4 Quarter Newsletter

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MANAGER’S DESK

Jerald KemmererCEO/GM Pride Ag Resources Fall Harvest for 2024 will go down as one of the most interesting harvests. The corn intake for the eastern territory is almost complete, but went very fast with higher than normal temperatures and little to no precipitation. Some of the milo harvest started to come in early with the corn but we continue in segments, as there are so many stages we have out there to be harvested yet. First, thanks for your harvest bushels that have been harvested up to this point.

The employees have worked hard to keep things running as smoothly as possible and will

continue to work with you, as harvest will be extended for several more weeks.

Communication will be the key whether if you are cutting or not so, they can stay caught up on rest to keep them safe. So please stay in touch on the status of cutting with the locations. Thanks.

With decent to better than average yields this year, the market reflects it with lower prices. It has been a tough marketing year with very few bushels sold prior to harvest and decline marketing prices during it.

Please contact our grain team to work on a marketing strategy that works for you from the several different contracts we offer. Our goal is to help you maximize your profits with what opportunity the market will allow.

October is always nationally known as Cooperative month.

The

Fourth Quarter 2024 governors also recognize it in all the states that we operate in.

This year theme was: “The Future is Cooperative”. We participated in Coop Month by hosting appreciation lunches scattered throughout all of our locations. I hope you were able to attend one of them but with harvest going on we had to send several meals to the fields. It is always a good time for me to interact with all of our customers plus the team of employees at Pride Ag Resources. The most important thing is it allows us to thank you for your daily business and our employee’s long hours during harvest.

There is still a lot of activity this fall to take place, politically speaking as we finish the year with a Presidential election.

The outcome will have a major impact on trade, regulation issues, and a farm bill yet to pass or extend. Then the

Inside This Issue 2 Safety 3 Safety 4 Ace Hardware - Grain - Agronomy 5 Agronomy - Feed 6 Feed 7 Feed 8 AV Energy – Board of Directors

question of not only who is in the oval office but also who controls the senate or the house as they try to pass a new farm bill and other policies going forward. At the point of this writing, there may be an extension on the previous farm bill during the lame duck session, or we could see a last chance opportunity to run a new farm bill through. There is still communication going on through the Ag Committees in both chambers at this time, which is a good thing.

One of the most important rights as an American Citizen is the right and duty to vote. With everything that is going on currently in America but also around the globe, now may be one of the most important times to execute that right.

I hope your fall harvest yields were better than you expected. We need an increase in fall moisture to enhance the planted wheat acres from its current potential.

Pride Ag Resources appreciates the opportunity to help you with all your production agricultural needs and we appreciate your business!

Jerald Kemmerer CEO Pride Ag Resources

Safety Division

Corey Ratzlaff Safety Director Fatigue is more than feeling tired. It is a decline in mental and/or physical performance generally due to insufficient sleep. This reduces your ability to carry out your farm work safely and effectively.

It can be caused by sleep loss, extended wakefulness, high workload or disruption of your internal body clock. Your internal body clock acts like your own built-in schedule that helps your body know when it’s time to sleep and time to wake up. When this is disrupted because of night work or poor sleep, it can significantly affect you.

Signs of Fatigue include: • Losing focus and forgetting things • Increased risk taking • Slower reactions • Feeling irritable • Tiredness even after sleep Noticing the signs and symptoms of fatigue in yourself is an important first step to enable you to do something about it. You may notice fatigue because you make more mistakes, make poor judgements and take greater risks. Performance impairment caused by fatigue can be compared to performance impairment due to alcohol intoxication.

Quality Sleep Matters We now know more about the importance of sleep for health. Time spent asleep is not wasted. While sleeping we are repairing our body and mind.

Sleep is vital for: • Thinking clearly and responding quickly, organizing our thoughts and making sense

of new information, allimportant for problem solving.

• Our physical health including our heart health and immune system function. It has a role in the body’s ability to remove toxins reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

• Our emotional health enhancing decision-making, resilience and emotional wellbeing.

