Issuu

Agriculture January 23, 2011

Good advice

Produced by the Grand Forks Herald’s Features team

By Ann Bailey

Herald Staff Writer

About two decades ago, Bob Lebacken figured there was a better way to market his crops than simply selling them off the combine, so he decided to explore other marketing options. The more Lebacken learned about marketing tools, the more interesting he found it and he decided to get a Series 3 commodity trader’s license. He worked for Benson Quinn for about a dozen years until it merged with ADM Investor Services, and then, in 2002 founded RML Trading LLC. Lebacken, an introducing broker, clears trades with ADM Investor Services. Now Lebacken together with RML Trading LLC account executives Terry Fitchner and Brad Lucke help farmers and ranchers market their crops or livestock. “We give farmers advice and opinions on the markets, help farmers look at markets,” Lebacken said. He and his staff strive to give farmers both short- and long-term market perspectives and which marketing tools may be advantageous to use. “With the volatility in the markets we are finding some of the strategies can be more advantageous than cash contracts at the elevator or just selling

Industry 2011 Section

off of the combine.” RML Trading LLC provides farmers and ranchers who aren’t familiar with marketing techniques information. “We want to make sure they understand if they’re new to it.” Understanding the markets is important because producers still make the ultimate decision about how to market their grain, he noted.

Progress

Bob Lebacken and staff strive to give farmers both short- and longterm market perspectives ■

Clients

Most of RML Trading LLC’s clients live in North Dakota and Minnesota, but some also are in other areas of the United States. “Business has been gradually growing,” Lebacken said. Besides doing daily market updates on the radio, RML Trading LLC also holds an annual market outlook seminar, which features national speakers, he said. Most of today’s agricultural producers view marketing as an integral part of their farming operation, Lebacken said. Volatile markets and a global economy have increased the need to do more sophisticated marketing than years ago when farmers chose to either store the grain or sell it off the combine. “There is more of a need and desire to do more…. I remember 10 years ago, when the wheat markets would move 50

Eric Hylden, staff photographer

Bob Lebacken is the president of RML Trading LLC in Grand Forks. cents a year. Now we get that in a day.” RML Trading LLC has a staff member on call so farmers can get in touch with them after the U.S. markets close at the end of

the day, Lebacken said. “With virtually around-theclock trading, the phone is forwarded to one of us,” he said. “We get calls at night and we put in orders.”

Given the variability in the market, being a broker is challenging. “It can be awfully frustrating some days. It can be awfully fun some days.”

Vance Taylor is president and general manager of the North Dakota Mill.

Flour power Photo by Ann Bailey

The North Dakota Mill reported record profits of $13.18 million in fiscal year 2010 ■

By Ann Bailey

Herald Staff Writer

The North Dakota Mill is looking forward to another good year. “We had another good quarter for the first quarter of fiscal year 2011,” said Vance Taylor, North Dakota Mill president and general manager. Profits for the first quarter of fiscal year, 2011 were $2.75 million, he said. “Market conditions are good for the state mill,” Taylor said. The North Dakota Mill reported record profits of $13.18 million in fiscal year 2010. That amount is more than double the previous record of $6.2 million that the mill posted in 2006. About 90 percent of the mill’s business is sales of wheat flour and 10 percent is pasta sales. One of the main reasons that the mill’s profits increased in fiscal year 2010 was a 13.2 percent increase in flour shipments, Taylor said. The mill shipped 10.8 million hundredweight of flour during fiscal year 2010. Flour shipments so far this fiscal year are 10 percent above last year’s shipments for the same period, Taylor said. “We’ve seen a good, solid demand for our spring wheat and durum products.”

Growth

The increase in flour shipments is the result of North Dakota Mill plant expansions during the past decade, which have increased plant capacity, Taylor said. The total capacity of the mill’s seven units is 3.5 million pounds of flour per day. The mill’s flours, which include white, whole wheat and white wheat, are shipped to bakeries and bakery distributers across the United States, but the bulk of the customers are on the East Coast, Taylor said. The mill’s biggest market is in New York City. The mill also sells 5- 10- and 25pound bags of flour, bread machine mixes, two kinds of pancake mixes, 5-pound bags of white whole wheat flour and 5-pound bags of organic spring wheat flour in area grocery stores, The markets for organic flour and white wheat are growing, Taylor said. The mill buys its white wheat flour from farmers via the Dakota Pride Co-op. “We’ve been growing that program for five, six years,” he said. Reach Bailey at (701) 787-6753; (800) 477-6572, ext. 753; or send email to abailey@gfherald.com.

‘Record year’

Photo by Ann Bailey

Agvise President Bob Deutsch (left) and Agvise Vice President John Lee at Agvise Laboratories in Northwood, N.D.

