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WINTER 2015

West-ConWest-ConPLOTRESULTSPerfect ConditionsPAGES 9-11

West-ConPLOTRESULTSPerfect ConditionsPAGES 9-11

AG TECHNOLOGYNDVI imagery. What is it?NDVI imagery. What is it?

And how can we utilize it?And how can we utilize it?PAGES 3-5PAGES 3-5

AG TECHNOLOGYNDVI imagery. What is it?

And how can we utilize it?PAGES 3-5

IH CollectorPAGE 14PAGE 14

IH CollectorPAGE 14

contents

Planningfor the

2 West-Con Update WINTER 2015

Mother Nature treated us well this year. Not only did we havebig bushels per acre, we also had a crop with outstandingquality.

Our grain department had an excellent fall. Our largest dumping daywas just over 728,000 bushels. There was also a lot of grain put in stor-

age on the farm. With the lack of grainsales, trains are easy to obtain and areactually trading under tariff. We do havesome freight at tariff, which will affectour margins, but it is an issue that wewill work out of. Last year our freightmade us a lot of money. Agriculture isup and down, and we take calculatedpositions to make sure we can offerquality service to our members.

Fall fertilizer started out slow. However,we ended the year solid, with volumesslightly higher than we projected. Theprofitability challenge in agriculture hasaffected more than producers. In mostag business today, margins are com-pressed. There are several ways to try to

ensure profitability. Buy cheaper, sell for more, cut expenses, and sim-ply remember to make informed business decisions. Concerning thesedecisions is a diminishing point of return, and it is crucial to knowwhere that is. West-Con has drastically cut expenses. Our grain andagronomy volumes were commendable, but as I said before, marginsare compressed. The agricul-tural environment probablywon’t change any time soon.We’ve been through it beforeand we will get through itagain. West-Con is very for-tunate and we have madesound investments, somethat are essentially paid for.Our balance sheet is remark-able and we do not have anynear-future investments nec-essary. With our present facilities, we are set for years to come, ofcourse until the agricultural economy dictates there is a new oppor-tunity. I assure you, my staff and I are up for the challenge.

I would like to thank our West-Con employees for their hard work anddedication and making our fall a complete success.

From all of us at West-Con, we thank you, our valuable members, foryou continued support.

Happy Holidays!

Dean IsaacsonGeneral Manager

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Ag Technology:Winfield R7 Application

Blood Drive

Making MarketingDecisions Easier

Delayed Pricing Contracts

Always Thinking Ahead:Organizing and ControllingInventory

Transportation

West-Con Plot Results:Perfect Conditions

Twin Brooks: Sulfur –A Forgotten Nutrient

Twin Brooks: Fuel Markets

Twin Brooks Report

International Harvester Collector

Financing for the Future

Grain Department: AnotherHarvest in the Books

From the Office:Closing Out 2015

Agronomy News:Replenishing Soil Nutrients

Agronomy News:Soybean Platforms

Capture It Photo

“Our balancesheet is remarkableand we do not have

any near-futureinvestmentsnecessary.”

BY JUSTIN GOLDEN AND JIM DOVE

As some of you may know, West-Con agronomistsrecently got iPad tablets, and some of the thingsthat are included on the tablet are really cool

apps, like the R7 tool. What is R7, and what can it do foryou? R7 is an app from Winfield, utilizing 20 plus yearsof satellite imagery taken of most farms across the UnitedStates, allowing for more effective and cost efficientinput decisions.

NDVI imagery. What is it?And how can we utilize it? Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is NDVI. It’s amouthful and can sound confusing. This is an index thatmeasures the “greenness” of a plant, based on the ob-servation that different surfaces reflect types of light dif-ferently. Imagine a satellite orbiting earth. It takes anNDVI snapshot of an area, and what that camera took asa picture can be broken down into certain areas, includ-ing fields. We can draw this area and measure the NDVIimage which in turn will break into a spectrum to meas-ure crop health.R7 offers in-season imagery using the NDVI technology.A lot of this data goes back many years, and is availableto use in R7. By seeing these maps you can identify lessproductive areas in the field before you can see themwith the naked eye. Once these areas are identified youcan take action to respond faster than you could before,utilizing in-season application of nitrogen, making a fun-gicide application or maybe altering drainage decisions.

West-Con Update WINTER 2015 3

AG TECHNOLOGY

Winfield R7 Application

Top 10 and CHT ChartsR7 can also help determine which hybrids are bestsuited for your farm. Answer Plots are dispersed acrossthe United States, over many various soils, regions andclimates. The R7 tool takes that into account and willgive you the best suited hybrids based on hybrid per-formance across many plots. You can narrow it down tocertain plots so you only take the top ten from a 50 mileradius, 100 mile radius, 150 mile radius, etc. To help ver-ify this they also have CHTcharts that show varioushybrids across a lot of dif-ferent scenarios, such assoil types, response to pop-ulation studies (RTP), re-sponse to nitrogenapplications (RTN), andsoon to be added responseto fungicide applications(RTF). Each one of thesestudies is conducted infirst year corn, unlimited nitrogen, high population; firstyear corn, unlimited nitrogen, low population; corn oncorn, unlimited nitrogen, high population; corn on corn,unlimited nitrogen, low population; corn on corn, limitednitrogen, high population; corn on corn, limited nitrogen,low population. Studies are conducted on soil types offine, medium, and coarse, along with a combined treat-ment.

