SFG Update Mark White Knoxville Location Manager
In late August Smith Fertilizer and Grain bought 4 locations from South Central Coop. These locations are at Melcher Dallas, Milo, Columbia, and in the city of Knoxville. The timing of this purchase meant we had a short timeframe before harvest to clean and repair these facilities. Fortunately, we had our other locations close to harvest ready condition as we had been working on them all summer. We have had crews working very hard at the 3 grain elevators we added. They have cleaned all the storage facilities down to bare steel and concrete. At the same time, we have had people working on all the equipment that’s needed to operate these elevators. This has included legs, pits, conveyers, bins and augers. They have spent several days and thousands of gallons of water flushing grain pit basements and the scale pit at Melcher. We take pride in
keeping our locations clean and organized and I am confident you will find our new locations being brought up to this same standard. We have spent many hours cleaning, painting and reorganizing the Melcher and Knoxville City offices. The Milo office is also receiving a face lift, but it will not be as involved. The grain facilities at Milo and Knoxville City will be ready to receive grain by the time you read this. We are presently on track to take grain at Melcher around the first of October. We have come a long way in a month’s time. There aren’t very many companies our size that could pull this all off. The trick has been great organization and communication. Max and Sharon have been great leaders from day one. They have been thru this exercise before as they bought additional locations. However, they have never bought 4 at one time. All our managers have stepped up and took an active part in this endeavor. Our employees have been very good to take on tasks that they don’t do everyday and now they can take pride in what we have accomplished. People may ask why we have taken such a large jump all at once. Opportunities like this don’t come along very often. It’s like having the chance to buy a neighboring farm that may only happen once or twice in your lifetime. The honest answer here is we have done this for our customers.
Smith Fertilizer & Grain
September, 2019
We recognize that in order to continue to offer competitive prices to our customers we had to get bigger. The world evolves around volume and in order to receive the best price you must keep dealing in larger amounts. We have gained 1.2 million bushels of grain storage in this deal which will allow us to sell grain in larger blocks. Again, the object is to garner better prices so we can offer better grain bids to our customers. We will grow our agronomy department as we service a wider area. This too will mean we can purchase inputs at a better price and pass some of these savings to you our customers. We will also grow the number of people we employee at SFG. These will be full time good paying jobs with benefits. By the time we are fully staffed we will employ close to 100 people. I doubt Lyman, Jeanne, John, and Max ever envisioned growth like this when they first started this company in the early 70’s. As always, if you see something we could do better please bring it to our attention so we can address it. The Smith family and their employees look forward to meeting our new customers and providing them the quality of service our current customers have come to expect from SFG.
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SFG Update
Mark Young Senior Agronomist
appropriate amounts of phosphorus and potassium usually limit yield the most. Even in crops that require nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other essential nutrients are critical to the nitrogen response. We, at Smith Fertilizer and Grain, believe that balanced nutrition may be one of the most important components of high yields. No nutrient stands alone in importance to crops. Adequate amounts of phosphorus promote the uptake of nitrogen and phosphorus is critical for nitrogen metabolism.
Did you know that about 41% of corn yield is directly attributable to the use of nitrogen fertilizer? There is no disputing the fact that for most crops, nitrogen is the nutrient that has the largest effect on yield. For crops that don’t require nitrogen, like soybeans, not applying
Kyle Smith Albia Location Manager
Potassium is critical for efficient nitrogen utilization because it is necessary to drive the enzymes that assimilate nitrogen into biochemical compounds. Smith Fertilizer and Grain agronomists will show you that the most profitable fertilizer rates are based on crop response, fertilizer costs and commodity prices. We want to help harvest. The west side of our alleyway still needs graded and compacted which we plan to do the first week of October. In the meantime traffic will continue to pull in and exit from the east side of the alleyway unless the driveway is completely dry. Hubbard and Kent Creep feed is still moving out fast and we still have some very competitive pricing left if you still need to add or start a new booking.
With the start of harvest getting closer we’re finishing up some loose ends around the elevator. We’ll test fire the dryers this week and get the bins sprayed and ready for grain. All of the bins are cleaned out and ready to fill. Other than some liner that needs put in one of the spouts and dry leg we’re ready for a busy
Just a reminder that QLF liquid feed is available to be picked up/ delivered in totes or we can deliver directly to your lick tanks. Direct ships are also available on 6T + orders. Stop in or give us a call for more details! Here are a few of the features/ benefits of QLF liquid feed. Product Features:
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20 or 40% Timed Release® crude protein.
you understand that the optimum rate is where the yield increase just pays for the last pound of nutrient. This is usually just below the maximum yield level, but the relationship changes with the price of fertilizer and commodity prices. High yields require high fertility. Your goal should be to build your soils to a high enough fertility level so that you can reach your maximum yield potential for any given crop rotation and weather condition. High soil fertility supports yields in good years, it also provides yields stability in less than ideal years. Don’t miss the chance to maintain good fertility, have your Smith Fertilizer and Grain agronomist help plan your fertility program so you can get the most from your fields in any given year.
• • •
19% Sugar 65% Dry Matter Excellent source of phosphorus and potassium • Fortified with greatest level of trace minerals and vitamins • Based on cane molasses produced in the United States Product Benefits:
• • • • •
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Enhanced forage utilization Support of improved gains and reproductive efficiency Ultimate convenience Low total costs Flexibility in application: lick wheel feeders, forage treatment, bale processors, and TMR diets Optimized utilization of NPN
Call our Albia office at (641) 9322100 to learn more about how QLF liquid feeds can enhance your livestock operations!