■

High cost of fertilizer, precision technology create demand for Agvise’s services

By Ann Bailey

Herald Staff Writer

NORTHWOOD, N.D. – Increasing numbers of farmers are sampling their soils, and that’s good news for Agvise Laboratories in Northwood. “This year was another record year for us,” said John Lee, Agvise Laboratories vice president. “There were days this fall when we received more than 4,500 samples a day.” He and Bob Deutsch, Agvise Laboratories president, attribute the increased interest in soil testing to the high cost of fertilizer and precision technology that allows farmers to pinpoint exactly what fertilizers are needed in a particular area of the field. Crop consultants, farmers, agronomists and fertilizer and chemical companies use the soil test-

ing services of Agvise. Once they determine which nutrients are lacking, farmers can apply fertilizers to improve them and, hopefully, increase yields. Agvise Laboratories, which became an employee-owned company in 1997, also tests soil samples for universities and corporations. The laboratory employs about 30 people, full-time in Northwood and 15, at its Benson, Minn., location.

Busy days

Once the crop is off in the fall, soil testing gets into full swing. “It gets later and later as more row crops come into the area,” Lee said. Weather conditions also play a big part in the soil testing schedule. “Just like the farmers, it’s a very weather-dependent

business.” Agvise’s Midwest location, its track record of providing accurate samples and the technical support its employees provide customers have helped it to build up its business, Lee and Deutsch, said. Besides testing soil samples, Agvise also analyzes plants, including corn, soybeans, potatoes and wheat to determine what nutrients they lack. “Plant analysis has gained tremendously,” Deutsch said. This month potato tissue samples from the southern United States are arriving at Agvise Laboratories. The laboratories hopes to have an even better year in 2011. Plans are to convert warehouse space into laboratory space. “By next year, we should be able to do about 20 percent more,” Deutsch said.

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“Unfortunately for a lot of agriculture, when one does well, another pays the penalty. No man is an island when comes to this picture.”

By Nancy Bartley The Seattle Times

SEATTLE – After 70some years and four generations of milking cows in Washington’s Snohomish Valley, the Bartelheimers were the latest in a long list of dairy families who have called it quits. But the long, low barns had been empty for less than a week last month when the cows came home again. Today, the dairy is in operation as one of four rented locations Jeremy and Jerald Visser are using to expand their herd. The Bartelheimers sold off 750 mature cows, some to the Vissers, and leased the dairy to the family. As a result, the Bartelheimers paid off debt and made their mortgage payments, and owner Dale Bartelheimer, 73, was able to retire. It’s tough to make a living in the dairy business these days, but those that find economical ways to grow have a better chance of surviving, said Ned Zaugg, Washington State University Extension’s dairy expert. The Vissers – son Jeremy and father Jerald – believe the arrangement will be beneficial by giving them a place to expand their herd (and therefore potential profit) without the costs of land ownership. Most Washington dairies are family-operated, a number of them by people such as the Bartelheimers and Vissers, who have been in the business for generations.

Headwinds

But the high cost of feed, the low price of milk mean the family-owned dairy is a dying breed. When Zaugg came to the Northwest in 1993, Snohomish and Skagit counties each had more than 100 dairies. Strict state environmental rules were implemented in 1997. Now there are about 25 in each, he said. “It is a crisis,” he said. Dairy farms also affect nearby towns, he said. Depending on the economy, every 100 cows represent $1 million to $2 million in income to surrounding communities, Zaugg said. Towns near a dairy often are small and have benefited from the dairy families’ involvement for years. “These people are the salt of the earth,” he said. “They work hard; they don’t complain about it. They appreciate natural resources because that’s their livelihood. These are the communities where they raise their children.” The Visser family came from The Netherlands in the early 1900s and settled on the farm in Sumas, Wash., where Jeremy Visser, 33, lives today with his wife and 2-year-old son. In 1999, the dairy was about to go under. That’s when Jeremy went into partnership with his father, Jerald, and made an ambitious plan to expand their operation. They began leasing other properties – one in Whatcom County and now two in Snohomish, and expanded the herd from 140 to 3,000 today. With a bigger herd comes increased responsibilities and risks, Visser said: “I can’t afford to make mistakes.”

Getting real

He also has a far more sober view of dairying than he did 11 years ago when he jumped into the busi-

Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

Ned Zaugg Washington State University Extension’s dairy expert

McClatchy Tribune

Jason Bartelheimer walks through the main barn at his family’s Snohomish Valley Dairy on in Snohomish, Wash. The building has been leased to another dairy farmer as Bartelheimer is trying cheese making over running the farm. ness full of optimism. The year 2009 was the worst for the dairy industry, he said. That’s when milk prices dropped to their lowest, $11.76 for about 12 gallons, while the price of feed remained high. Local dairies were paid $14.20 for the same amount of milk in 2005, and the rate today is about $15, Visser said. Feed prices are high for several reasons. Prime locally grown hay is shipped to lucrative markets overseas – Saudi Arabia, for example, Bartelheimer said. That makes available hay more expensive. Alfalfa, corn and soy beans are all part of a cow’s diet, and corn prices are high now, too, Visser said, because it’s in demand for ethanol. “Unfortunately for a lot of agriculture, when one does well, another pays the penalty,” Zaugg said. “No man is an island when it comes to this picture.” The Bartelheimers, who came from Germany in the early 1900s and moved to Snohomish after a stop in Nebraska, wouldn’t have been able to stay on the land had a tenant not been found, said Jason Bartelheimer, 39. “For the last two years we’ve been losing money,” he said. “The dairy economy went with the rest of the economy.”