Ag Technology continued on page 4Holloway Plot in Season Variability

CHT Chart

“R7 can also

help determine

which hybrids

are best suited

for your farm.”


continued from page 3

AG TECHNOLOGY

Response to Population (RTP)This trial is done at every Answer Plot across the UnitedStates. Response to population is critical to know be-cause it determines ear flex, drought stress, and whatkind of root mass (depending on the genetic family) a hy-brid can achieve based on population, which in turn candetermine if a hybrid is more subject to lodging at a cer-tain population. As we move into the Western Corn Belt,root mass also plays a huge role because of lack of waterand nutrient uptake. Having a fibrous root system or atap root system can make all the difference in yield. If ahybrid is a flex ear hybrid, then when you lower the pop-ulation the hybrid will respond by having larger ears ineither length or diameter; if it is both it is sometimescalled a semi-flex ear. A hybrid that does not have muchear flex is referred to as a fixed ear, which means you canplant it at many different populations but will have rela-tively a consistent ear at any given population. The rat-ing for response to population is 1 to 9, with 9 being moreaggressively yielding at higher planting populations,which would indicate a fixed ear type hybrid. A score of1 would indicate a hybrid that can sustain acceptableyields with a lower population, in which a plant will yielda larger ear because of less competition for nutrients,water and sunlight. This would be considered a flex earhybrid.

Response to Nitrogen (RTN)Response to nitrogen is an easy way to determine if youwill see a good return on investment if you make an in-season application of nitrogen. The scale for response tonitrogen is 1-9. Generally a score of 7 to 9 will indicate avery nice yield response from an in season application, ascore of 4 to 6 usually indicated that the hybrid has theability to have a good yield response, but it will not be asgood as some hybrids. A score of 1 to 3 indicates a hy-brid that will not respond very well and will not see anacceptable yield response, even in limited nitrogen situ-ations. Above all though, we do have to maintain thebasic agronomic sense of having enough nitrogen inplace at the start of the season whether we do split ap-plications or put everything on up front depending onhybrid and your farming techniques. If we have heavyrainfall throughout the spring, we have to make the con-clusion that some of our nitrogen has leached or denitri-fied and a rescue in-season application of nitrogenshould be implemented.

“Ag Technology” continued on page 5

Fixed Ear Hybrid

RTP/RTN/RTCC/RTF

RTN and RTP(Source: Cropland Seed Guide, Page 11)

Response to Fungicide (RTF)Response to fungicide is a new study that was con-ducted this year and will be added into the results hope-fully by the time this newsletter comes out. What we aredoing here is making a fungicide application in-seasonto see if we achieve a yield response. They have checksfor every hybrid at every location the test was conductedand will be based on a rating of 1 to 9, with the responsebeing yield retained by fungicide application versus thecheck.

Soil TypesWe can also bring up the soil variability map on R7,which is important to know because we can select hy-brids based on the performance of each on different soiltypes. We can view the traditional soil map as well as thesatellite derived soil variability map. Identifying the per-cent of sand, silt and clay type soils in the field will giveus the information that we need to look at the soil trian-gle and find the most predominant soil in the field.

In conclusion, we urge everyone to use all the availableresources you can to maximize your yield potential, andkeep it economical. Simple tools like this can help us getnot only the most out of every hybrid, but also the mostout of our inputs that we are putting into the crops thisnext year. It is no secret that commodity prices are lessthan comfortable, but we have to plan for another suc-cessful crop either way, and that success starts at West-Con and ends with the bushels in your bin (a whole lot ofbushels)! We have taken tremendous crops off of ourfields these last few years, and it will be very importantthat we replenish what those have used.

Lastly, on behalf of West-Con, without you we wouldn’tbe a cooperative, and we thank you for your patronage.Thank you!

Soil Variability

Soil Variability

Give Something thatMeans Something

West-Con will be hosting a blood drive

Tuesday, January 26, 20161 – 6 PM at the old office in Holloway

Please call to schedule an appointment

320-394-2171Kerry ext. 1233 or Cherri ext. 1206


Monday, March 14, 2016Western Consolidated

Cooperative

Annual Meeting


MAKING MARKETINGDECISIONS EASIERBY CHRIS AASLAND

Early November was beautiful, and harvestwas completed much earlier than ex-pected with perfect weather and great

yielding crops. Mild temps and no rain provideda comfortable harvest pace to get all the workcompleted. We received a nice two inch rain af-terwards which was very welcome. The mildweather also allowed fall field work to be com-pleted and fertilizer applied for next year’s crops.

Concerning the markets, corn and soy-beans have been trading in defined rangesthrough much of the fall. Yields have been verygood so we shall see in the January crop reporthow crops faired. Exports have been extremelyslow. Hopefully around the first of the year thiscan pick up providing a demand program for themarket to trade against. South America seemsto be off to a good start so we will be watchingthe development of that crop and how it affectsthe markets. We are still working on a bottomingprocess in the grain markets and this will need tocomplete itself before we can change direction and rallyhigher. Speaking of rallies, a lot of grain was placed ondelayed pricing this fall. Develop a plan to market thosebushels first so storage charges don’t get out of hand.There is a great explanation of delayed pricing in Paul’sarticle and I encourage you to read it in detail for a fullunderstanding on how delayed pricing works.

