Fourth quarter 2014

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MANAGER’S DESK

Jerald Kemmerer-CEO/GM Pride Ag Resources

Fall is a great time of the year with the changing of the colors. It is also the time of the year you the producer reaps the rewards of harvesting your crops from your hard work for the year.

The occasional moisture we have received this fall has prolonged harvest a little but still not enough of a problem we can’t live with.

We never turn down moisture in Southwest Kansas.

Our winter wheat is off to one of its best starts in the last several years Corn and milo harvest production at this time is coming in at normal expectations. Yields are very good, but due to water restrictions from the last few years of drought, conditions

FOURTH QUARTER 2014

may have impacted the amount of acres planted, especially in corn production With the weather being as sporadic as it has been this fall, the employees have done a great job of working hard during the storms, etc to help you maximize your fall harvest days. The employees have worked several weeks in a row including weekends without a day off. For that I appreciate their commitment to you, the customer, and to the coop.

As quickly as we finish the fall crops, we will turn our attention to fall fertilizer application.

Our agronomy department has been gearing up for a good run and has supplies full, with equipment ready to run.

If we can get over a decent amount of acres this fall, it will help us take care of your spring planting needs and wheat top dressing.

I hope you were able to attend the open house at our new chemical shed at the Ensign location.

Approximately 200 people were able to go through the facility and enjoyed a hamburger meal.

As the demographics in the chemical world continue to change, your chemical shed will allow us to source product at competitive prices.

As always, we will have a prepaid chemical program and product available this winter. Please get with one of our agronomy sales staff to

Inside This Issue 2 Safety 3 Ace Hardware 4 Grain 5 Feed 6 Agronomy - AV Energy 7 Board of Directors

visit about our chemical and fertilizer programs and application needs.

In conjunction with the CHS Annual Meeting on December 4th and 5th, a specially selected group of top young producers will participate in the CHS New Leader Institute starting the 3rd of December. Over the course of four intensive days, participants will examine indepth issues and challenges facing cooperatives in agriculture and rural America as well as learning ways they can build their leadership skills to benefit their cooperatives and communities.

Sessions feature top-notch professional speakers and agribusiness experts. If you have interest to attend, please let me know.

Speaking of annual meetings, your cooperative will be holding its 100th year annual meeting and celebration. We have moved the date to Friday, May 8th, 2015. This year’s event will be held at the Dodge City Civic Center to hold the expected members and guests. This year’s speaker will be Dr. Lowell Catlett, a futurist, economist, and humorist from New Mexico State University. Over my career, I have had the opportunity to listen to him 3 times, and each presentation is new and up to date with current world activities.

Look for our save the date post card soon.

I hope your yields for your fall harvest bushels were better than you expected.

We take pride in helping you with all your production agricultural needs.

I hope you have a good Thanksgiving and are able to spend it with your families.

We do appreciate your business!

Safety Division

Skyler Hayes Safety Director

There were six reported farm accidents resulting in fatalities in the state of Kansas up to October 17, 2014. Of the six deaths, four of them were the result of accidents involving tractors.

Three of the tractor accidents were rollovers, and the fourth happened when the tractor went into a sideways skid while going down a hillside, which caused it to roll over, trapping the driver underneath.

Farm tractor accidents are the major cause of farm work-related deaths. It is estimated that in the United States more than 500 persons are killed each year in tractor accidents and that 40 times that number are injured.

Tractor rollovers account for more than half of all tractorrelated deaths. Falls are also

a major cause of tractor accidents. Falls involve both tractor operators and extra riders who are often children.

Another source of tractorrelated injuries and death is entanglement in rotating power takeoff components.

Two other sources of accidents are collisions and runovers.

Most tractor accidents happen to persons ages 2564, but operators younger than 15 and older than 64 have over seven times more accidents per hour of machine use than operators in the 25-64 age group (National Safety Council).

More than 85 percent of all tractor accidents involve members of the farm family.

That is due to the fact that members of the family do most of the tractor work.

Many factors affect the safety of a tractor. Before starting the tractor, make a preoperational check: Fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid levels; Tire condition and inflation level; Make certain that all shields and guards are in place; Check the condition of fuel and hydraulic lines; Make certain the brakes are operational; Start with clean windows and mirrors; Make certain all lights are working; Make certain the neutral-start safety switches are operating correctly; The platform and steps should be clean and free of debris, chains, tools, etc.; Check the air cleaner and coolant; The slow moving vehicle emblem should be in place and clean; The steering should be operating correctly.