Passion

Jason Bartelheimer can’t remember wanting to be anything but a dairyman. While attending the University of Washington, he skipped so many classes to work on the farm that he eventually left college. When he married, he brought his wife to the farm, and they’re raising their four children in the same way he was raised,

being welcome in the barn “as soon as you’re old enough to push a wheelbarrow.” Bartelheimer is doing what many dairymen are doing in order to stay on their farms: He’s planning

to make farmstead cheese, and he bought 42 calves from the herd his father sold. He’s taken cheesemaking classes and practiced in the farmhouse kitchen. Bartelheimer says he

knows it will take time to make money in the cheese business and that he’ll have to find another job in the interim. His friends jokingly tell him he needs a night job to support his “farming habit.” That’s a passion Visser understands. He, too, left

college to return to the dairy. He doubts his children (the second is due next month) will be the fifth generation in the dairy business. “They’ll find smarter ways of making money,” he said. “But it’s a wonderful lifestyle for families.”

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Land roller use: challenges and benefits PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRY

Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

Extension.org

Land rolling use has steadily increased, especially on soybean fields in the Upper Midwest during the past few years. The practice began in Canada several years ago, gained steam in North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota where it has become routine, and now has spread into Southern Minnesota and some areas in Iowa.

Do rolled fields benefit at harvest?

The essential concern or need to use a land roller is to push down rocks, breakdown residue and level the ground for harvest, and subsequently reduce grain and yield losses. The idea is that rolling makes combining beans faster and easier, and there is less chance of picking up rocks or corn root clumps which can damage guards, sickle sections or expensive internal combine parts. Some of these problems or challenges are legitimate, but they are not dominant in every field or landscape, given other economic and environmental risks involved with using a land roller. The economic benefits of such practice have been difficult to document, especially in yield advantage, seed quality or seed loss. The cost of purchasing a land roller depends on its

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size. The approximate costs, as provided by some equipment dealers, can range in price from $17,000 for a 20-footer, $32,000 for a 45-footer, and $65,000 for the 85-foot model. Custom land rolling rates can range from $3 per acre to $10 per acre, averaging $6.55 per acre, according to Iowa State’s 2010 Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey. Research on using a land roller in Iowa and Minnesota showed no yield advantage in soybeans with rolling at different times and growth stages. Such data suggests costs are not covered by additional yield.

Impact on soil and water quality is a concern

Using a land roller during early spring and for multiple times (i.e., before and after planting) can create significant soil surface compaction, destroy soil surface aggregates and detach residue leading to a potential increase in soil erosion (see pictures below). Preliminary research from Iowa State University documents that land rolling a field reduced water infiltration. Reduced infiltration leads to increased surface runoff after rain events. The findings show a significant decrease in water infiltration by over three times the rate of control (non-rolled plots). This is a one year

evaluation and research will continue in 2011. Degradation of soil and water quality is not only a problem in the short-term, but also has a long-term impact. Potential nutrient loss of phosphorous and nitrogen is also a concern, especially in the spring where a significant number of rain events and amounts are received in the Midwest region. In order to reduce surface runoff, conservation practices that reduce soil compaction (i.e., maintaining an intact residue cover) are essential to protect our soil and sustain our water and environment quality. Regardless of the tillage system that the land roller will be used on, land rolling can destroy soil benefits associated with no-till or add additional damage if used on conventionally tilled ground, where intensive tillage has

already destroyed soil structure. The University of Minnesota researchers observed that land rolling may raise the risk of sealing the soil surface during rain events, which can lead to ponding, as was also found in Iowa. The consequences of reducing water infiltration into the soil profile increases the potential for surface runoff and loss of top soil and nutrients by erosion, thereby reducing crop productivity and yield. Also, compacted soil surface may lead to wet soil surface conditions that can have other effects, such as an increase in soil born disease, especially in poorly drained soils, as found in a majority of Minnesota and northern Iowa fields. The Minnesota and Iowa findings confirmed earlier research by North Dakota State University. Research in 2003 and 2004

from North Dakota State University concluded that no yield loss from land rolling is observed, but injury levels go up if rolling was delayed until the first trifoliate stage, when plants are three to four inches tall. Farmers’ desire to increase harvest-ability by pushing down rocks and corn root balls should be carefully balanced with the long-term effects of rolling on soil quality and water resources. Potential effects on surface soil compaction as well as additional time, fuel and machinery cost of land rolling need to be considered since yield advantage or harvest loss from using this practice seems inconsistent at best. Earlier research shows that if the beans are standing well and the combine is properly adjusted, stubble cut loss is less than one bushel

per acre, and should be closer to half a bushel. There are a lot of good alternative technologies to adjust and calibrate the combine correctly and manage residue and other farming challenges. If the issue is to remove rocks from the field, then this may not be the most efficient solution. Pushing rocks into the soil is a short-term solution, especially when fields will be tilled again the following season and the rocks brought back to the soil surface. The bottom line is that while the use of a land roller may provide some comfort and “peace of mind,” and may reduce combine breakdown in some fields, it also carries risks and potential impacts to soil and water quality in the short as well as in the long-term.