I would like to go over an explanation of chartingthat can be used to help forecast grain price movements.This segment of charting is called back testing. Below isa good example of this in the monthly chart of Dec. corn.Back in July of this year the market rallied higher fromthe lows of 380 and went all the way up past 450 closingat 454. During this rally there are two points on the chartwe can look at to judge how high the markets may go.The first point is the old high put in around Jan. 15 at 440.The market traded past this old high continuing higher.

The next point to look at would be the old low put

in around Jan. 14 around 448 to 450. This is the low onthe left hand side of the red line I put into the chart. Thissupport line became a resistance line after the markettraded down through it during the summer of 2014.Keeping this line in place, it now becomes resistance asthe market is now trading below the line instead of aboveit. During this summer’s rally the market traded justabove the red line I placed on the chart, but the marketdoesn’t always have to be perfect, just close is goodenough. The high on the charts coincided with the JulyS&D report which was bearish, causing the rally to com-plete and turn to the downside. It just happened to occurin line with the old low put in back on Jan. 14, which,when we place a line on the chart, gives a good exampleof the market back testing an area of resistance whichwas previously supported.

In closing, we wish everyone a safe and happyholiday season!

(Source: Agricharts)

ZCZ15 – Corn – Daily OHLC Chart

BY PAUL MATTSON

I’ve recently seen articlesdiscussing delayed pric-ing contracts. These con-

tracts are sometimes calledDP, price later, or no price es-tablished. No matter whatyou call them they are typi-cally the same thing. A de-layed pricing contracttransfers the title over to the

buyer with no price yet estab-lished. Once this is done,there is no price protection.The contract has an endingdate that is set at the time ofthe transaction. Be advisedthat this contract is not cov-ered by any type of bond orinsurance. Should a buyer de-fault, the seller is exposed torisk and would be in line with

other creditors for payment.This is why it is so importantto have the contract signed.Everyone must be aware ofthe terms and conditions ofthe sale.

A delayed pricing contract isnot a storage agreement, it isan unpriced cash sale. Thecharges on this contract are

referred to as service fees.You aren’t storing the grain,you are selling it without es-tablishing a price.

Some articles I’ve read haveshed a negative light on de-layed pricing. These contractsshouldn’t be viewed nega-tively; they are simply a toolproducers may choose touse. Many times delayed pric-ing contracts are offeredcheaper than warehouse

Delayed Pricing Contracts

Always thinking ahead

BY DARRELL BARTZ

As you’re well aware, planningis a very important part of yourbusiness. The product we

bring in at a given time is based onyour planning. Controlling inventoryof the products necessary for the up-coming crop season and year is achallenge. We don’t want to carry toomuch inventory year to year becausewhen price changes or new and dif-ferent products are brought to themarket place, we’re left with a lot ofunused product, and that takes upspace. West-Con continues to makeinvestments to assure that we willhave the products you need whenyou need them. Logistical product de-lays during spring are always a con-cern. We assure you we are doing ourbest to supply your needs. We haveabout 90,000 gallons of bulk chemicalstorage, giving us a major advantagein the agricultural industry.

West-Con’s locations have a com-bined warehouse space of about80,000 square feet, and even that isn’t

enough through certain parts of theseason. At other times of the year in-ventories are as low as possible andthe warehouses are as empty as pos-sible. This warehouse storage spaceallows us to bring in large quantitiesof many packaged goods such as soy-bean seed, seed corn, and many her-bicides, insecticides, fungicides, andanything else that is beneficial tohave on hand. Early pickup daysrelieve the warehouse spacecrunch and get products to yourfarm timely. Early pickup dayswill be Thursday, March 24, andThursday, April 7. Call ahead toverify products and quantities withyour agronomist and set a pickuptime. When you get here the orderwill be staged and ready to be loaded,saving you waiting time.

West-Con has bulk soybean capaci-ties of close to 54,000 units at any onegiven time, along with the ability totreat any and all soybean seed we sell.Having early seed commitments fromyou allows us to retain corn and soy-bean seed that is in high demand.

We will continue to bring product inearly and have inventory ready for youwhen you need it.

Happy holidays from your West-ConAgronomy Department!

ORGANIZING AND CONTROLLING INVENTORY

2016 DATESTO REMEMBER

JANUARY 11:Deferred fall fertilizer

payments due

JANUARY 20:2nd seed cash discount

(talk with your agronomist)

MARCH 14:West-Con Annual Meeting

MARCH 24:Early seed and chemical pickup

APRIL 7:Early seed and chemical pickup

AUGUST 24 & 25:West-Con Ag Days


storage. Elevators offer thesecheaper contracts becausethey provide the buyer withmore flexibility. The buyer canchoose to ship these bushelsor store them in places thatare not approved by Com-modity Credit Warehouse ex-aminers. Ground piles wouldbe one example of unap-proved storage.

The fees charged on a de-layed pricing contract can and

do vary. When bin space is inhigh demand charges will in-crease, and when there is ex-cess capacity they decrease.Often we hear the term ‘freeDP’. Like anything else in life,nothing is free. The catch isthat the grain must be sold onor before the ending date onthe contract. As we statedearlier, there is no downsideprotection with this contract.Even if you view the price un-favorably on the ending date

the grain must be sold.

The most common negativecomment about DP is thatthe buyer has title to the grainwithout paying for it. No onecould argue that this is a validconcern. You wouldn’t sellsomeone a car without thempaying for it. The advantage,again, is that it’s oftencheaper than warehousestorage. Producers are al-lowed to separate the timing

of hauling and pricing.

