Pride Ag Resources 4th Quarter Newsletter

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MANAGER’S DESK

Jerald Kemmerer-CEO/GM Fall harvest is starting to wind down as corn is almost complete and the milo harvest is real slow due to the wet conditions. We may have to wait for a freeze to get some of the milo cut. The team of employees did a great job of moving grain this summer with the anticipation of large fall harvest. The big question is what we do with the fall harvest crops. There is no demand for soybeans since China is still in trade war discussions. The US soybean crushers have a wider than normal basis with a big crop being harvested and no competition for it. The saving grace is we have a new NAFTA agreement called USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement). This is a good

FOURTH QUARTER 2018

thing the USMCA was negotiated since Mexico has been a buyer of all their corn and milo from the US for the last several years. We will still need some type of China agreement not just for soybeans but also to have a competitive export program for Milo. It really gets down to China needs us just as bad, we just need to get an agreement negotiated and signed.

Talks look to be schedule for November sometime. Visit with the grain team at Pride Ag Resources to help you with your marketing plan for this year’s fall crops and upcoming wheat crop.

Thanks for your harvest bushels, the employees are working hard to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

Operationally, we continue to finish up some of the capital projects we have been working on this summer. The additional

storage at the Ensign project has one of the bins done and the second one on its way up. Our intention is to get the hardware in place to load them late this fall to void having to put grain on the ground or getting the piles picked up quickly. This could be very important as it looks to be a pretty wet fall and winter. We will finish up the outbound scale at Howell after we get the NH3 bulk tank moved out of the way. The Montezuma out bound scale was in place for fall harvest and speeds up the dumping process immensely. We will continue to look to add space and speed as we study our needs this winter for next year’s projects.

In conjunction with the CHS Annual Meeting coming up on December 6th and 7th, a specially selected group of top young producers will participate in the CHS New Leader

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

Institute. Over the course of three 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.

Starting with this Coop Newsletter we added a new section that spot lights our team of employees. I would like you to know who the team of employees at Pride Ag Resources are that come to work for you each day. Our goal as a team is to help you be successful, bring value to you, and at the end of the day help you be more profitable. Not only do I want you to know the individuals who are working for your cooperative but also their families. It’s also important for the team of employees to know you so they appreciate who they are working for, enjoy their jobs, and be able to provide for their families. Please take the time to read their personal information.

I hope your yields were better than you expected with the great summer we had.

Wheat is in the ground and off to a better start then we have seen in the last few years. We would like to see a better stand before going into dormancy than we saw last year.

We definitely have the top and subsoil moisture to do it if we can get a few days of nice fall temperatures.

We appreciate the opportunity to help you with all your production agricultural needs.

We appreciate your business!

Safety Division

Skyler Hayes Safety Director

HURRY CAN GET YOU HURT Driving over the speed limit or driving too fast for road and visibility conditions are causes of many traffic accidents. Some excuses for speeding include “I’m running late” or “I have to hurry to get everything done”.

We all know the dangers of driving too fast, but do we stop to think that doing other tasks too fast, or hurrying, is dangerous and can lead to accidents? Following are some examples of hurrying or taking shortcuts that can lead to an injury.

Not taking the time to put on goggles and PVC gloves when working around anhydrous ammonia.

Not taking the time to don safety glasses when grinding or cutting metal.

Not taking the time to get the right tool for the job, such as using a wrench for a hammer.

Not taking the time to lock out a piece of equipment that you will work on.

Not taking the time to get someone to be an attendant (lookout) while entering a grain bin.

Not taking the time to get the proper ladder for a job, or using something other than a ladder (pallet, box, chair, etc.) to get to something high.

Not taking the time to pick up something such as a tool, scrap iron, wood or extension cord to prevent a trip hazard.

Not taking the time to turn on a light or get a flashlight when entering a dark enclosure.

Not taking the time to unplug a power tool when adjusting or repairing it.

Not taking the time to slow down when walking on a slick or icy surface.

Not taking the time to explain to a coworker or employee the proper way to do a task safely and efficiently.

Not taking the time to do a pre-trip inspection on a vehicle to make certain the tires are inflated, the lights work, the windshield is clean, the brakes are working properly, etc.