Growing evidence shows that short sleep duration and poor sleep quality, can lead to a range of poor health outcomes, such as increased risk of heart diseases, cancers, mental health conditions, neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, and obesity, type 2 diabetes and chronic pain conditions.

One recent study showed that short sleep duration (less than 6 hours) in midlife is associated with a 30% increased risk of late-onset dementia. In another study, people sleeping less than 6 hours a night had a 20% higher chance of a heart attack.

Ask yourself: 1. How alert am I? An alert mind will see risks and help you to react quickly, for example, to recognize signs of livestock aggression and to isolate the animal in time or make better decisions when operating machinery.

Try to notice your fatigue and take action: • Talk with your partner/peers/farm advisor. It might be affecting you in ways you are unaware of, and/or affecting others around you.

• Take frequent breaks to manage fatigue (5 to 15 mins every 1 to 2 hours). This can improve productivity and reduce the risk of errors and injuries, especially when farm work is demanding or monotonous.

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• Consider getting a health check. Seeking medical advice on new physical complaints (for example, ongoing or increasing fatigue, shortness of breath) and the impact of medication on known health conditions is important for your sleep, alertness, and safety.

2. Am I getting good sleep?

Getting a good night’s sleep during calving season or harvest can be particularly difficult for farmers. Sleep is important for all ages. Most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Problems with sleep can be helped by: • Investing in technology? For example, the use of calving cameras may aid sleep • Time out for napping: short periods of sleep of around 20 minutes have been advocated by some, as a way of coping with fatigue, especially during long working days.

• Recording sleep patterns and problems using a diary/smartwatch/App can give you insight into your own fatigue and inform changes you could make (for example, go to bed an hour earlier). • Improving sleep quality may be helped by better sleep habits or being diagnosed and treated for any sleep disorder you may have.

• A healthy diet, increased levels of physical activity, stress management and restricted alcohol intake are all-important parts of a lifestyle that support better sleep and reduced fatigue.

3. Risks The relative risk of accidents is highest at night between 2am and 6am, the period of maximum sleepiness, or towards the end of a long working day. This is when your alertness and performance is lowest, and you are more likely

to make mistakes. A 2022 analysis of farm fatalities (in Northern Ireland) showed that fatality rates in farming increase throughout the working week peaking on Fridays and on Saturdays.

Consider the following: • Change the time of day or the day you complete demanding tasks to ensure you are more alert.

• Allow yourself sufficient time to complete tasks safely. It may not be your preference to ‘take your time’ but choosing to purposefully work slower on a task because you are aware you are fatigued can prove to be a safer temporary measure.

4. Workload Investing in farm labor can be an investment in your own health and safety. Resisting the support farm labor can bring, because of cost or financial pressures, may be a false economy. Upfront cost may increase but this is an insurance against the financial impacts of incidents, serious injuries and fatalities. Think ahead: • Plan for times of peak workload, for example, hiring labor to take on the morning, evening milking, or extra help for the calving season. This can reduce your risk of fatigued related errors at a time when you are more vulnerable to these.

• Consider steps to overcome any challenges in getting farm labor, for example, good forward planning or by ensuring good rostering, good hourly rate and working conditions for farm workers.

5. Family and Coworkers Consider the working hours and demands placed on others working on your farm.

Prioritizing output over worker safety has been shown, on numerous occasions, to lead to

injury and death. Ensure good communication between you and other farm workers about: • Health and safety being a priority, • adopting working hours to ensure the health and safety of all persons on the farm, • The importance of recognizing signs of fatigue, • the risk of fatigue-related problems being higher towards the end of the working day and during work at night, • The importance of getting enough sleep and taking breaks, particularly if feeling fatigued, and • The importance of stopping work completely given fatigue related concerns.

Provide good welfare facilities for farm workers. Workers can also use such facilities as a change of environment during monotonous tasks and act as a place to facilitate good communication about health and safety.

Benefits you cannot overlook Taking action to manage fatigue, acknowledging that sleep is important for performance for all ages and addressing these needs, can bring numerous benefits for you, your family and your farm: 1. Improved life-long health and wellbeing for you and your farm workers.