West-Con offers all types ofstorage and delayed pricingcontracts. We have ware-house storage, long-termlease storage, and we offerdelayed pricing, as do mostgrain buyers. Call Holloway 1-800-368-3310 Option 2, then1; or Twin Brooks 1-800-382-6535 Option 2, to speak to agrain buyer.

HOLLOWAY FUEL STATIONOpenOpen

24 Hours24 Hours_FUEL AVAILABLE_

#1 Clear Diesel (during winter) #2 Clear Diesel #2 Off-Road Diesel Gasoline

Save

3¢*

*Use a West-Con Fuel Card*Use a West-Con Fuel Card& Receive 3¢ per gallon off

each fuel purchase

*Use a West-Con Fuel Card& Receive 3¢ per gallon off

each fuel purchase

3 Easy Ways3 Easy Waysto Apply!

• West-Con Office • Grain Scale • West-Con Office • Grain Scale

• Forms Tab on our website – www.west-con.com • Forms Tab on our website – www.west-con.com

• West-Con Office • Grain Scale

• Forms Tab on our website – www.west-con.com

TRANSPORTATION

Greetings fromTransportation!

BY AARON GADES

As another harvest has ended, I wouldlike to personally thank every patron whoutilized our trucking fleet this fall. We en-joyed working with you and hope we canhelp you again in the upcoming year. As win-ter gets closer, I want to remind you that wewill still do farm pick-up of agricultural prod-ucts, as well as deliveries to farms and ter-minals. We will also do pick-ups on the farmto your destination of choice. Whether thatis to West-Con, CVEC, Poet, or wherever, wewould like to assist you in moving your grainto market. During the winter we watch theweather closely and will not send trucks outduring heavy snowfalls, storms, ice or ex-tremely cold temperatures.

I want to remind our local patrons thatwe do have #1 diesel and blended off roaddiesel at our fuel station in Holloway. Makesure to come in and blend down your tanksso your equipment will start this winter.Also, stop by the office and apply for a West-Con fuel card to take advantage of the $.03discount on all products at the Holloway fuelstation.

To book your transportation needs or in-quire about rates, please call us at 1-800-368-3310. You can reach me, Aaron, at1234, or Garb at 1205, or dial 4 for Trans-portation. As always, please have as muchinformation as possible, including name,phone number, county, township, section,quarter and any other necessary informa-tion.

Have a safe holiday season and a happyNew Year!

fromBecause the goodwill of those we serveis the foundation of our success, it's areal pleasure at this holiday time to

say "thank you" as we wish you a fullyear of happiness and success.


Perfect ConditionsBY CHUCK NOLTING AND REID MUXFELDT

Fall 2015 will go in the books as a bumpercrop throughout the central Minnesotaarea. Things were no different in the

West-Con plot program. Timely rain and goodsummer heat were the perfect mix to driveyields for all of our locations’ test plots. It wasalso a great year for our Winfield Answer Plotand Crop Production Services Innovative Plot.West-Con’s access to these resources is agreat benefit to growers and your West-Conagronomists. Having these plots here gives usthe opportunity to bring growers in for a per-sonal tour of our 150 acre test plot facility.

Continued onpage 10

WEST-CON PLOT RESULTS

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Holloway Corn Yield PlotChart A



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Twin Brooks Corn Yield PlotChart D

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St. Leo Corn Yield PlotChart C

West-Con Plot Results continued

Here we can observe and discuss seed varieties, LibertyLink varieties, chemical trials, starter fertilizer trials, popu-lation studies, and corn root worm studies, just to name afew. If you are interested in taking a personal tour throughour facility, get in touch with your agronomist and we will behappy to set a date for you to visit.

In addition to the Winfield Answer Plot and CPS InnovativePlot, we also have our own seed variety trials at all of our lo-cations. Considering the geography that spans each loca-tion, we see different hybrids rise to the top of the list.Kensington’s winning soybean was a 0.5 maturity. In St.Leo, the standout bean was a 2.0 maturity. The on-averagewinner in the field was Asgrow 1733, with Croplan’s 1750blend a close second. Both varieties have the ability to standout as both an offensive and defensive soybean.

The corn plots looked amazing all throughout summer andfall. Croplan 3611VT2P was by far the fastest emerging cornand looked solid all summer long. In Twin Brooks, Cropland4099 and DeKalb 49-72 were planted side by side and werethe clear leaders in the plot all summer. Cropland 3499 alsoperformed very well as we put it to the test. This variety wasplanted in some tough ground late in spring in very wet soilconditions. It wasn’t the plot winner, but after its perform-ance it should be looked at for that tougher acre. That beingsaid, 46-20, 44-13, 49-72 and 52-84 from DeKalb performedto its usual standards, being the best hybrids on most of thefarms in the countryside. Seed placement and hybrid selec-tion will be more crucial than ever this fall and winter. Werecommend our growers to contact your West-Con agrono-mist to help make the field by field hybrid selection to bestreturn your dollar to the farm.