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And remember that your tractor operator’s manuals, especially those of later model tractors, are also safety manuals. Read the manual, and follow all operating precautions and recommendations outlined in the manual.

Some things to remember while operating the tractor are: Pay attention to what is going on around you and avoid collisions; Remain at the controls of the tractor while it is in motion; Keep tractor steps free from mud to help avoid slips and falls; Avoid driving in bad weather conditions if you can help it; Reduce speed when turning, crossing slopes, and on rough, slick, or muddy surfaces; Stay off slopes too steep for safe operation; Never allow any extra riders on the tractor. Extra riders can easily fall beneath the tractor or into the path of trailing equipment and be severely injured or killed; do not drive any vehicles if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

An unshielded or partially-shielded stub shaft can be deadly to the operator.

It can catch clothing or a loose shoestring and wrap a person around it in a fraction of a second. Keep the stub shaft guarded when not in use to provide power to other implements. The two types of PTO stub shaft shields commonly in use are the master shield which provides a zone of protection around the stub shaft and the PTO stub shaft guard which

completely covers the stub shaft. If you remove the PTO master shield for installation of mounted implements, the stub shaft guard should remain in place. If you use an older tractor that lacks adequate PTO stub shaft protection, use great caution.

When a shield becomes damaged or lost, replace it as soon as possible.

As stated earlier in this article, rollovers are the leading cause of tractor fatalities. Human reaction time is usually too slow to stop a rollover once it starts.

You can avoid rollovers by recognizing dangerous situations and taking action to avoid them. Side rollovers are the most common type of rollover accident. They occur when the tractor becomes unbalanced, often while it is being driven across a hill, carrying a load too high, or too fast across uneven ground. Rear rollovers can occur when a tractor is towing a load that is too heavy or not properly balanced, when driving uphill, or when using an attachment or implement.

Front rollovers occur most often when an operator fails to stop before a drop off or accidently drives over an embankment.

Industry and farmers are coming to recognize that Rollover Protection Structures (ROPs) can save a life in the event of a tractor rollover. ROPs are protective frames securely attached to a tractor to prevent the operator from being crushed if the

tractor overturns. ROPs will not prevent rollover accidents, but it will help protect the driver if a rollover accident occurs. Not all cab or operator covering structures are ROPs. ROPs must support the weight of the tractor and create a protective zone for the operator during a rollover.

Usually, ROPs limit overturns to 90 degrees.

Older tractors that were not manufactured with ROPs can be retrofitted with ROPs. When operating a tractor with ROPs always use your seat belt. If you do not wear your seat belt, ROPS may not protect you from being crushed in a rollover accident.

ACE HARDWARE

Jack Lane, Ace Manager

It has been a beautiful fall this year but unfortunately winter is just around the corner. It is the perfect time to apply winterizer fertilizer or fall planting of grass. Ace carries a full line of ultimate, Scott's and Ace fertilizer for all your fall application 3

needs. It is also time to prepare the garden for next spring with peat moss and fast acting gypsum.

It is time to start the preparation for winter. Ace has a good supply of winter products such as stock tank heaters, heat lamps and supplemental electric heaters.

We also carry a great line of pipe insulation and heat tapes to protect those water lines from old man winter.

For everyone's information your Ace store in Maize will be a full line Stihl dealer starting in late December. If you need anything we can get it to Dodge or stop in Maize and see the facility it is one of the 4 stores that you should be proud of.

GRAIN DIVISION

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Eric McMillan Grain Merchandiser

The 2014 corn harvest is coming to a close, and for the most part yields were better than average locally. Milo harvest is in the early-mid stages and it appears we will see good milo yields as well. The majority of the wheat has been planted and is off to one

of the best starts we have seen in recent history; however it is very far from being made.

Corn/Milo As of October 10, the USDA is projecting a national yield of 174.2, and total production of 14.5 billion bushels. If realized this would be both a record yield, and record production for the US. With the steep price declines we’ve seen in the grains, demand for corn is projected to increase by 109 million bushels vs. last year.

The primary increase is projected to come from the feed/residual section of the balance sheet. The export section of the balance sheet is worth keeping an eye on.

Currently the USDA projects corn exports to be down 167 million bushels vs. last year.

However, with a large US crop any problems with southern hemisphere feed grain crop development could steer more demand toward the US and increase this demand area significantly.

We are already seeing strong Asian demand for milo. This is providing support for milo basis, which would probably be much weaker at this time due to the very large crop we should harvest this year.

Wheat The local wheat market has been fairly quiet recently.