SFG Update
Mark White Grain Merchandiser
Harvest is fast approaching, and it appears most of the SFG trade area will have a respectable harvest. The past 60 days have brought us a lot of crop friendly weather which is just what the late planted crops needed. As stated in an earlier article SFG has added 3 more elevators so we will now be operating 7 grain locations. We welcome our new customers and we plan to give the same fast reliable service at the
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new locations that our present customers have come to expect from us. Our complete grain policy can be found on our web site, Smith Fertilizer and Grain. Com, or you may pick one up at any of our locations. We have not made any changes from last year. Our drying charges are 4 cents a point, figured by the tenth of a point and shrink is calculated at 1.4% per point of moisture. Our storage rates are 20 cents for the first 90 days and then it is 5 cents a month figured by the day after that. We feel we are very competitive on all our grain charges. Our main goal is to get you unloaded fast and headed back to the field. Sometimes it’s hard to put a value on that. However, our current customers will tell you we take this challenge seriously and we plan to do our best at the new locations. We do ask that everyone delivering grain knows the following information. The name the grain goes in, are there any splits, and what are we doing with the grain. We offer the following choices. Sell the grain, either spot or apply to a contract.
SFG TO ENTER RETAIL FUEL BUSINESS! As part of our purchase of locations from South Central Coop we now own 2 card trol systems. They are located at the Melcher elevator and on Highway 14 south of Columbia. We have ordered new equipment that we plan to have installed sometime in October. In the process we will rebrand these systems SFG 24/7 Fuel. Current SFG customers with charge privileges may sign up now for SFG fuel cards. New customers will need to fill out a credit application in order to set up an account with SFG. We will begin to distribute cards as soon as the equipment is installed. When you use the SFG card the fuel purchase will show up on your monthly SFG statement right along with the other products you have
bought. The pumps will also accept major credit cards. The new equipment will provide our customers with convenient dependable service 24/7. Both locations will carry gas, road diesel, and off-road diesel. We have hired Mark Crozier to manage this business and he brings a lot of petroleum experience with him. South Central has agreed to continue operating these sites until we get the equipment installed. Mark and SFG are exited to get this new service underway. Watch for the grand opening of SFG 24/7 Fuel coming soon.
Store the grain either in normal storage or grain bank. We also offer a 5-day open position that allows you 5 days from the first load delivered to decide whether to sell or store. Our grain day ends at 2 pm on board trading days. If you are spot selling, all grain delivered from 2pm one day to 2 pm the next will be spotted at that day’s price. We do not price grain on weekends so those bushels are priced Monday afternoon. The spot price is determined each day the board of trade is open and posted before 3 pm. We then buy from that price until 4pm that day. We will also live price grain during the hours the board is open. We welcome proactive conversations prior to you making deliveries. We can set up farm names and track grain that way if we get it ready before harvest. Contact your location if this interests you. We also welcome marketing discussions. We can’t predict future prices, but we can show you some options. Helping you make money is the name of the game here.
Smith Fertilizer & Grain Inc. 1650 Quebec Street Knoxville, IA 50138
Service is Our Specialty!
Knoxville Main Office 1650 Quebec St Knoxville, IA 50138 Office: 641-828-8500 Toll-Free: 800-828-5005
Pleasantville Location 702 E. Jasper Pleasantville, IA 50228 Office: 515-848-5000 Toll-Free: 800-586-5005
Centerville Location 1605 S. 24th St. Centerville, IA 52544 Office: 641-856-2828 Toll-Free: 866-856-5303
Albia Location 805 N. Hwy 5 Albia, IA 52531 Office: 641-932-2100 Toll-Free: 877-932-5005
Manager Mark White Cell: 641-203-3602 markw@sfgiowa.com
Manager / Agronomy Sales Jason Jensen Cell: 641-891-9323 jasonj@sfgiowa.com
Manager Jason Smith Cell: 641-891-6070 jasons@sfgiowa.com
Manager Kyle Smith Cell: 641-891-8642 kyle@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Kristin Smith kristins@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Jamie Kendrick jamiek@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Sharon Bolin sharonb@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Kristin Smith kristins@sfgiowa.com
Agronomy Sales Taylor Banks, CCA Cell: 641-218-0286 taylorb@sfgiowa.com
Assistant Office Manager Rob Matherly robm@sfgiowa.com
Agronomy Sales Mark Young, CCA Cell: 641-891-1514 marky@sfgiowa.com Knoxville City Location 601 N. Sherman St Knoxville, IA 50138 Office: 641-842-5511
Melcher-Dallas Location 126 2nd St SE Melcher-Dallas, IA 50163 Office: 641-947-2000
Milo Location 101 1st St Milo, IA 50166 Office: 641-942-6223
Manager Leslie VanderLinden lesv@sfgiowa.com
Manager Jeff Fox Cell: 641-218-4035 jefff@sfgiowa.com
Manager Mike Demaray Cell: 641-218-4015 miked@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Kelly Phillips kellyp@sfgiowa.com
Office Manager Shelly Reynolds shellyr@sfgiowa.com
Agronomy Sales Derrick Hoodjer Cell: 641-218-4034 derrickh@sfgiowa.com
Agronomy / Feed Sales Kent Watson Cell: 641-218-4232 kentw@sfgiowa.com
General Manager Max Smith Office: 641-828-8500 max@sfgiowa.com Business Manager Sharon Smith Office: 641-828-8500 sharon@sfgiowa.com Grain Merchandiser Mark White Office: 641-828-8500 markw@sfgiowa.com Controller Ashley Bassett Office: 641-828-8500 ashleyb@sfgiowa.com Feed Manager Kyle Smith Office: 641-932-2100 kyle@sfgiowa.com Agronomy Manager Mark Young, CCA Office: 641-828-8500 marky@sfgiowa.com Agronomy Operations Manager Charles Smith Office: 641-828-8500 charless@sfgiowa.com