tender trucks underutilized," he said. "Overall, SDWG sent 11 different drivers and four tender trucks to Kansas."

 

Prior to the SDWG team traveling to Kansas, six dry tender trucks, three dry rigs and nine employees of MKC traveled to South Dakota in May 2011. Over this three-week period, the MKC crew helped SDWG meet their customer’s fertilizer application and delivery needs in a year that the weather provided unusual challenges.

 

SDWG began as a state wheat pool in 1923 and has grown into one of the most successful cooperatives in the United States. They are an agronomy cooperative in the heart of the James River Valley of South and North Dakota. Owned by the customers it serves, SDWG exists to provide value for customer owners from Interstate 90 to Interstate 94 and the Missouri River to Interstate 29.

One producer, two jobs. One coop to ease the burden.

Note: This article was written by a former intern and was originally printed in our December, 2010 issue of "Connections".

It has been said that farmers have to be part agronomist, conservationist, meteorologist and economist. But for many, farming is not their single career choice.  Some may be teachers, engineers or business people. At MKC, we strive to provide the services needed to make a farming operation as simple as possible.

“We understand how limited and valuable time is for our business partners,” says Steve Peterson, Director of Northern Area Operations for MKC.  “It’s our goal to pre-plan with customers to be accessible when needed and to create and provide services, labor and expertise that fulfills their needs.” 

Once seen as a temporary response to the Great Depression, off-the-farm employment is now regarded as a regular feature of farming communities. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, more than half of the farm operators in the United States now work off the farm.

Producers asked to provide feedback

Producers are asked to participate in meetings that will be conducted throughout MKC’s territory during the month of November.

 

The meetings will be used to gain feedback from area producers on what the cooperative can do to help make their operations more successful. In addition, MKC management will share information about current projects.  MKC’s President and CEO, Dave Christiansen, along with Directors of Operations, Steve Peterson and Erik Lange, will facilitate the meetings.

Walton seed plant bulks up to meed demand

Larger and faster farming equipment means today’s producer farms at a much faster pace than he did twenty years ago.  To keep up with this pace MKC continually analyzes their facilities to ensure they have the speed and space to meet the needs of their customers. 

At MKC’s agronomy center in Walton, the need for more speed and space was especially true as the demand for bulk seed had increased two-fold resulting in an upgrade to the current system.   The recent installation of four bulk seed bins has doubled the center’s seed storage.