FROM THE MANAGER
Dear members
& patrons
i
t seems like I was just writing the last
issue’s article and, all of a sudden, another
three months have gone by. I know this is
the same for all of you. My, how time flies. Since the
last issue, we have been very busy as usual. Your
coop has many projects going on while business as
usual continues for our customers.
We finished installing new grain dryers at the Port of Victoria and
the Danevang location this year, just in time for a record corn and milo
harvest. This did not come as easy as it looked. Our crews scrapped
every day to make room for our producers’ grain. We moved bushels
to Odem, Ganado, Port of Victoria and to the Port of Houston. I am
sorry that we had to move unloading trucks to our other elevators to
keep everyone going, but it was our only choice. We all appreciate everyone’s patience on that issue. We can proudly say that we never had
to turn a customer away who brought in quality grain. Your coop also
shipped grain to Ohio, Indiana, California and Arizona by rail, as well
as a container of grain sorghum to Colombia. All of these are a first for
us thanks to our location at the Port of Victoria.
Your board and management team has researched bringing in liquid fertilizer by barge to help put our producers’ fertilizer needs and
supply in better hands. The result was a decision to build 15,000 tons
of liquid fertilizer storage at the Port of Victoria. This will help our
fertilizer program greatly and will assure us a better supply.
Of course, this all went with the installation of a new software
system replacing our old, outdated programs that were very costly to
maintain. So, again, we have tried to make that transition as smooth
as possible and we appreciate your patience and understanding.
We have also entered into an agreement with Apache to install
compressed natural gas pumps at our fuel islands. Those of you who
aren’t familiar with CNG as a fuel will be indoctrinated very quickly.
Actually, 2014 models of vehicles can be ordered with gasoline and
CNG. This means they will run on both, and soon diesel engines will
be run by CNG. As most of you know, Texas has an abundance of
natural gas, so we can use a fuel source that we have in our state and
country. Maybe some of you have gas wells, so you can support the
product that supports you.
Fuel economy should be similar to gasoline, if not better. So, CNG
will cost you about half of the pri