2. Reduced risk from fatigue related errors and the financial impacts of injury, ill health, and fatalities.

3. Improved health and productivity of livestock.

4. A positive health and safety culture on your farm fostering trust and commitment between you and others working on your farm.

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ACE Hardware

Dave McCollum, ACE Manager Well old man winter is just around the bend! Some cool mornings have everyone asking: Is this the year for some serious snow?

Well Ace has the shovels, snow blowers, ice melt and winter Milwaukee gear to make your transition from fall to winter a smooth one.

Come see our Milwaukee heated jacket display. Chances are good we can line you up with a style of vest, hoodie, or jacket that will keep you warm and stylish.

Do not forget your local Ace is the place for fencing, Gallagher and Parmak fence energizers, and stock tanks to get those cows out on winter grazing.

The big reset is coming! Act now to get some bargains on a huge variety of products prior to the event (tentative start date Nov. 20). Please come see us after the reset as well. We will be sporting the latest, greatest products that Ace offers.

As always, thanks for making Ace the place for winter shopping needs.

PS Milwaukee tools are a great stocking stuffer!

Grain Division

soybeans, I am sure there will not be much happening until the election is over.

Mike Schmidt Grain Division/ Operations Manager

As the harvest finishes up in the next month, everyone here at Pride Ag Resources would like to say thank you for your business. Hopefully everyone had a safe and bountiful harvest and if there is anything we can do to help you get your grain marketed, please call one of our merchandisers at Elkhart or Dodge City and they can give you the information you need to market at the high.

Here we are in the middle of fall harvest and the weather is excessively hot and defiantly to dry. It is pretty good weather for harvesting and it is moving right along. Your Coop is about 70% completed with corn and soybeans, and roughly 25 to 30 % completed on milo. Yields are all over the place with areas that received the right rains at the right times, the yields are very good and there are areas that missed a rain or two or it was a little too late, then yields are on the lower side of average.

For the most part, the quality has been very good. It does look like some of the milo that missed a rain or two will have a little test weight problems, just hope it will not be too bad!

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a good run up in the grain prices. Since September 1, wheat has increased around .30 cents, corn has increased around .27 cents, milo has increased around .12 cents and soybeans has lost around .20 cents. Not sure, what the next few weeks or months have in store for the grain prices, but for the crops that needs to be exported like wheat, milo, and

Agronomy Division

Jeffery Jensby Agronomy Division Manager We Take Pride in What We Do! Here in Pride Ag, country late fall and winter on the High Plains gives us a great time to reflect on results of the just harvested 2024 crop and planning for both 2025 wheat and spring planted crops. I suppose it is unique that we get to experience the results of our decisions, both good and bad, and use our management skills to yet improve on the approximately 40 to 50 crops us as producers will each grow in 4

our lifetime! We take pride in what we do!

Crop Nutrition Update Your Pride Ag Resources agronomy team has been very active securing supply for the fall wheat and upcoming spring crop needs. We appreciate your cooperative support as you purchase increasing volumes . . . many substantially larger than years past. Your cooperative’s infrastructure helps us stay ahead of your business growth and deliver product in a timely, cost-effective manner.

One growth area is our semi load “direct-to-farm” options. Many have enjoyed their experience of Pride Ag’s direct to farm and terminal pick up options at our Ensign Southwest Crop Nutrients facility. If you have not yet, please give it a try!

We have seen some recent volatility in the fertilizer markets with nitrogen being the main focal point.

Lost production due to plant stoppages and low water slowing barge traffic are contributing factors. Nitrogen at our export terminals is priced at a worldwide low price, which encourages exports elsewhere.

Nitrogen pricing seems firm in this regard and locking in your needs with contracts seems like a great business decision for 2025 crop needs. See your agronomy business manager today to get product contracted!

Countervailing Duties Several US and Canadian companies have filed for protection from imported UAN, dry phosphates and 2,4-Ds and unfortunately for us in

agriculture have won their case.

This means we as producers will be paying more for UAN, dry phosphates and 2,4-D products now and going forward. This is artificial but it is real. We have taken positions in all of these products to help you buffer this somewhat. This phenomenon also causes delay in the supply chain, as customers are slow to make purchases with the high cost of borrowing money.