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Kensington Corn Yield PlotChart B


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Holloway Soybean Yield PlotChart E

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St. Leo Soybean Yield PlotChart G

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At West-Con we recognize the challenges to staying prof-itable in today’s agricultural climate. Because of this, wehave devoted more time and resources into putting togethera two-day agronomy event to bring our vendors and otheragricultural companies to our facility to discuss the hot top-ics of 2016. Our agronomists have put together larger, repli-cated trials to help better answer the questions we hear outin the country. In addition to our plots, Winfield and CPSwill also have larger stations with more to offer for thegrower. We are also lucky to be able to put in one of thebiggest cover crop demos in the Midwest. We all knowthere are more questions than answers when it comes tocover crops, and we hope to be able to answer your ques-tions and guide you through any situation. West-Con willalso be opening its doors to a multitude of different vendorsand companies to bring the industry to you. We will havekey speakers throughout the two-day event. We hope youattend and help us establish a premier agronomy event inthe Tristate area.

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Kensington Soybean Yield PlotChart F

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Sulfur is one of the most important nutrients in cropdevelopment, but is often overlooked due to its ‘sec-ondary nutrient’ status. In recent years, sulfur defi-

ciencies have become a common occurrence. In thepast, sulfur has been considered a secondary nutrient,but more recently is being considered the fourth coun-terpart to macronutrients nitrogen, phosphorous andpotassium.

Sulfur serves countless functions in plants. It is neces-sary for chlorophyll formation, promotes nodulation inlegumes, and is a structural component of two of the 21amino acids that form protein. Sulfur shares a very im-portant relationship with nitrogen. This is not surprisingdue to the fact that both are key components of protein.Crops that use high levels of nitrogen, such as corn andwheat, will also require a high rate of sulfur.

Although most sulfur is found in organic matter, it mustbe mineralized before it can be taken up by the crop.Places where sulfur levels tend to be lower are low or-ganic matter soils, sandy soils, and in high rainfall condi-tions. In our region, we experience all three, with springrainfall events causing the largest amount of sulfur defi-ciencies. The past few growing seasons have been cooland wet. It is important to know how crucial sulfur is inyour soil fertility program and how it affects your crop’shealth.

The addition of sulfur to your soil fertility program is para-mount, to not only yield, but also grain quality. If you haveany questions about sulfur and how it fits into your soilfertility program, please contact your West-Con agrono-mist for more information.

TWIN BROOKS

Sulfur –A Forgotten NutrientBY DAVE SASS, WADE EISCHENS, AND ERIC PAULSON


Greetings from

Twin Brooks

The 2015 harvest is completed. We had agreat wheat yield and almost unheardof soybean and corn yields. I know some

patrons were worried about Twin Brooksbeing full, but we managed to find space foreverything that came in. Since soybean har-vest, we have loaded out five shuttles, whichis approximately 2,065,000 bushels. Had wenot been able to move these beans out viashuttle we would have had to scramble toPlan B.

Fall fertilizer started out slow, but as the corndisappeared orders rolled in. Mid-Novemberbrought a rain and snow mix that delayed orcanceled some orders but, overall, fall fertil-

izer application was a success. The chiselplow had its best year yet. We hit over 7,000acres, and we thank Bill Matthes and AndyStahl for putting in long hours to complete allthese acres.

My compliments go out to everyone whohauled product to Twin Brooks this fall. Weheard a lot less engine braking and for themost part the speed was adhered to. Thisshould make for happy neighbors. I also wantto thank our employees for all their hard workand long hours. Without them, West-Concouldn’t be a successful company.

Thank you for your continued support and wewish you happy holidays and a prosperousNew Year!

Twin Brooks Report

BY JOE MEYER

Happy Holidays from West-Con! Around theholidays, we like to look back on the yearand celebrate with friends and

family for what we are thankful for. We had a greatcrop and weather was ideal for most stages ofcrop development and harvesting. Even thoughmost input prices have been lower than in thepast, contracting for next year’s crop can bestressful for many producers.

Like the rest of commodities, fuel markets have had todeal with over-supply and demand has been anythingbut consistent. Crude oil has been in the driver’s seat onthis commodity bear run. As I’m writing, crude oil is thelowest it’s been since 2009. A lot of the headlines inthe fuel markets have been about OPEC increasingproduction and China decreasing demand. Due to theseheadlines, end users all over the world have been sittingon the sidelines and not pricing anything until theyabsolutely have to. However, locking in fuel at underbudget prices is a great way to minimize risk. Waitinguntil the last minute to contract fuel leaves you exposedto price movement caused by any unforeseen event.

Big investment companies look at commodities typicallywhen there are abnormalities in the markets. Marketsthat are abnormally low can provide irresistible opportu-nities for investors with extra capital to invest. In today’senvironment, money can move in and out of marketsvery fast. We all need fuel to run our businesses,and locking in prices ahead of time is a great way tominimize risk in order to capitalize on profits when themarkets turn in your favor. If you would like to contractfuel for next spring or fall, contact Jr. Lovegren inOrtonville at (320) 241-5434.

From all of us at West-Con, have a delightful holidayseason and thank you for your business.

Fuel Markets

BY STEVE NEGEN



IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall HHaarrvveesstteerr CCoolllleeccttoorr

West-Con patron Greg Erick-son grows corn, soybeansand wheat, making his

home north of Kensington, MN.When the farm work is completed,Greg focuses on his other passion,collecting agricultural antiques andmemorabilia, specifically Interna-tional Harvester items. Driving ontoGreg’s farm place, you are greeted bya metal skeleton, named Rusty, sittingon an old Farmall tractor. Otherunique, rustic items are seen deco-rating the yard, such as an old bicy-cle, an old wooden wagon with largesteel-spoke wheels near the ever-green trees, and an old windmill witha toy peddle tractor mounted to thetop in place of wind blades. In front ofthe Erickson home, next to the side-walk, is a corner piece with large,eight inch rectangular chain linksconnecting three old brick corner-stones, which were being discardedwhen an old, local cemetery wasbeing renovated.