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Efforts to kill invasive plant worry beekeepers G4

www.GrandForksHerald.com

PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRY

By David Runk Associated Press

DETROIT – An effort to fight an invasive plant with insects that eat it has drawn opposition from beekeepers who worry it will leave them without an adequate source of nectar and pollen for their honeybees. Researchers in Michigan released bugs that feed on spotted knapweed earlier this year. Western states and big honey producers, such as Minnesota and Wisconsin, previously used so-called biological control to help restrain the flowering plant, which produces chemicals that deter the growth of other plants and crowds out native vegetation.

Connection

It’s not clear why Michigan beekeepers are so worried about knapweed control when those in other states haven’t been as much. Some in the industry speculated Michigan beekeepers may rely on knapweed more for nectar and pollen than those in other states. Regardless, Michigan is among the nation’s top 10 honey producers and the home of beekeepers who ship hives as far as Florida and California to pollinate orchards and fields. Beekeepers argue that if they’re hurt, the farmers who rely on them will suffer too. “If it wasn’t for this plant, we wouldn’t even be here,” said Kirk Jones, the 57-year-old founder of Sleeping Bear Farms in the northwest Lower Peninsula community of Beulah. If knapweed control efforts prove success-

Associated Press

Beekeeper Terry Klein, 70, of TM Klein and Sons Honey, is shown next to a bee hive packed in straw and sheltered for the winter in a barrel on his property in St. Charles, Mich. Klein is one of many Michigan beekeepers worried that efforts to combat an invasive plant that is crowding out native vegetation could leave them without a key source of nectar and pollen that helps keep their honeybees productive and healthy. ful, he said: “It could be detrimental to the future of the beekeeping industry.“ The dispute between the state and its beekeepers is happening amid a massive die-off of bees nationwide. Colony collapse disorder has killed about 30 percent of the nation’s bees each year since it was recognized in 2006, according to a report the U.S. Department of Agriculture released Friday. The bees are crucial for the production of 130 crops worth more than $15 billion a year, it said. Michigan officials said they’re keenly aware of the

Demand high for buffalo in Fergus Falls Fergus Falls Daily Journal, Minn.

Buffalo are big business. Around the country, demand has been heating up for bison meat, a healthy, low-fat beef alternative. However, the amount of bison in North America is still low, with only about 92,000 head processed in the continent last year (less than one day’s worth of beef processing). The result? Prices are rising, and buffalo ranchers are working hard to keep up. That’s certainly the case for Buffalo Pass Ranch, a bison business owned by the Tuel family in Fergus Falls. In fact, said Dennis Tuel Sr., business has been so good that the company was forced to change business models. The company originally sold its own brand of buffalo meat at stores in seven different states. Last year, demand became so great that stores couldn’t be supplied fast enough, so Buffalo Pass decided to sell breeding stock instead. Even now, said Tuel, de-

mand for the young buffalo is such that “they’re primarily sold before they’re born.” The Tuels own about 200 head of cattle, some in Fergus Falls and most on a larger piece of property near Long Lake. The family has kept buffalo since 1991. Buffalo Pass might have expanded, said Tuel, but there’s just no room. “We have enough ani-

BISON: See Page G5

Knapweed not easy to replace

Beekeepers, however, are skeptical about other flowers’ ability to do the job. Spotted knapweed, also known as starthistle, was introduced in the U.S. from Europe in the late 1800s. It was brought over accidentally, either in contaminated seed or ships’ ballast water, according to the U.S. Department of Agri-

culture. The plant has been seen in Michigan for at least a century but has spread more vigorously in the past two decades. It thrives in sandy soils, such as dunes, and in former farm fields, along roads and in prairies. Many beekeepers have set up shop near large expanses of knapweed, said Roger Hoopingarner, president of the Michigan Beekeepers Association. Its loss, and a subsequent loss of bees, would hurt honey production, but the bigger effect would come from not having bees to pollinate fruit and vegetable crops, he said. Michigan is second only to California in the diversity of crops it produces and is among is among the nation’s leaders in the production of red tart cherries, apples and blueberries – all of which need pollination. “If spotted knapweed goes away and there is nothing that will replace it, then some of these beekeepers . . . will just leave the state,” Hoopingarner said. “They go now to California or other states for pollination, and they won’t come back because there will be no incentive to come back.”