Again, we at Pride Ag hope to alleviate part of this with our physical infrastructure to store UAN, dry fertilizer and chemistry products.

Managing Interest Costs This expense line represents a much bigger part of crop budgeting than in times past.

To help you navigate this Pride Ag offers you a variety of low interest seed, fertilizer and crop protection options . . . Winfield Secure, John Deere Financial (JDF), and Cooperative Finance (CFA) among others. We have a great finance specialist on staff that supports you right here locally and not in some skyscraper on the coast. This is a big difference compared to other suppliers.

Please consider Pride Ag financing options for the 2025 year! We believe you will be glad you did!

Whether it is CoAxium wheat varieties or Double Team sorghums consider working with our Pride Ag team for the best placement on your farm.

They take pride in what they do and the experiences from 2024 over a wide area take their product placement on your farm to the highest level! Early bookings are going on now.

Thank You! Again, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your support of our Pride Ag agronomy division this year.

Your cooperatively owned agronomy assets and business has seen excellent growth this year and looks forward to listening to your needs and helping you prepare and plant a profitable 2025 crop!

We take Pride in what we help you do!

Serving the best, Jeff Jensby, Interim Agronomy Division Manager –

Feed Division

Seed Variety selection is extremely important for the different soil and weed situations on your farm. Our agronomy business managers are bringing you the newest traits to your farm for a successful 2025 season.

John O’Leary Dodge City Feed Division Fall has arrived and cold weather is right around the corner.

As the weather gets colder and 5

pastures grow dormant, it becomes more and more difficult for growing calves to get the nutrition they need to achieve their full growth potential. As calves grow, milk from the mother cow can only provide around 50% of the necessary energy for maximum growth, and the calf must get the remaining 50% from forage.

Often times, the forage available is not adequate for that calf to achieve its maximum growth weight, and therefore is not as heavy as it could be at weaning time. Supplementing calf nutrition with creep feed can be an excellent option for producers to close that gap in the calf’s nutritional requirements, as well as providing several other benefits.

Consider these factors when deciding if and when to start creep feeding: Market conditions: Creep feeding is most profitable when calf prices are high and feed prices are low due to the need to invest less money for more valuable calves.

During high calf prices, the potential profits can help cover the additional cost to creep feed and make it a lower risk.

Weaning time: Creep feeding can start 80 to 120 days before weaning, resulting in an additional 50 to 80 pounds of gain.[1] This gives calves enough time to get used to dry feed when nutrient needs are low, and primes them to start eating right away postweaning when their growth accelerates and they require more energy.

Calving window: The tighter your calving window, the better creep feeding works. Additionally, fall calving systems can benefit more from creep feeding. These calves receive creep feed during winter when fresh forage is not readily available. During this time, calves take advantage of the additional energy and become accustomed to the creep feeder. As the weather warms up and forage becomes

readily available, the calves return to the creep feeder since they are comfortable with it. This will make it easier for them to make up the energy needs required for their growth potential.

Setting calves up for success after weaning: One of the primary reasons for creep feeding calves is to help ease their transition from a milk-based to a grain-based diet.

For the first few months after calves are born, their digestive systems do not contain the bacteria necessary to digest grains or forage.

Even as grains are introduced into their diets, calves will require at least 2 to 3 weeks for the bacterial population in their digestive tract to grow large enough to efficiently digest the grain.

Adding small amounts of grain to a calf’s diet helps to lower the stomach’s pH levels, which allows digestive bacteria to begin growing.

Additionally, it stimulates the growth of the rumen papillae, small projections in the rumen that increase its surface area and help with nutrient absorption.

In addition, creep-feeding calves can help to reduce their stress levels when they transition to the feedlot. Calves that are familiar with eating from a creep feeder will usually adjust better to eating from a feed bunk and may see a better immediate performance in weight gains from the feeding program.

Overall, creep-feeding calves while they still have access to their dams can make them more efficient at digesting grain feeds and help them maximize weight gains immediately after weaning.