Outside Greg’s shop is a Flintstone-inspired bicycle with old, roundgrinding stones for wheels. Inside is adecorative display of InternationalHarvester signs, grease and oil cans,and other “IH” logo items. Some ofthe larger signs, including a neon-lit“IH” dealer sign, came from AamotImplement in Wendell, MN. Gregstates, “In 1985, when IH went brokeand Case IH took over, anything withan IH logo had to be taken down.”The implement owners had all theirIH signs sitting in a shed when Gregapproached them about purchasingthe items. Not interested in sellingthat day, Greg later got a call from theowner, and he bought the wholeworks for $500, a lot of money in 1986.Oil and grease cans from the ‘50s thatGreg’s father and grandfather hadpurchased were saved and are nowcleaned up, displayed on shelving inthe shop.

Greg’s passion for collecting startedone day in the attic where his motherhad saved all his toy tractors fromwhen he was a kid. He started clean-ing and repairing those and thenbegan watching for other things atauctions. Greg states, “The scrap ironpile at most auctions is completelyoverlooked, and in some cases a gooditem can be had.” An old gas pump inthe corner of his shop is a good ex-ample. At a local coop auction, Gregwas looking over things by the scrapiron pile when he nearly tripped oversomething covered in quack grass.He thought ‘what is this long thinglaying down here?’ and after furtherinvestigation discovered it was a gaspump. A choice, once-bid of $40 ac-quired the now fully restored pumpwith lighted globe. Sitting in front ofthe gas pump is a showroom-lookingInternational 986 tractor Greg’s dadbought new in 1978. Greg states, “Ithas never been painted and has al-ways been stored inside, aside fromfield work, keeping it out of the sunand elements. The headliner andfoam interior were replaced and that’sabout it.”

Also in the shop is a 1928 Interna-tional one-ton truck called a SixSpeed Special—1928 was the firstyear they had a two-speed rear end.The truck is a three-speed with highand low ranges. The truck still runsand drives, participating in some ofthe local parades. Greg is working onthe interior, in which the seats havehorse hair in them for padding. Thethrottle for the truck is located on thesteering column along with anotherlever for retarding the spark. The oldtruck was used as a grain hauler, butGreg cut the original box down, mak-ing it more appealing to the eye andeasier to see, since the truck has nomirrors. The truck has rubber tireswith wooden spoke wheels and three-inch hub cabs, which were missingon the rear wheels. A gentleman at

the Rollag steam threshing show hada couple for Greg and when askedwhy they were missing all the time onthese old trucks, the man replied,“You see, those hub caps screw on,and in the old days on the muddyroads they would screw off whenspinning your wheels in the mud.”

“IH Collector” continued on page 18

Greg Erickson stands in front of a 1928International one ton truck in his shop.

International 986 tractor which Greg’sdad bought brand new in 1978.

Lawn tractors include a custom IH 560(left) and a 1961 Cub Cadet.

BY CHRIS AASLAND


Our 2015 harvest will go downin history as one of the fastestever. It’s time to get the

dreaded bookwork done. As onefarmer told me, it’s better to pushyour way through book work thanhave book work push you into ahasty decision.

Full-Farm FinancingWe will again offer various financingprograms for 2016. This year, as inthe past, our goal is to keep financ-ing simple. West-Con has been run-ning a full-farm financing program formany years. It is a complete operat-ing line of credit to handle all youroperating costs throughout the year.This has been an excellent programfor our growers, providing competi-tive interest rates. Along with thisprogram we have the option of pro-viding financing for livestock, ma-chinery and real estate purchases toqualified applicants. Please stop in orcall the Holloway office for more in-formation on the program. Now is thetime to get your financing in place soyou can take advantage of prepaydiscounts on seed, fertilizer andchemicals. It will also be helpful indoing your tax planning to finish up2015.

John Deere Financialand Quick Link

John Deere Financial and Quick Linkwill also be available financing pro-grams again in 2016. Both programs

give you the ability to purchase in-puts from West-Con and give youuntil December 2016 to pay back thefinancing company. Both companiescharge interest on the amount offunds you borrow for the amount oftime you use it. Many seed compa-nies use John Deere Financial astheir source of financing, and it pro-vides a simple way to finance yourseed and chemical purchases at verycompetitive rates. Please check withyour West-Con agronomist for moredetails on this program. When talk-ing with your agronomist, be sure toask about the interest rates on thesespecial programs because they varydepending upon which products youare purchasing.

Crop Insuranceand Crop Hail Needs

Again, West-Con can handle yourcrop insurance and crop hail needsin Minnesota. We have two licensedagents serving our area. Crop insur-ance is essential to your operation.Our West-Con agents care aboutyour crops, and since a large portionof your crop inputs may come fromour company, it makes good sense tolet us help you get quality coverageon your investment.

Thank you to all our customers fortaking care of your financial obliga-tions to West-Con and making ourcollections run smoothly this year.We have a few agronomy accounts tobe paid. Please remember that West-Con charges 18% on all past due bal-ances. If you find yourself runningout of capital and paying this 18%,please check into the financing pro-grams mentioned above. On anothernote, deferred fall fertilizer paymentsare due January 11, 2016.

