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Mid-County

CONTENT :

Page 2 - Energy Page 3 - Agronomy Page 4 - Member Spotlight Page 5 - Holiday of Cologne Page 6 - Holiday of Waverly Page 7 - Mid-County Careers

Spring 2022 • Vol . 41

Bill Reimers General Manager ( 952 ) 466-3721 billr @ midcountycoop . com

Agronomy

The timing of our new fertilizer plant could not have been better for making this project a success .

The first success came when we signed the contracts with the builder and equipment companies in the fall of 2020 when material prices were much lower allowing us to avoid the dramatic price increases that were to come .

The second important timing success was having the ability to fill the plant to full capacity prior to beginning the spring season . This helped our customers avoid some of the volatile price swings we have seen this season .

We were never able to have an open house for the facility since we started operating in the middle of harvest last fall , and it became too cold to comfortably have an event . If you would like to see the building and equipment , we would be more than happy to take you through it .

As you are probably aware , there have been challenges procuring certain Ag Chemicals . We were able to work very closely with our suppliers to make sure we could get the products needed for our customers to overcome any supply issues .

www . midcountycoop . com

Other investments made for our Agronomy Department this year include upgrading one of our CASE / IH sprayers and upgrading our John Deere dry fertilizer spreader unit .

Energy

Energy prices now make dramatic swings throughout the day . The average consumer may not see the price volatility that happens every second , but our average daily price change for diesel fuel since the first of the year is roughly 10 cents per gallon up or down . And we have experienced as much as a 70 cent per gallon change in one day . So how do we manage this ?

First of all , Mid-County does not speculate , we have certain limits to the number of gallons we will carry that are unsold . In a year like this , we could have bought fuel at a much lower rate last year than where it is now . It is important to remember however , that in early 2020 , by not speculating , we saved ourselves from some very heavy losses when gasoline prices dropped $ 1.55 per gallon in less than two months .

Stock holders

Last December , the Board of Directors once again approved the payout to all stockholders over the age of 75 . If you were a customer last year , around May 15th , you will receive your 30 % dividend from your purchases from our last fiscal year . On top of these payouts , the Board also approved a payout of 3 years of old stock totaling $ 245,000 to be paid this summer .

As always , I appreciate your comments to improve your coop .

( 952 ) 466-3700 • 888-466-3700 • 700 Lake Street West , P . O . Box 177 , Cologne