Focus on cost-effective feeding strategies For creep feeding to be costeffective, calves should consume no more than 1% of their body weight in feed pre-weaning. This low-level feed introduction helps fuel the rumen microbes – which, in part, makes calves consume more, forage and become more feed efficient – without overfeeding

nutrients, calves don’t need yet.

Start by feeding Purina® RangeLand® Calf Creep at 3-4 months old to support development of rumen microbes, develop calves’ appetite and get them used to the creep feeder. Once your calves regularly consume the creep feed, add in Purina® Accuration® Range supplements with Intake Modifying Technology® to set and control their intake.

Feeding both a creep feed and an intake modifier will ensure calves do not under-consume, hurting their growth potential, or over-consume, impacting your bottom line. However, remember that introducing Intake Modifying Technology® too early can create a

feed diversion, as it is not as palatable as Purina® RangeLand® Calf Creep.

Find the right fit Creep feeding is an excellent option to create additional value to calves and help them reach their full growth potential. Implementing a cost-effective creep feeding system is all about understanding your options and finding the right program to fit your needs.

During the fall season, it is also important to prepare your operation for the winter months ahead. Here are some tips to help you be successful and keep your cattle in good condition during the winter months.

1. Focus on body condition score The number one way to reduce cold stress in cattle is to

improve body condition score.

Having a good body condition score going into winter does two things. First, a cow in body condition score five or six has a layer of fat insulation helping her conserve body heat.

Second, cows in good body condition likely have a good diet, which can result in nice, warm winter hair coats.

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2. Deliver more cattle feed Make sure cows have enough feed and water. A cow’s feed intake will increase by 20 percent during cold weather. Before temperatures drop, increase the amount of feed delivered. Provide additional hay, or offer 20 percent more cattle feed in the bunk.

Increasing intake will increase the amount of fermentation in the rumen, and one of the biggest waste products of fermentation is heat. If you provide cows with more energy and get more forage into the rumen, more fermentation happens and more heat is produced.

The process helps keep cows warm from the inside out.

3. Separate thin cows Thin cows mixed with the rest of the herd probably will not get the nutrition they need to maintain or gain body condition. Separate thinner cows – young or old – to help take off feeding pressure.

Once separated, make sure cows have plenty of forage and access to cattle mineral and cattle supplements.

If you cannot separate thin cows, feed free-choice cattle supplements like a protein tub to give those cows access to feed at all times. Free-choice cattle supplements also provide a less competitive atmosphere than group-feeding protein cubes or hand-fed feeds.

4. Put up windbreaks When wintering cattle, it is important to remember that wind chill affects cattle just as it affects people. Keep cattle out of the wind if possible. You can put up a homemade windbreak, create one out of bales or install a permanent windbreak. Wooded areas also provide shelter from the wind.

When cows do not have a windbreak, they feel the full effect of the wind, and it will cost you body condition. A drop in body condition score will result in additional feed cost to regain condition.

5. Ensure Proper Water Supply Livestock owners should always make sure their water supply and sources are ready for the cold weather. It is necessary for animals to have adequate water intake to make sure they mobilize the proper amount of nutrients. Without clean and fresh water, cattle will end up decreasing their feed intake, perpetuating the problem of meeting their increased metabolic needs due to cold weather.

The location of the water is important as well. In fact, it is recommended to consider the water source location in relation to common feeding areas and windbreaks to encourage the proper water intake.

Naturally, frozen water is going to be a common issue during the winter so making sure the water is accessible is also important. Take advantage of fair-weather days to replace old, broken or worn-out parts on water tubs before they are prone to break due to frozen water.

“Floating something in the water such as a rubber ball, old soccer ball or basketball will keep the water from quickly freezing due to it constantly moving the water surface,” Roof said. “It can also give the animals a tool to break the ice if it does freeze over.”

5. Provide cattle minerals and supplements Cattle mineral is vital during cold weather because it affects a cow’s metabolic process. If cows are short on mineral, their metabolism will slow down. Once metabolism slows, the cow is not producing as much heat, and she may start losing body condition score.

Providing cattle mineral and cattle supplements can also lead to better forage digestibility. A cow’s rumen microbes have mineral requirements and can benefit from supplementation.