Challenges

Two knapweed-eating flies were released in Michigan in the 1990s, but those don’t appear to have curbed its spread, Rauscher said. So in August, researchers released two types of weevils on state land in five counties. Scientists in other states have found success in killing off knapweed with a combination of flies and

weevils. Michigan officials don’t expect to wipe out knapweed; the hope is to pare it back. Doug Landis, a Michigan State University professor who specializes in biological control, is working with the state on the project. He said replacing knapweed with other flowers is a must because of the way Michigan beekeepers use the plant. “That will maintain the nectar flow,” Landis said. Terry Klein, 70, of TM Klein and Sons Honey in St. Charles, has about 1,000 colonies of bees in central Michigan. He said he fears the economically-troubled state won’t have the resources needed to fully replant areas where knapweed is killed off. The burden will be on beekeepers, who will have to raise the prices they charge Michigan farmers for pollination, he said. “To me, it’s a doublewhammy,” Klein said. “Costing Michigan jobs. Costing our status as a fruit-growing state.” The pilot project will be evaluated over the next year or two, and Michigan officials don’t expect to release more insects until that is done, Rauscher said. Even if the project is expanded, it could be 10 to 15 years before the bugs have a substantial impact on the presence of knapweed, leaving time for beekeepers to adjust, he said. And, the Michigan Beekeepers’ Hoopingarner added, even if Michigan doesn’t introduce more bugs, they could eventually spread there from surrounding states where they’re used to control knapweed.

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the Michigan Department of Agriculture, which worked with federal officials to oversee the release of knapweed-eating bugs.

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Pay-by-the-mile auto insurance begins to catch on

Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRY

By Sheryl Jean

The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS – Chris Gay is out to change the auto insurance industry. He launched MileMeter in 2008 as the nation’s only company to offer pay-bythe-mile auto insurance without using a vehicletracking device. The online-only company is licensed to provide insurance in Texas, but it’s on the verge of expanding into other states and offering more options. Gay came up with the idea after a bad insurance experience when his car was hit by another driver in 2004. Mileage-based insurance has been around for about a decade, but it’s been slow to spread. That’s changing: About 10 auto insurers have added or started testing pay-as-you-go policies in the past two years. Such policies are now offered in about 35 states by insurers such as Progressive, American Family and GMAC Insurance. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. households would pay about $270 less per car under a mileage-based insurance program, according to a report by the Brookings Institution. Gay calls MileMeter the “anti-insurance insurance company.” Customers pay in advance for up to 6,000 miles at a time and can buy more online if needed. MileMeter rates are based on customer-supplied odometer photos, age, home location and ve-

BISON/

Continued from Page G4

mals for the amount of land we have now,” he said. “The amount of land is the limiting factor.” While Tuel hesitated to say that business was the best it’s ever been, he did say that it was definitely doing well. It all depends on the market. “There’s a huge fluctuations in the price of animals because there’s no steady stream of supply,” he said. Right now, however, the bison at Buffalo Pass Ranch are going for about $1,000 a head. “It’s a viable business,” remarked Tuel. Tuel believes buffalo are actually easier to raise than cows. “They’re a lot more hardy, and they eat a lot

McClatchy Tribune

Chris Gay, founder and CEO of MileMeter Inc., poses with his 1996 Volvo wagon insured by his company in Dallas. MileMeter bases insurance rates on the number of miles driven. hicle type but not credit scores or driving habits. The theory is that insurance companies can offer lower rates to people who seldom drive and are deemed less risky.

Drive less, pay less

less,” he explained. The animals do have their downsides. Unlike cows, they are very wild and even potentially dangerous, and they cannot give birth until they are 3 years old, as opposed to 2 years old for cows. But, Tuel added, they will also be able to bear young for more years than a cow. “The animals themselves will have babies until they’re 25 years old,” he said. Bison fans say the meat doesn’t taste gamy – it has a rich, beefy flavor but is a little sweeter. Since it’s so lean, chefs say preparing it properly requires slower cooking over lower heat than beef. They say steaks shouldn’t be cooked past medium or medium rare. Those who prefer meat well done might want to try a bison pot roast.

South Dakota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado are the top bison states, but the animals are raised in all 50, Carter said, including a herd on the Big Island of Hawaii and one on Long Island in New York. The U.S. Department of Agriculture counted about 4,500 ranches and farms with nearly 200,000 bison in the U.S. in its 2007 Census of Agriculture. The total North American herd, which includes animals in state and national parks, is estimated at 450,000, compared with fewer than 1,000 a little over a century ago. CNN founder Ted Turner is the world’s largest bison rancher with about 55,000 head. He co-founded the Ted’s Montana Grill chain in 2002 to help popularize the meat, and it now sells about 1.5 million pounds of

Insurers say mileagebased coverage is best suited for retirees and college students who don’t

drive much, people who use mass transit but need a weekend car, business travelers who fly a lot and families with an extra car they drive only occasionally. Alex Hageli, director of personal lines for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, attributes the increased interest to more advanced technology and the time it takes to build a system to monitor and analyze data. Mileage-based insurance is “the next big thing,” Hageli said. “It’s one more step toward getting the most accurate picture of the level of risk a driver represents for insurers.” One in four Progressive customers sign up for its pay-as-you-drive program, said Richard Hutchinson, general manager of usagebased insurance. He wouldn’t disclose customer numbers or say whether the program is profitable but said the company is committed to expanding it to more states. Ohio-based Progressive was first to try mileagebased pricing and now offers it in 25 states. Its pricing also includes times of day driven and driving behavior collected by a device under a car’s steering column. Gay, a former systems analyst software programmer, wrote the code for MileMeter in 2004. He also raised $260,000 in seed capital and won Texas regulatory approval. But by late 2007, chief executive Gay nearly shut down the company during the financial crisis. Then,