Financing for the Future

Getting your crop insurancefrom West-Con is easy. Wehave agronomists licensed

to sell crop insurance inthe State of Minnesota.

Call800-368-3310Chad Syltie Ext. 1227Scott Mattocks Ext. 1701

FULL LINE OF PRODUCTSMPCI PoliciesRevenue ProtectionYield Protection

CROP HAIL PROTECTIONBasic PolicyVarious DeductiblesCrop Hail ProductionGreen Snap Endorsement

BY CHAD SYLTIE

I wish all of you a merry Christmasand happy New Year! I hope youhave enjoyable moments with yourfamily and friends and travel safely.Thank you for supporting your coop-erative this past year, and I look for-ward to working with you again in2016.

What a fall! The weather has been ideal, the cropswere plentiful and the quality was excellent.That would be a hat trick in hockey! The part of

the equation we missed was that prices aren’t great, butthings can change. Farmers are some of the most opti-mistic people.

This year’s harvest ran smoothly at all of our facilities.We had to pile some corn outside in Twin Brooks, but hadenough space and transportation at our other grain ele-vators. Some people sound disappointed that they don’tsee more grain stored outside. Please remember weadded 1.2 million bushels of storage space and two20,000 bushel per hour dump pits in Appleton this year.Customer service was excellent! Our employees, onceagain, did a great job of keeping things moving. We havebeen down the road of storing huge amounts of corn andsoybeans outside and it is miserable. Your cooperativehas invested a great deal in storage space and drying ca-pacity to avoid putting your crop outside and riskingspoilage and loss.

As winter approaches, railroads are running very welland continue to be on time or ahead of time. The in-vestments they have made over the last few years are

proving to be beneficial. However, railcar demand isdown. Corn exports are almost nonexistent. Improvingrailcar availability is the decrease in oil shipments. Moreroom on the tracks means the railcars that are there arerunning faster.

As year end approaches, we take time to be thankful fora great harvest, favorable weather, and you, our valuablepatrons. We look forward to meeting your grain market-ing needs this coming year.

Another Harvest in the Books

GRAIN DEPARTMENT

BY PAUL MATTSON


To reach the GRAIN DEPARTMENT, Press 2 Marketing Press 1 Accounting Press 2 Holloway Scale Press 3 Twin Brooks Scale Press 4 TA Scale Press 5 Ortonville Scale Press 6

To reach the AGRONOMY DEPARTMENT, Press 3 Sales Press 1 Accounting Press 2 Management Press 3

To reach the TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, Press 4

To reach the GRAIN MARKETS, Press 5

To speak to our RECEPTIONIST, Press 0

Call Flow ExampleCall Flow Example

Dial 320-394-2171 or 800-368-3310Once connected the automated attendant answers:

“Thank you for calling West-Con in Holloway”

Closing Out 2015BY AL CONNELL

FROM THE OFFICE

Our year end is fast approach-ing, and it’s time to get readyfor our annual audit. The audi-

tors will be in to review our financialstatements in January. Part of theirprocess is to send confirmations to aselect number of patrons. It is im-portant that everyone return theseconfirmations. They will be verifyingaccounts receivable and grain stor-age balances. If you agree with thebalances, please sign and return di-rectly to the auditors in the envelopeprovided. If you disagree, state whyand return to the auditors. Thisprocess gives the auditors outsideverification of the balances I providethem. Remember, the auditors areworking for all patrons to ensure thecompany’s financial statements arefairly presented.

All 1099 forms will be mailed to pa-trons by the end of January. If youneed summary printouts of the busi-ness you did with us this past year,please call the main office and wewill mail that information to you.

Checks for deferred payment con-tracts will be ready Monday, January4, 2016. Please be sure your contractsare signed and returned to us.Checks will not be issued until eachcontract has been signed. If youwant checks mailed to you, pleasecall to make this request that day.

All drying and freight charges havebeen billed to anyone who deliveredgrain placed on storage or delayedpricing this past harvest. It is our pol-

icy that all drying and freight chargesbe paid immediately. If you choose towait until you sell the grain, you willbe paying our normal finance chargeof 1.5% per month or 18% annually.

I thank you for your business in 2015and wish everyone happy holidays!

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BY CHARLIE HEAD

It has been another successful year of crop production.The last two years have produced some of the bestyields we’ve seen on all crops. However, the last five

years have also had some dramatic swings in commod-ity prices. There have been a lot of questions and con-cerns about where fertilizer prices have shaken outduring this time.

The good news is that fertilizer prices have come down!The average prices on phosphates from four to five yearsago are down 30 percent, with nitrogen and potashprices down 40 percent. At this time, we are seeingprices equal to some of the lowest in 10 years.

At right, is a chart indicating fertilizer removal per unit ofyield. Our recent exceptional crop yields have depletedplant food from the soil. Don’t guess what your soilneeds! Taking soil samples to see where yournutrient levels are is critical. Tissue samplingduring the growing season is also a goodidea, to gauge how well your fertilizer pro-gram is doing and current yield potential.This can help you manage decisions on fu-ture applications of fungicides and insecti-cides during the remainder of the growingcycle.