Not taking the time to put a safety guard back on a piece of equipment after it has been adjusted or repaired.

Not taking the time to ask a coworker or employee to help lift something heavy or bulky.

I could go on and on with examples of how hurry can be dangerous. I’m certain that you can come up with some instances when not taking time to do a task safely can get a person hurt. I am aware that there seasons when there are not enough hours in a day to get all of your work done, but taking the time to do things safely pays great dividends in the long run.

ACE HARDWARE Jack Lane, ACE Manager It is amazing how fast the seasons fly by. It is time to get prepared for old man winter.

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We definitely have had a taste of what’s to come. Ace carries a full line of heat tapes to keep those pipes from freezing. An inventory of different stock tank heaters, space heaters, pipe insulation and furnace filters just to name a few items available.

Ace also has a full line of insulated winter gloves and the new seirus neofleece face masks and hoods. This is the warmest insulation on earth. Ace has all your snow removal products snow blowers, shovels. Ice melt and bulk ice melt available also in totes. Call for pricing and availability. We appreciate your business at Pride Ag Ace.

GRAIN DIVISION Gary Friesen Grain Merchandizer Harvest activity ground to a halt October 6th after rains dropped five plus inches of moisture on most of the Pride Ag Resources area. It’s always good to get rain in Western Kansas so I’ll try not to complain, but it would have been nice had it stayed dry to get wheat planting completed and the remainder of the corn and bean crops in. Up to the point that we received rain, harvest had been going well and initial reports were that corn yields were good although possibly slightly below expectations. Soybean yields were also good according to early reports.

The grain markets have been lackluster over the past months.

Uncertainty about export opportunities, with China have left the grain trade searching for direction. November Soybeans

have moved off a high of $9.22 in late July to contract lows of $8.12 in mid-September.

Soybean prices have moved up since then to currently trading around $8.63.

USDA’s estimate of an 885 million bushel soybean carryout will continue to keep beans on the defensive, in my opinion, until substantial progress is made in trade negotiations. There were reports on Oct 17th that two shipments of U.S. soybeans were headed to China, one loaded in the gulf and the other loaded in the Pacific Northwest.

This is certainly welcome news but it will take much more demand than this to support the soybean market.

The wheat market has trended much the same as the soybean market although for entirely different reasons. After wheat harvest was complete, production problems and quality issues with this year’s Russian wheat crop along with concerns about production in Australia help to bolster prices.

December Kansas City wheat rallied to a high of $6.26 on August 7, but then fell to a low of $4.98 on September 13 before advancing to $5.14 currently. The July 2019 wheat contract reached a high on August 7 of $6.40.

Unfortunately wheat prices probably needed to correct as U.S. wheat was not competitive in world markets.

USDA’s October WASDE report showed global ending wheat stocks down 5 percent from last year’s record stocks. Hopefully, given reduced world stock numbers, export business will get pushed to the U.S. which should give support to wheat basis over time.

USDA’s estimate of 181.3 bu./acre corn yields in September was lowered to 180.7 on October 11, which helped to push December corn futures above $3.70. The yield if realized, would still be a record for a U.S. Corn crop and implies production of nearly 14.8 billion bushels.

Price action since the report was issued has stayed above the $3.70 level. This seems to be related to expectations that corn yields will be reduced further in subsequent crop reports. Given the slowdown in harvest activity across the entire Corn Belt it seems likely that a reduction in corn yields may occur. U.S. corn prices are competitive in world markets and exports are expected to stay strong. Having successfully completed a North American trade agreement, opportunities to ship corn to Mexico should increase. While the U.S. corn crop will be huge, demand should support the corn market.

December 19 corn futures are currently trading above $4.00.

Date Wheat 7/6/18 4.93 8/3/18 5.47 8/21/18 5.15 9/17/18 4.68 Last Year –Nov. 2017 AVG. 3.39

Corn 3.40 3.55 3.45 3.38

Milo 3.10 3.20 3.10 2.93

Soybean 7.78 7.86 7.81 6.99

3.26 2.99 8.78

We have yet to get milo harvest fully underway.

Hopefully we get good drying weather and harvest activity resumes soon. This milo crop looks really good and I would expect yields to be good again this year. The grain trade is anxious about export opportunities for milo this year.