The local rail market has been uncompetitive over the last few months while we’ve been experiencing very high rail freight rates, leaving domestic flour mills as the primary customer. Even

though we experienced a small wheat crop this year, the domestic end-user has not been pressed up to this point due to the lack of a strong export market. This could change later in the crop year, as rail rates are coming off their highs and starting to soften up.

We could potentially see greater demand for our local wheat with more quality issues being seen in the northern states.

Soybeans The October USDA Crop Production Report is projecting a large national yield of 47.1 bu/ac. This coupled with additional 7.1 million harvested acres vs last year should significantly replenish our domestic supply of soybeans. USDA is projecting a carryout of 450 million bushels vs last year’s 185 million bushels.

Currently, the soybean market is seeing support from very strong soybean meal demand, as well as strengthening technical indicators after the stall in the summer downtrend.

In conclusion, the supply/demand landscape is very different from the previous few years. Be cautious in getting too confident when we see price rallies. At this point it’s very hard to build a case that will see the explosive price action we have seen in recent years with the comfortable supply of domestic grain we will have this year. Please contact us if you have any questions.

We appreciate your business!

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FEED DIVISION

Calvin Carey Feed Sales Specialist Wheat Pasture Because wheat pasture is very palatable and provides high levels of protein, energy, and minerals it is a source of low cost gains for cattle producers. Its high moisture levels, makes it hard to meet daily dry matter needs of the cattle. Wheat pasture protein levels range from 20-30%.

Stage of maturity will also influence composition of wheat pasture. Cell wall components (neutral detergent fiber) can increase from a low of 40% to the mid 50% range, and acid detergent fiber, primarily cellulose and lignin increases from 20% to more than 30%.

Mineral content (potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium) also declines considerably with maturity.

A free-choice wheat pasture mineral containing calcium and magnesium is often recommended. Pride AG Wheat Pasture Mineral has a calcium level from 15% to 17% and Magnesium at 5.5%.

Wheat Pasture

Mineral comes with Bloat Guard (Poloxolene) or Bovatec. Wheat pasture high nutritive value benefits both stocker and mature cattle effectively. It can result in 10-15% increase in animal gain/acre and reduces spot grazing.

Recommended stocking rates range from 250-500 pounds of animal/acre or 1-2 acres/stocker depending on weight. Spring stocking rates usually are .75-1.3 acres/stocker or up to 2.5 stockers / acre for late spring graze out.

Providing dry feed in addition to the wheat pasture will improve their general animal health. Grass hay, milo stalks, cornstalks or limited grain may be fed to provide dry matter.

Providing dry feed may offset possible animal digestive problems – including bloat.

Average daily gains of stockers on wheat pasture should range between 1.5-2.0 pounds/ head /day. Gains less than 1.0 pound indicate that pasture is over stocked.

Potential problems when grazing wheat pasture are bloat and grass tetany. High crude protein and low fiber contents in wheat pasture are associated with bloat. Cool, moist conditions can also cause bloating. To aid in preventing bloat, feed cattle before putting cattle on wheat pasture. Bloat potential is greatest during the 3-4 week of lush growth period.

Grass tetany is characterized by low blood magnesium level in cattle. It

occurs more often in older cows nursing calves. Grass Tetany occurs during rapid growth followed by cool temperatures (45-60 degrees).

The easiest prevention is to provide magnesium in a free choice mineral. The mineral that we handle to control grass tetany are: Pro Phos 6 Mag and Wheat Pasture Mineral.

Wheat pasture is generally high-quality forage and the cost of gain on wheat pasture can be lower than those of a conventional back-grounding programs.

In summary, wheat pasture has a high moisture content, crude protein and digestible nutrients. It is palatable and digestible, and has a fast rate of passage because of its low cell wall constituents (fiber and lignin) with the low cost of gain and labor.

Give us a call on your mineral needs this fall.

Date

Wheat Corn Milo Soybean

7/5/14

6.45

4.33

3.76 12.68

8/4/14

6.04

3.91

3.34 12.00

8/19/14

5.88

3.95

3.38 11.63

9/24/14

5.24

3.30

3.00

8.47

Last Year –Nov., 2013 AVG.

6.88

4.31

4.10 12.12

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AGRONOMY

Scott Hedke Agronomy Manager The wheat crop is off to a strong start in most of our trade area. I’m happy with the performance of the wheat that our producers treated.

It looks great and the root development is awesome.

We are now talking to our patrons about deferred payment on all fertilizers.

We can apply fertilizer while the weather is good and let our patrons pay according to their needs. We have been blessed with a wonderful open fall and need to make hay while the sun shines.