Remember sulfur as a major nutrient to yourcrops. More and more soil and tissue sam-ples are showing sulfur deficiencies in ourcrops. Emission controls on power plants and

automobiles have reduced the amounts of sulfur in the at-mosphere that used to fall in the form of acid rain. This hasreduced the amounts of free sulfur we received in pastdecades. We have supplemental fertilizer sulfur availableas Ammonium Sulfate in dry form, and Ammonium Thio-sulfate in liquid form.

Despite low grain prices, fertilizer remains a good buy.Nothing has as direct an impact on ultimate yield than ad-equate fertility. Today’s substantial price drops on fertilizerare helping to make those farm planning decisions moremanageable.

Thank you for your continued support of your cooperative,West-Con. May you have a blessed holiday and prosper-ous 2016!

AGRONOMY NEWS

REPLENISHING SOIL NUTRIENTS

CROP UNIT N P2O5 K2O S

Continued from page 14In another building, Greg has a col-lection of lawn and garden equip-ment. A project Greg worked on thispast summer was converting a Wag-ner lawn tractor to look like an IH 560.Wagner Company was trying to makea lawn and garden tractor for IH.They made the tractor’s hood to looklike an IH 560. Greg started with thehood and frame, doing some addi-tional customizing himself. He putsome tri-rib tires on the front, and therear tires are from a garden tiller.Other lawn tractor parts make up the

miniature IH 560 garden tractor. Thetractor’s grill is a cut down version ofan actual IH 560 grill. Alongside thisunit is one of the first lawn and gar-den tractors manufactured by CubCadet in 1961. Greg states, “61, ’62and ’63 just had Cub Cadet Interna-tional on the tractors, in ’64 theycame out with a 70, which is a 7horse, and 100, which is a 10 horse.Greg also has a series 1, 2 and 3 yardcarts that are pulled behind the lawntractors. Some attachments made byBrinly are displayed by the tractors,including a cultivator, a rear blade

and two single-bottom plows. Asleeve hitch was used as an adaptorfor the attachments, as IH didn’tmake any attachments for the gardentractors.

As another growing seasoncomes to a close with harvest com-plete, winter can be a slow time ofyear for most until spring arrives. ForGreg Erickson, winter is a time forworking in the shop, restoring the lat-est find and watching for the next op-portunity that presents itself.

Thank you for sharing your neatcollection, Greg!

IIHH CCoolllleeccttoorr

BY PAUL ANDERSON

Ihope everyone’s harvest went well! Looking back atthis year’s crops, I’ve been asked two questions ratherfrequently. What is the difference between platforms?

How are we going to control weeds in soybeans?

The most common platform is the Roundup platform.Roundup is a glyphosate herbicide which is meant to killall plants through translocation of the plant. We haveused Roundup widely throughout the area for manyyears. It is starting to lose its effectiveness on some plantspecies, but is still a good option. To use the Roundupplatform properly, we should use a pre-emerge on thesoybeans, followed by Roundup and another chemical tohelp Roundup on some tougher weeds post-application.

Another common platform is the Liberty link system.Liberty is similar to Roundup, except Liberty is a glufos-inate. One main difference is that Liberty kills what ittouches so when you are spraying Liberty you should bespraying anywhere from 15 to 20 gallons of water to theacre. As far as the chemical program, a pre-emerge isstill recommended, followed by a post-application of Lib-erty.

The last platform I will discuss is the new RoundupXtend platform. This is a little different because it still

uses Roundup but also adds Dicamba to the mix.Dicamba was an active ingredient in Banvel or Clarity.However, when this platform gets released you will notbe able to spray the old Dicamba formation on thesebeans, you will have to use Xtend chemical on them.You still want a pre-emerge followed by a post-applica-tion. This platform has been approved in the U.S. butnot China. We are hoping for approval by spring 2016planting. If it isn’t approved in China before then, it willnot be released. If it is approved, it will be a very limitedsupply.

In closing, the common denominator across these plat-forms is that the companies recommend you use a pre-emerge followed by at least one if not twopost-application in conjunction with using the correctamount of gallons per acre. Keep in mind that these plat-forms do not cross each other. You can’t spray Liberty onRoundup beans, or vice versa. You can’t spray Xtend onLiberty or just Roundup beans. Targeting weeds whenthey are less than three inches tall is also key factor incontrolling them.

In closing, I thank you for your business and look forwardto doing business with you in the future.


SoybeanPlatforms

Western Consolidated Cooperative

520 County Road 9, Box 78, Holloway, MN 56249

Holloway (toll free) 800.368.3310Main Office 320.394.2171Twin Brooks Terminal 605.432.4531Ortonville 320.839.2861Kensington 320.965.2688St. Leo 507.224.2238

BOARD OF DIRECTORSChairman, Patrick Ascheman; Vice Chairman, GaryNygard; Secretary, Jason Lund; Shane Gilbertson; MikeLangan; Mark Pillatzki; Dean Beyer; Tim Nagler; andRoger Schmidt

If you have stories of interest or would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact the Main Office at 320.394.2171

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDAPPLETON, MNPERMIT NO. 12

Thank you to this edition’s captureit photo submitted by Kathy Bahrof Morris. Pictured at right is hergrandson Eli who just turned 1 atthe end of November. The photowas taken when he was 10-months-old.

In Bahr’s words, “This is oursweet little grandson Eli. This wastaken during corn harvest 2015.He came dressed for farming and“driving” the grain cart. He justsquealed when he saw the tractor,trucks, and combine in the field!The concentration on this littleman’s face is sure to make yousmile.”

Capture it

You can’t start‘em too young!

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