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.

Schmidt Retires After 38 Years in Industry

After 38 years of service to the cooperative industry, John Schmidt officially retired on December 19.

"I have enjoyed working for and with our customers," Schmidt said. "They have brightened my day many times."

Schmidt said the bucket list after retirement is pretty long and includes traveling, catching up on projects that have been put off for a long time and doing some volunteer work in a couple of areas.

"It has been a pleasure to work with all the employees of MKC," Schmidt said. "I will be in the area for the foreseeable future, so I am sure I will be able to visit with some of you occasionally."

MKC wishes John well as he enjoys retirement. We hope he'll stop in and say "hi" from time to time!

Children "Adopted" in Angel Tree Program

 By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

Christmas for more than 200 families was a little merrier thanks to the generous donations to the Salvation Army's Angel Tree Program.

It was the second year for the program at MKC, where employees adopted a child - buying them items for the holidays.

"The MKC Angel Tree Program was very successful again this year," said Matt Henderson, Longford location manager. "MKC employees helped to brighten the Christmas of around 200 children."



A group of employees load the gifts
collected in Moundridge.

In addition to employees personally donating items to the program, the Abilene location volunteered to run the Dickinson County Angel Tree program.

"Without their help this program would not have happened," Henderson said.  The Abilene location helped 150 children this year.

Henderson added the families that have received gifts through the MKC Angel Tree have expressed their thanks in many ways and their tears of joy at the sight of the presents they receive is priceless. "It makes me proud to be a part of a company that is so willing to give so much back to their communities," he said. 

Dominique Hill and Brent Floerke load
the gifts collected in Benton.

Farmers Cooperative Association seeks membership approval to merge with MKC

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

The board of directors of Farmers Cooperative Association of Manhattan has unanimously approved to take a proposal to their membership to merge with MKC.

Over the past two years, directors for Farmers Cooperative met with five cooperatives to determine which organization could provide the greatest benefits to the co-op and its members.

"We are looking forward to working with MKC," said Hal Mayer, Chairman of Farmers Cooperative Board of Directors. "We share the same core values and MKC's attention to detail in the area of customer service is outstanding. Members from these two cooperatives should greatly benefit from us working together."

Currently, MKC's furthest northeast location is in Abilene and serves customers in Dickinson, Ottawa, Clay and Geary counties. Noting the proximity between the two co-ops' locations and the similar profiles of their producers, CJ Blew, MKC's Board Chairman commented the merger, if approved, would be a natural fit. "This is also an opportunity for members from both organizations to insure the relevance and viability of their ownership in the cooperative system for generations to come."

With four locations in Alta Vista, Manhattan, Onaga and Westmoreland, Farmers Cooperative is a full-service cooperative with annual sales of $50 million. They offer grain, feed, agronomy and energy products and services to 2,000 members in five counties.

MKC and Farmers Cooperative are currently developing the required merger documents to be approved by both boards. A vote by Farmers Cooperative membership will be required to approve the merger and is expected to occur next spring.

MKC and Frontier Ag moving forward with merger discussions

The boards of directors for Frontier Ag and MKC have unanimously approved to move forward with the processes required to merge the two cooperatives. The cooperatives announced in September their plans to explore the potential of an alliance.

Board members from both cooperatives met earlier this week
to discuss the merits of a merger.

Frontier Ag President and CEO, Brad Cowan, commented the boards and management teams of both organizations spent the past sixty days completing the due diligence necessary to get to this point.

"We felt the time was right to pursue a merger," stated Cowan. "Combined we have the potential to position ourselves strategically for the future, creating tremendous opportunities for our members."

MKC President and CEO, Dave Christiansen, noted the cooperatives share a similar culture and vision, are comparable in product and service offerings, and are financially sound. "Both cooperatives focus on improving customer experience" stated Christiansen. "Together we have the potential to increase our relevance in the industry which will leverage our vendor relationships." The benefits this will deliver to our stockholders, employees, customers and communities are significant. "

Although the boards of both co-ops have endorsed the idea of a merger, each membership will be asked to approve it.

About Frontier Ag: With annual sales of $490 million, Frontier Ag, Inc. is a full-service cooperative, offering grain, feed, agronomy, energy, and transportation products and services to over 5,700 members in eleven (11) counties throughout northwest Kansas.

About MKC: With annual sales of $450 million, MKC is a full-service cooperative offering grain, feed, agronomy and energy products and services to over 6,400 members in eleven (11) counties throughout central Kansas.

  

MKC, CoBank and Land O' Lakes join forces to support ag education

By Kerry Watson, Director of Communications

Supporting ag education has always been important to MKC. Whether we are joining forces with local schools to teach children how agriculture affects their life every day or providing financial assistance to schools to make sure students have access to programs and educational opportunities outside of their classroom, we want to support those who share our passion for ag education.

Dave Christiansen, MKC President & CEO noted that MKC and its employees take pride in supporting the development of our future leaders. "We feel the groups we choose to support says a lot about our company."

The Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center is just one of the area schools that MKC likes to support. The school first caught the attention of MKC in 2009. Just a few years earlier the school was close to being closed due to declining enrollment. They transitioned to a functioning charter school in the fall of 2007, a good fit for the surrounding community because of its strong agricultural roots. Now the school integrates agriculture into all areas of its curriculum.

The school’s popularity has grown along with outside support to keep it and now there is a waiting list to get in to the school. Moving forward with expanding the classrooms, the school has relied on outside contributions to help offset those costs. In an interview last year with the school’s principal, Natise Vogt, commented the growing pains and state budget cuts makes support from people like MKC even more vital.

Michael Walton, CoBank Representative (center),
and Jeff Naysmith, MKC Representative (at right),
present a donation to be used for the school's
building project.

In recent years the school has also captured the attention of Land O’ Lakes and CoBank, thanks to MKC. Both entities have matched MKC’s donations to the school helping to donate over $14,000 since 2009.

Robert Engel, CEO for CoBank, commented on MKC’s commitment to the school while improving the quality of life in their communities. "We’re delighted to join with MKC in support of the Walton Rural Life Center."
  

MKC employees help each other in time of need

By Nichole Gouldie, Communications Specialist

To give employees an opportunity to support their colleagues in times of crisis, MKC allows employees to donate a portion of their vacation time. The donated vacation time is then turned into a monetary donation to the employee in need.

On September 30, a member of the Burns team suffered a heart attack a few hours after she got home from work and passed away unexpectedly.

"Clella Kellogg was working as a counter specialist at Burns and was an energetic, hardworking employee who could put a smile on everyone’s face like few others," said Matt Porter, Burns location manager. In addition to her husband who drives truck locally, Kellogg left behind three children at home, two of which are disabled and require unique schooling and medical attention.

Through email, Porter asked everyone to please consider donating vacation time in Kellogg’s name. Eighty employees responded and within 24 hours a significant donation was raised for the family.

"When I delivered the check to Clella’s husband and children, I explained how MKC employees pulled together to help out their family," Porter said. "They were very grateful and appreciative before they opened the check, and were speechless and emotional after opening the check. The entire family was overcome with a sense of relief and gratitude."

Porter said until that point the family was unsure how they would pay for the funeral services. "Mr. Kellogg told me the donation from MKC’s employees gave their family peace of mind since they did not have to worry about putting food on the table or returning to work before they were ready," he said.

"I was personally blown away by the generosity of our company and made me very appreciative to be working for a company that treats all employees like family," Porter said.