Savings

Most MileMeter customers drive less than the national average of 12,000 miles a year and pay about $200 a year for insurance, Gay said. The Texas average is $854 a year for liability, collision and comprehensive coverage. “It’s been great,” said Rebecca Jackson, a MileMeter customer for 18 months. “I (fly) 95 percent of the time for work, so I have a 3-year-old car with 15,000 miles. I can pay for what I need.” Jackson, who lives in Dallas and drives up to

in North Dakota for

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Providing his outlook for 2011 weather patterns is the CEO and Founder of Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc., Leon Osborne. Leon has been a leader in the fields of research and teaching in atmospheric science. For the past decade Mr. Osborne has lead Meridian Environmental AG COMMENTARY Technology to become one of the premier RML is excited to bring John Phipps to the applied and research technology companies annual meeting for the first time. Along with involving advanced weather and information managing a family farm, John is the host of the technology solutions. nationally recognized U.S. Farm Report. John brings a thoughtful and humorous approach to the Ag community that you may have seen Speakers will begin at 2:00 p.m. and go until in The Farm Journal (John’s World) and Top approximately 5:00p.m. Producer (Perspective). A sandwich bar and social will follow.

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4,000 miles a year, now pays about $600 a year for full coverage that used to cost her $1,400 through a different insurance company. MileMeter’s rates become less competitive as a customer adds more miles or coverage. For example, 2,000 miles at the lowest liability level costs $89.60 for six months. The price increases to $326.40 for 6,000 miles. MileMeter recently received $2.1 million in bridge financing – interim financing provided until the next major private equity funding – from Compass and company management to hire and expand, Gay said. Next year, the company plans to offer a mobile application, explore new products and enter California, the largest U.S. auto insurance market, after a law was passed there last year allowing price-permile coverage, he said. So far, State Farm and

he received a phone call that saved it: MileMeter won Amazon.com’s start-up contest, which helped attract $7.65 million in capital from Compass Global Fund. Today, MileMeter has several thousand customers, said Gay, 34. He wouldn’t disclose revenue but said the eight-employee company is profitable on underwriting.

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bison a year, about 40 percent of its annual sales of about $100 million, chief executive and co-founder George McCarrow Jr. said. The chain’s bison burgers typically run $12 to $15, or $3 more than the same burgers made from beef. When the Atlanta-based company raised prices by $1 earlier this year, customers kept forking it out.

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Diversification allows regional family seed company to continue to see growth G6

www.GrandForksHerald.com

By Tom Cherveny

West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.

MURDOCK, Minn. – The farm fields north of Murdock lie fallow and snow-covered, but the winter scene is anything but quiet. There’s a drum beat of hammers at the Falk Seed Farm, where a warehouse and adjoining loading dock are under construction. By spring, the site, which is about the size of a football field, will be stacked with bags of seeds reaching toward a towering rooftop. Most of the seeds are destined for the farmlands of west central Minnesota to produce the coming year’s crops. Many others are foodgrade seeds bound for processors in Japan, Korea and Europe, and will become tofu or sprouting beans. Food-grade seeds bound for export now ac-

count for anywhere from 20 to 40 percent of the company’s business in a given year, said Jim Falk, company owner and manager. Welcome to the world of a family owned seed business in Swift County, where diversity and innovation are as integral a part of the business as is an old fashioned allegiance to providing customers with the highest quality product possible. “We built this business one year at a time,” said Falk, who founded the business 26 years ago. He had just returned from college with a degree in geology but a heart set on farming. He joined his father as the fourth generation of the family to work the land north of Murdock. His father raised certified seed, and Falk said he saw the seed business as a value-added opportunity. Falk Seed provides seed certified by the Minnesota

PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRY

“We built this business one year at a time.”

Jim Falk Falk Seed Farm owner/manager

Crop Improvement Association to farmers in an 80mile radius of Murdock. The company offers conventional, food-grade and organic soybeans, and wheat, oats and barley. Wheat has become one of the company’s most important areas, Falk said. The company also offers seed mixes for conservation lands and pasture, and has cultivated a number of niche markets, including premium, hulless oats for horses. Its diversification into niche markets has been rewarded by growth in many of them. While serving the

needs of production agriculture is the core of its business, Falk said the markets for organic and local foods are better than many realize. The company has annually upgraded and improved its milling, conditioning and cleaning operations. It can meet and exceed virtually any specification needed by its customer, thanks to equipment ranging from traditional screening and milling to computer controlled, air-blown gravity boards. The growth of its contract and export businesses led Falk to be a