So far milo exports have been minimal, with Spain buying U.S. milo and some Commodity 3

Credit Corporation (CCC) business being done.

Last year’s milo exports to China supported milo basis to the point that last January milo basis exceeded corn basis. Milo basis fell like a dropped rock when exports ended abruptly early in February due to trade issues. If our only uses for milo this year are alcohol production and domestic feed use, it’s hard to imagine that milo basis gets stronger any time soon. Getting trade back on track with China will be the single most important issue to solve for milo basis to rally. Hopefully our trade delegation can negotiate a deal that levels the playing field and is beneficial to both the U.S. and China. Let’s hope this happens sooner rather than later.

We look forward to helping you with all your grain handling and marketing needs. It’s never too late to update your marketing plan and it’s never too soon to begin marketing your next crop. We can place open futures orders for you, giving you the opportunity to get fills any time prices reach your selected price goal. Using our forward price contract you can lock in cash prices, with a basis contract you can lock in your basis level and with a hedge to arrive contract you can lock in your futures price. We also offer Compass Contracts which are available through CHS Hedging. These contracts can be used in a comprehensive marketing plan to help you manage your price risk. We look forward to discussing all of these opportunities with you.

We hope that you stay safe as harvest resumes and that this harvest is successful for you. As always thanks for your

patronage and the opportunity to be of service.

FEED DIVISION 1. Encourage calf starter feed consumption For the first five to seven days of weaning calves, target calves to consume a total diet equaling 2.5-3% of their bodyweight. The total diet can consist of a purchased complete calf starter feed, or it can be a supplement paired with your existing forage. Let calves continue building intake through the 21 to 28 day weaning program to help optimize performance. There are hand-fed and selffed complete calf starter feeds.

No matter which you choose, achieving target consumption is key to keep calves healthy.

You can also achieve these goals by feeding free-choice forages of over 8% crude protein along with a palatable supplement feed and tubs. When calves come to the feed bunk for the first time they need to find a palatable feed which makes them want to come back for more. Any of these calf weaning programs can help achieve consumption.

Calf starter feeds with intake control properties can also help stimulate more consistent consumption. Feeds with intake control properties encourage calves to eat several small meals throughout the day rather than one or two big meals a day.

2. Evaluate bunk space, management Each calf needs about a foot of bunk space so all calves can be at the feed bunk at the same time. If you’re using a calf starter feed with intake

control properties in a selffeeder, each calf only needs six to eight inches of bunk space because they won’t all eat at once. Instead, they’ll eat small meals and come back at different times.

Don’t underestimate the importance of managing your feed bunk and paying close attention to calf behavior at feed delivery. The way calves behave at the bunk can tell you a great deal. If calves rush the bunk when feed is delivered, they are likely being underfed.

If they don’t seem interested at feed delivery, they may be overfed or sick. If some calves are standing away from the feed bunk or are fighting to gain access to feed, you might not have enough bunk space.

Additional bunk best practices include making sure fresh feed is available consistently, cleaning out uneaten or spoiled feed and gradually making any shifts in the amount of feed delivered.

3. Make feed placement a priority With a little bit of strategy, you can ensure your calves bump into food at every turn so they find feed easily and start consuming.

Placing bunks and tubs in the center of a pen can make it more challenging for calves to find them. Bunks or self-feeders should be placed perpendicular to the fence line so when calves are rounding the pen trying to determine how to get out, they will bump into their feed.

Similarly, we recommend placing mineral tubs along the pen perimeter so calves encounter them as they are circulating and begin licking the tub. Licking causes salivation, which encourages further 4

consumption of the diet.

4. Consider water sources, cleanliness If your calves are suddenly moved into a pen with an automatic waterer and they’ve never used one before, you can’t expect them to walk right up and drink out of one. It will take some time for calves to adapt to their surroundings and navigate the facilities with ease.

Until then, one way to keep calves hydrated is to place some additional water tanks or tubs in the pen. Like feed bunk placement, water tanks or tubs should be placed along the fence line so calves will quickly find them and start drinking.

Cleanliness is also paramount to water consumption. All water sources should be checked at least daily for cleanliness and to make sure the source has adequate flow.