Please let us know what we can do to help with your fertilizer needs.

The new chemical repak shed is up and ready to go.

Thanks to all who attended its opening. We had 200 plus people attend during that day.

Thanks again for your business as we continue to earn your trust and protect your investment.

AV Energy

Chris Klein As we head into the holiday season I would ask you to keep Scott and Alex Kreger in your prayers. Scott and Alex were severely injured in an accident south of Jetmore when they were installing a new water heater.

Scott and Alex are currently in a Wichita hospital and will have months and years of recovery ahead of them. We at AV Energy wish them the very best and hope for a speedy recovery!

I’m not sure how the accident happened but what I can do is give everyone a little advice on the proper procedures of using propane.

• Propane customers should always have a professional inspect and install their propane appliances.

• Always make sure the propane service valve on the tank is shut off if work is being done on any appliance that uses propane.

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If a propane appliance is changed out, call your service provider and let them know so they can do a follow up inspection on the system to make sure there are no leaks.

Even if you have a heating and air professional working on your system we still need to do a safety check inspection on the entire propane system.

The most important thing of all is; if you smell propane leave your house, do not turn on lights or use the phone. Once you are out of the house shut off the propane service valve at the tank. Then once you are safely away from the house call your propane service provider or 911. It is very important that everyone in your family knows what to do if there is a propane emergency.

It is best if you have an emergency action plan in place for your family, so everyone knows what to do and where to go.

Propane is a very safe and efficient energy source. By following the safety guide 6

lines you can rest assured that you and your family will be safe. If your current propane supplier does not do safety inspections ask them why? If you don’t get the answer you are looking for give AV Energy a call and we will do whatever we can to help you out. For other questions on propane visit www.propaneinkansas.org.

Cenex Total Plan Warranty

Protection

The article below was taken from the www.cenex.com website.

Consider protecting all your equipment with the Cenex Total Protection Plan.

It’s a small investment to make in exchange for valuable coverage and peace of mind.

You get unsurpassed coverage while helping to ensure that only high-quality energy products go into your equipment.

Think of it as a no –fault insurance policy - one that helps keep you in the fields when you need to be there.

There’s no deductible, which can really pay off and help keep things moving during crunch times like planting and harvest.

“When you’re looking at a $23000 repair bill, you think about trading in your equipment rather than repairing it,” says Steve Laleman, who recently faced a major repair to a Case IH tractor. Fortunately, Laleman enrolls his tractors and combine in the Cenex Total Protection Plan warrant, so

he received a check for $23306 to cover repairs to the three year old tractor.

“I’m really glad I had the Cenex Total Protection Plan warranty – it’s a lot better than any manufacturer’s warranty,” says Laleman.

“You won’t find any other warranty that’s even remotely close to the Cenex Total Protection Plan. You get great protection for up to 10 years, “says Adam Steffes, certified energy specialist with Farmers Cooperative Association, Canby, Minn.

“There are lots of farmers, like Steve, that are thankful they had the Cenex warranty to cover their huge repair bills.

The Total Protection Plan extends beyond equipment manufacturers’ warranties to provide valuable coverage to producers who use premium Cenex fuels and lubricants. It covers used equipment for up to 8 years or 8000 hours and new equipment for up to 10 years or 10000 hours, with no deductible.

“I’ve used Cenex oils for about 10 years because of the great warranty program, the convenience of bulk delivery from the co-op, and the dependable performance,” says Laleman.

“I highly recommend Cenex premium diesel fuel, too. You get the power, and its cleaner burning.”

For more information on the Cenex Total Protection Plan Warranty you can visit www.cenex.com or give me a call @ 620-225-4994.

Thanks, and have a safe and happy holiday season!

AV Energy, LLC O. (800)752-1580 O. (620)225-4994

Watch for our “NEW” Website design to be published in the coming weeks!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Scott Mac Nair ........................ Chairman Tony Bleumer... .............. Vice-Chairman Clint Hamilton ......... Secretary-Treasurer Jeremy Derstein ........................ Director Butch Irski ................................. Director Jeff Reinert ................................ Director Bruce Giessel ............................ Director Toby Whipple….........Associate Director Jeff Breuer…..……….Associate Director Jerald Kemmerer………………CEO/GM Debby Kennedy….......Newsletter Editor

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Pride Ag Resources

Published quarterly by the

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Pride Ag Resources

PAID

4th Quarter 2014

710 West Trail, Dodge City, KS 67801

DODGE CITY, KS PERMIT #399

(620) 225-4193

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