Climate trends in Minnesota not good news for barley By Jochum Wiersma University of Minnesota Extension

Minnesota’s crop economy, which totaled over $12.7 billion in 2009, depends not only on corn and soybeans but on a variety of other crops, including wheat, sugar beets, dry beans, alfalfa, sunflower, potatoes, oats and barley. These crops are important in Minnesota in large part because the Minnesota climate is conducive to their growth. Minnesota’s climate trends, however, may affect some crops. Long-term observations across Minnesota provide evidence for higher average temperatures (particularly at night), higher

summer dew points, and higher total precipitation. This raises a question about whether the productivity of individual crops and cropping systems will change. To determine whether changes in climate have had an effect on the productivity of barley, a group of researchers from the University of Minnesota, including University of Minnesota Extension, analyzed three decades of ‘Robust’ yield trial and weather data from the university’s Research and Outreach Centers in Morris and Crookston. ‘Robust’ barley is one of the most successful variety releases from the University of Minnesota. Devel-

oped 30 years ago, it has dominated the six-row malting barley acreage for nearly as long. The recent analysis showed that climate has had an impact on yield from ‘Robust’ over this period, with a stronger impact in Morris than in Crookston, Minnesota. The group concluded that barley was still within its climatic tolerance at Crookston, whereas barley at Morris is growing in an environment that is closer to its climatic limits. However, if growing-season temperatures are to increase further, as some of the records are already pointing toward and as has been forecasted by climate-change models, the expectation is that the

said Professor Lee Meyer, from the UK College of Agriculture’s Department of Agricultural Economics. The U.S. Department of Agriculture projects a greater percentage of the corn crop will go toward ethanol production in the next few years. “Though corn production is on an upward trend, production has not increased nearly as quickly as the use of corn for fuel,”

Meyer said. “Something has to give. That means less corn is going to be used for feeding livestock.” Corn is the primary feed for chicken and hogs, and it is often used for the last stage of feeding cattle. “It’s all about the reality of a simple balance sheet,” he said. “We are going to pay for our corn-based ethanol by having less meat and paying higher prices for it.”

Corn the common denominator in fuel and meat prices Extension.org

It’s not just the cost of transportation that can affect meat prices. Fuel-or more accurately, ethanol, plays a part on another level, according to a University of Kentucky agricultural economist. And it all goes back to corn. Ethanol is made mostly from corn in the United States, and more than onethird of the country’s corn crop goes into making it,

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southern edge of the barley growing region will move north because barley is no longer well-suited for Minnesota. Funding for the project was provided through a grant from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota. The complete report is expected to appear in the spring issue of the CURA Reporter, available in March 2011. For more information about agricultural production of small grains, visit www.smallgrains.org, a collaborative website from University of Minnesota Extension and the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers

Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

pioneer in robotic technology. In 2001, it became the first seed company in the nation to install a robotic system to stack pallets. The machine stacks pallets with a precision measured in millimeters. It is programmed for 100 different stacking alignments and can palletize 400 bags an hour. That pace will be necessary as the company fills the warehouse under construction, and prepares for the upcoming planting season. Spring is a “crazy” season for the company, Falk said, but diversification has made this a busy operation through much of the year. Seed cleaning is now a 10-months a year operation, he noted. The seed business currently employs four fulltime workers and one part-timer. The workforce expands by four positions during the planting season.

AUTO/

Continued from Page G5

the Automobile Club of Southern California have filed with California regulators to offer policies under the new law. Their applications are under review. Gay also is exploring other options, such as other states and talking with multiple insurers to license MileMeter’s technology in new markets. This summer, MileMeter won a $1.4 million federal grant under a national program to relieve road congestion caused by 250 million cars, including 18 million in Texas. MileMeter will gain $1.25 million in revenue and 6,000 new customers to track under the program, Gay said. MileMeter still faces expansion barriers, such as funding, increased competition and state regulations, but Gay is undeterred. “We’ve proven that customers want it and that it’s profitable,” he said. “The industry is trying to play catch-up to where we are now.”

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Startup aims to simplify site selection for clean-power projects PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRY

Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

â€œGeostellar identifies the fastest, most profitable and least risky paths to increasing renewable and clean energy production.â€?

By Dean Kuipers Los Angeles Times

Put solar panels where itâ€™s sunny, wind farms where itâ€™s windy. If only it were that simple. Choosing the best sites for renewable energy projects is a challenge for clean-power developers; selecting the right location and securing permits can take months, even years. Thatâ€™s because seemingly prime parcels may have endangered species, tricky topography or poor access to transmission lines. The local government could be hostile to incentive programs. Banks and utilities need to know exactly how much power is going to come off a site hour by hour and how much money it will make â€“ none of it evident without a deep dive by lawyers and investigators. Now a former gaming executive believes that he has come up with a way to do it faster and more cheaply using the 3-D animation modeling that helped make the video game â€œThe Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivionâ€? into a big hit and a ray-tracing technology used on the â€œToy Storyâ€? movies. David Levine, former chief executive of Emergent Game Technologies in Calabasas, Calif., and a former executive at several energy-data-mapping firms, has developed a patented Web-based tool that crunches vast quantities of publicly available information.