Weaning calves can be very stressful, but implementing a few new nutritional strategies can make the transition more seamless.

Does your nutrition program stack up?

AGRONOMY Owen Clemens Agronomist For those of you who have not met me yet, my name is Owen Clemens and I’m the new agronomist for Pride Ag Resources. I’m working out of the Ingalls South Agronomy location and cover the western trade territory. In May 2018, I graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Agribusiness and a minor in Agronomy. While going to school at Kansas State

University, I worked for three years on a large production farm that raised corn, soybeans, milo, and wheat. During this time, I also completed an agronomy summer internship with Farmway Coop—now known as CVA—in north central Kansas.

With all the rain we have gotten this season, the harvest is coming along slowly. Now is a great time to get some soil samples pulled. Soil samples are a great tool available to producers to give them insight on field conditions and allowing more accurate and impactful farming practices. With our first freeze of the year just taking place, this marks the end of the growing season for not only the late season crops like milo, but also many pesky weed species that might still be around.

However, before you know, it will be that time of the year again when the cool season and early season weeds start to pop up in your fields. Don’t forget that Pride Ag Resources will be here to offer assistance— everything from scouting, recommendations, custom application or simply supplying herbicides or other chemicals for your farming solutions.

Once again, my name is Owen Clemens and I am working out of the Ingalls South location. I am excited to be a part of the Pride Ag Resources team and look forward to meeting everyone. Feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Pride Ag Resources“Pride Turf” Turf Shed

“Turf Talk” Ryan Bourne rbourne@prideag.com

It’s hard to believe that we are only a few short months away from the Holiday seasons already and I am not for sure what all happened as this year went by so fast! However, I hope everyone has had a great fall from harvest to planting to maintaining their yards!

The Ensign Turf plant has seen some minor changes and we have tuned the operation to a very efficient operation. Hunter Brown took over the plant operations this summer and has done a very good job of filling orders with the help of Willie Bratton. We continue to gain market share of the golf course industry turf fertilizer with our “totes”. It’s always a great feeling when the Superintendent sends a message of how that changes their way of fertilizing to be way more efficient and cost effective. Along with filling custom blend orders, we continue to have all of our bagged products fully stocked at the warehouse in Dodge City.

From there they go to branches and to our Ace Hardware stores.

Along with golf, we have been able to blend some great blends for local high school football fields, lawn care operators and cities park areas.

Some other positive outlooks are having the ability to bring in other products that 5

compliment what we currently offer. This coming year we will be selling a liquid nutritional line called FoliarPak. This will take some time to grow as it is something new to turf professionals in Kansas but has been growing rapidly in the Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri markets. The turf world has seen a slight shift in spraying more products than their normal applications of granular fertilizers. I felt we can adapt to meet both means and complement each line to offer very good service to the turf industry. We have also been in discussion with a group that are producing Agrimend, a very soluble source of Calcium. We are planning to be the single distributor in Kansas with this product. I also feel Agrimend will reach not only those in the turf industry but I feel it could benefit the farming communities as well. We will soon have more information on these additional products.

I am very excited with our future as my goal is to get our products into more hands of people across the region. If you have or have not purchased our products from one of our Ace Hardware stores or local branches, I encourage you to give us a shot! It’s not too late to get our Winterizer out on the yard!

As we move from Winterizer to Ice Melts, be sure to get stocked up and ready for the winter months. I have seen some predictions for a wetter winter but as always Mother Nature has her own plans!

Unfortunately, over the past two winters, we have not moved much product so we have a good amount of inventory at the warehouse ready to roll out.

We will have the same 2 blends

as we had and both have been used effectively in a Colorado Market to success, so I am confident these products will achieve the results you are after for the winter season.

The “ROYAL BLUE MELTER” is a true 3-way product.

It contains 84% Sodium Chloride, 8% Magnesium Chloride, and 8% Calcium Chloride and has a Non-staining light blue color added for easy indication when applying and is perfect for fast effective melting as the products work well together. It can be used for high traffic surfaces, driveways, sidewalks and steps.

It has melting capabilities from 20 deg. to -20 degrees.