Supplementing ramps up rumen microbes so they can digest more

forage. The microbes can also get 25 or 30 percent more energy out of the forage they are eating.

6. Keep a clean environment While wintering cattle, the environment tends to be muddy.

Mud reduces the insulation factor of a cow’s hair coat, and a cow’s lower critical temperature goes up as a result. For instance, if a cow is clean and dry, she may be okay down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. If a cow is dirty, her lower critical temperature may go up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Give cows plenty of space, and move hay rings and feeding stations to limit the creation of muddy areas. The cleaner cows stay, the better insulation their hair will provide.

7. Break routine We tend to feed cattle on a routine. We put out a set amount of cattle feed per day because we think that is what the herd should need. However, pay close attention to temperature and watch cattle closely.

When you know it will be cold for the next few days, increase the feed offered at least 24 hours in advance to give cows a head start.

Feeding cows after the storm is helpful, but the impact is greater when they are fed before.

Supplies to have on-hand (In vehicles, near cattle or loading chutes, the shop or office)  deicer salt, sand or traction grit  heat lamps  heaters  flashlights  fuel cans  starter fluid  battery starters and/or chargers  batteries (all types)  gate chains  load chains  tow straps  fuel-drawing pumps 7

 jumper cables  bolt cutters  tool sets (wrenches, hammers, mallets, baling wire)

AV Energy

Chris Klein AV Energy Manager As we are just about to put the wraps on another farming season, I would like to thank all the loyal customers of Pride Ag Resources and AV Energy. We take great pride in delivering excellent service to our customers and we know without you we couldn’t do what we do.

The cold season is upon us and I would like to give you some tips on keeping your fuel system up and running even on the coldest of days.

Before cold weather strikes, take steps to ensure problemfree engine performance and protect your valuable diesel equipment. With proper tank maintenance and fuel handling, you can avoid most common cold-weather problems.

In cold winters, ice formations in fuels containing water create severe fuel line and filter plugging problems. It’s

important to regularly remove water from storage tanks and filter bowls, and to follow these guidelines: 

Tilt tanks to direct water and debris away from the outlet  Drain and remove all contaminants every three months  Install proper filtration systems on bulk tanks  Replace fuel filters according to manufacturer recommendations; if filters have a drain valve, periodically drain water that may accumulate from condensation  Clean pump screens regularly  Request periodic fuel sampling for quality assurance purposes  Clean tanks annually Proper use of cold flow improvers can extend the operability of fuels without the use of #1 fuel. They serve two functions: 1) changing the wax structure of diesel fuel so it can pass through filters more readily, and 2) keeping wax crystals dispersed longer when fuels are stored below the “cloud point” (temperature at which paraffin in fuel begins to form cloudy wax crystals and reduce flow). When blending fuels, biofuels and additives, the components must all be at least 10 degrees above their cloud point – otherwise the additives will not blend in and therefore may clog filters. (Cenex – Best Practices for Handling Winter Fuels)

All diesel fuel sold through Pride Ag and AV Energy locations from Mid-November through February is blended with #1 diesel. Blending #2 diesel with #1 diesel lowers the cloud point of the fuel making the fuel less likely to freeze in colder temperatures. Most of the #2 diesel we purchase comes from terminals with a cloud point around 14º.

When we blend the #2 diesel with at least 30% #1 diesel and add our winter additive package we can get the cloud point to around 10º below zero. With the high amount of customers using our diesel fuel we find it necessary to take a few extra steps to help protect them and their business.

Thank you and I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season!

Chris Klein For more information about AV Energy check out our web site www.avenergy.com, or call our office at 620-225-4994.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Tony Bleumer ......................... Chairman Toby Whipple………..... .. Vice-Chairman Levi Salmans .......... Secretary-Treasurer Butch Irsik.................................. Director Curtis Ellis ................................. Director Garrett Love .............................. Director Weston Vogel ............................ Director David Self ….….........Associate Director Calvin Williamson..........Associate Director Jerald Kemmerer………………CEO/GM Jenny Moreno…Newsletter Editor

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