Spotting opportunities

Details on a siteâ€™s sun exposure, topography, vegetation and other characteristics can be gleaned at the touch of a button. The idea is to spot opportunities â€“ and obstacles â€“ quickly. â€œGeostellar identifies the fastest, most profitable and least risky paths to increasing renewable and clean energy production,â€? Levine said. Online prospecting tools are already available from other well-established services, including 3TIER Inc., AWS Truepower and Clean Power Research. They also use public data and correlate it with decades of proprietary research on specific sites to refine their numbers. Geostellar has a different idea. The company uses patented algorithms to model the whole U.S. at once, with an eye toward

www.GrandForksHerald.com

David Levine CEO of Geostellar

McClatchy Tribune

David Levine, CEO of Geostellar, says the company uses details such as a siteâ€™s sun exposure and topography together to examine the potential for energy generation. â€œThe idea is to spot opportunities â€“ and obstacles â€“ quickly,â€? he said. tackling the entire globe. To measure solar resources, for instance, it uses 3-D modeling to track the path of the sun to measure how sun and shade change hourly on every square meter of rooftop and desert scrub in the country. Geostellar has developed similar modeling for wind and is working on hydro and biomass models. For homeowners, Geostellar expects to make it easy to figure out how much power can be generated off their roofs. Commercial developers, utilities or banks that subscribe to the Geostellar service will be able to get data about the resource and the parcel as well as the cost of electricity generated. They also can submit queries for project sites capable of producing a specific amount of energy. Green energy veterans hope the companyâ€™s technology can get projects to market faster and more cheaply.

Packaging information

Levineâ€™s Geostellar â€œis not inventing any wheels, so to speak,â€? said Matt Cheney, chief executive of San Francisco-based CleanPath Ventures, which invests in renewable projects and advised Geostellar. â€œHe just puts the information in a package that is easily and readily accessible, so it essentially shortens the development

process remarkably. And from that perspective, itâ€™s somewhat of a breakthrough.â€? Set to launch soon, Geostellar plans tiered pricing for its subscription services. Energy producers will pay based on the number of users they have and the size of the area they need to cover. Landowners will get the service free. The state of California and many residential solar panel installers such as SolarCity already offer rough estimates on electric bill savings for free. At a recent meeting with GreenPower Capital in Burbank, Calif., a company that arranges funding for renewable projects, Levine pulled out a laptop to demonstrate Geostellar to CEO Dick Talbert. Levine doesnâ€™t necessarily want Talbertâ€™s money as much as he wants his queries: Getting better data to the financiers is the holdup in most renewables projects. Geostellarâ€™s utility-scale tools were not available at the time of the GreenPower meeting, so Levine proposed a simpler question: What if a homeowner in Indianapolis â€“ where Talbert is from â€“ wanted to figure out whether installing a solar power system made sense? On the Geostellar site, Levine pulled up a Google Earthbased map of Indianaâ€™s capital. Solar potential is measured on the map in a scale from hot pink (lots) to black (none). Levine demonstrated that if homeowners or de-

velopers were to zoom in on a roof, they could see exactly how much sun would hit every square meter. More clicks reveal the whole parcel, who owns it, whether there are any renewable energy incentives in that area and how the sun exposure changes during the day. The user can then get an estimate of how much money could be made by putting a solar system on that roof, or what the payback time would be. â€œThis is going to be a great tool for developers,â€? Talbert said.

Potential

which he works. 3TIER uses a decade of on-site measurements from all over the world to project wind speeds, for example, over a 40-year period. â€œAt the end of the day, itâ€™s a science problem,â€? Stone said. â€œItâ€™s not an information mash-up and delivery problem.â€? Levine believes that his data are of high quality but also that data delivery makes a difference â€“ precisely because it leads to higher-quality data. â€œWhat Google found that was valuable for them was the aggregate of all of the searches: What are people interested in?â€? Levine said. â€œThatâ€™s when this becomes a revolution. Thatâ€™s when it really gets fun.â€?

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Geostellar, based in Martinsburg, W.Va., has taken in about $500,000 in seed money since March; an infusion of $1 million is due to close by the end of the year. Pilot clients include developers AES Solar Energy Ltd. and Community Energy. â€œI think itâ€™s got the potential to be something quite transformative,â€? said Chris Dymond, managing

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director of large infrastructure project finance company Greengate and a specialist in renewables. Dymond is an angel investor in Geostellar. â€œOne of the primary challenges for renewable energy power projects has been the amount of time and effort it takes to characterize the resource, which is the engine driving whether or not this project will be successful or go bankrupt,â€? Dymond said. Todd Stone, marketing and communications director for 3TIER in Seattle, likes the sound of Geostellarâ€™s sun-tracking algorithm but doubts that the upstartâ€™s information can match that developed by firms such as the one for

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