The “GREEN MELTER” is a combo product with 97% Sodium Chloride and 3% Calcium Carbonate, it is dyed a light green for easy indication, this product is great for large applications and has an anti-slip material added in. This product has melting capabilities from 20 deg. to -15 degrees.

I was recently reading an article regarding Gypsum lawn applications before, during and after winter months. This product was used in high application areas of ice melt either along the sidewalks of schools or businesses to along roadways. Gypsum will help flush the salts from the soil, and if you battle with dead grass along your turf areas in the spring, give it a shot! We carry Gypsum in all of our locations.

As always if you have a question, don’t hesitate to send me an email as I would be happy to help where I can. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season and I look forward to 2019!

AV Energy AV Energy Purchases High Plains Energy AV Energy, LLC is pleased to announce that it has purchased the propane assets of High Plains Energy, LLC a retail propane company with operations across Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado.

“The acquisition of High Plains Energy offers extensive asset and operational synergies and will provide an expanded geographic footprint and a new propane growth platform," said Jerald Kemmerer, Board President of AV Energy. "We are excited about the additional talent, assets and locations which this acquisition will bring to support AV Energy’s growth strategy."

AV Energy is very excited about this new venture and we look forward to working with the great customer base that High Plains has established throughout the years. The customers of High Plains will not see many changes as they change over to AV Energy and we anticipate the transition to run very smoothly.

New Office Location With the purchase of High Plains Energy, AV Energy will be moving into a larger office the first of November. Stop by to see our office and discuss any energy need you might have.

AV Energy, LLC 108 North 14th Ave Suite B Dodge City, Ks 67801 Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

Chris Klein

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Pride Ag Employee Spot Light

Name: Debby Kennedy Resides: Dodge City, Kansas Location: Main Office Position: Receptionist and some bookkeeping.

Debby has been employed with Pride Ag for over 13 years.

Debby is married to Ben who works for Kindsvater Truckline.

They have two daughters: Toby and husband Marty, who have 2 daughters and a son. She is a Pilates instructor and he is a computer tech. Erin and husband Patrick, have a daughter and a son. She works for a hospital in the insurance department and he is a Chiropractor. Debby and Ben are also parents to 2 international daughters and 49 international son’s through the SHARE High School Exchange program. They have a spoiled dog, Hazel and Max the cat to complete the family.

Debby grew up on a farm near Bucklin Kansas and attended school there.

Debbie’s Hobbies are knitting, crocheting and she is part of a group that makes prayer shawls for the 1st United Methodist Church, reading and watching NCIS. Her favorite pastime is supporting the Dodge Red Demon Soccer Team and of course spoiling her grandkids.

Name: Chris Swenk Resides: Dodge City, Ks Location: Montezuma Branch Position: Elevator worker Chris has been employed with Pride Ag just over 90 days.

Chris is married to Sheena, and they have 3 children, Dakota, Caiden and Blayden.

Chris grew up in Amarillo Texas.

His hobbies are Disc golf, softball and darts, along with spending time with his family and attending church. He is also a huge Green Bay Packers fan.

Name: Darrell Beachy Resides: Minneola Kansas Location: Ford Branch Position: Shop and warehouse, customer service and auto.

Darrell has been employed with Pride Ag for just over 1 year.

Darrell is married to Kayla, and they have 2 children, Kylee and Raelynn.

Darrell grew up in Yoder Kansas, and his hobbies are rebuilding trucks, Bull fighting and turning wrenches.

Name: Derek Anderson Resides: Bucklin Ks Location: Kingsdown Branch Position: Elevator, shop, warehouse Derek has been employed with Pride Ag for 6 years.

Derek is married to Audrea.

Derek’s hobbies are playing video games.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Scott Mac Nair ........................ Chairman Tony Bleumer………..... . Vice-Chairman Clint Hamilton ......... Secretary-Treasurer Butch Irsik ................................. Director Toby Whipple ............................ Director Jacob Tarman ........................... Director Weston Vogel ............................ Director Brian Pinkney.…........Associate Director Phillip Woods …..…..Associate Director Jerald Kemmerer………………CEO/GM Debby Kennedy….......Newsletter Editor

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Pride Ag Resources

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4th Quarter 2018

710 West Trail, Dodge City, KS 67801

DODGE CITY, KS PERMIT #399

(620) 225-4193

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