P E O P L E • P R I D E • P U R P O S E

WINTER 2015 EDITIONFieldviews

UFC/BCAC Union a Perfect Fit Page 6

Hamburg Center Under Construction Page 8

Taking Fear Out of Technology

Page 21

Notice of Annual Meeting

Page 23

2 www.ufcmn.com 3

he Board and member-ship of United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) and Brownton Co-op Ag Center (BCAC) recently approved,

by an overwhelming margin, the unifi-cation of UFC and BCAC.

As you are well aware, 2015 marked the 100th year of service for UFC. Celebration of this milestone will culmi-nate at our annual stockholders meet-ing Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. What some of you may not know, is BCAC will also

celebrate 100 years of commitment to its members this March.

Simple math tells us at the merger’s effective date of March 1, 2016, we will bring together 200 years of coopera-tive commitment to service to mem-bers of both organizations and their communities.

The math may be simple, but the benefits are far-reaching and will con-tinue to bless this unified organization well into the next century.

Elsewhere in this issue of Fieldviews, we’ll share more specifics on the merger.

As we approach the end of 2015, I want to extend my personal thanks for your patronage and your extraordinary support of this cooperative.

May you and your families experi-ence a happy and healthy holiday sea-son and a bright new year.

Warmly,

Jeff NielsenGeneral Manager/CEO

T

of Service Cooperative

The perfect match for your field

Finding a perfectly matched seed for your field is a big task. One that CROPLAN® takes seriously. Selected from the widest array of traits and genetics available and grown under a diverse range of variables, CROPLAN® seed corn allows farmers to make decisions based on real, local results rather than big promises. It’s how we outgrow the competition, year after year, bushel after bushel. Visit croplan.com for more information.

CROPLAN and WinField are registered trademarks of Winfield Solutions, LLC. © 2015 Winfield Solutions, LLC

COMBINING 200 Years &COMMITMENT

WE WISH YOU A VERY

3

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:Honoring Cooperation Among Cooperatives . . . . . . Page 4

BCAC and UFC Union a Perfect Fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 6

Hamburg Ag Center Under Construction . . . . . . . . . Page 8

Base Weed Control Decisions on Sound Agronomy. .Page 9

What’s Different This Year? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10

Protect Equipment Beyond the OEM Warranty . . . Page 11

Leading Change in Feed/Food Industry . . . . . . . . . Page 12

Marketing Meetings Planned for Early 2016 . . . . . . Page 13

Financial and Insurance Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15

Change and Expansion of Our Agronomy Facilities . .Page 17

Let Us Plan and Build Your Grain Site . . . . . . . . . . . Page 18

UFC Expands Service Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 19

The Main Player in Snow Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20

Precision Ag Equipment Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 21

United Farmers Cooperative Notice to Members . . Page 23

UFC DIRECTORYAgQuest FinAnce—507-647-6606 ext. 6749

Bird islAnd elevAtor—320-365-4012

Brownton shuttle—320-328-4002

cologne Feed Mill—952-466-5518

corporAte oFFice—507-647-6600

gAylord Ag center—507-237-4203

gAylord c-store—507-237-2281

giBBon c-store—507-834-6615

grAin MArketing—507-647-6601

green isle c-store—507-326-5866

hAMBurg Ag center—952-467-3111

hector Ag center—320-848-2296

klossner elevAtor—507-359-4519

klossner livestock service center—507-359-2970

klossner stAtion—507-359-4503

lAFAyette Ag center—507-228-8224

lAFAyette c-store—507-228-8364

lAFAyette elevAtor—507-228-8221

lAFAyette seed shed—507-228-8669

new gerMAny c-store—952-353-2601

norselAnd Ag center—507-246-5300

uFc FArM supply-Burnsville—952-890-5296

uFc FArM supply-lesueur—507-665-6421

uFc FArM supply-MAple plAin—763-479-2123

uFc FArM supply-wAconiA—952-442-2126

wAconiA energy oFFice—952-442-2126

winthrop c-store—507-647-5931

winthrop cheMicAl wArehouse—507-647-6615

winthrop elevAtor—507-647-5311

winthrop energy oFFice—507-647-6602

©2015 United Farmers Cooperative. All Rights Reserved. Published in partnership with VistaComm® (www.VistaComm.com).

200 Years

4 www.UFCmn.com

Honoring Cooperation Among Cooperatives

rowing up on a farm, I learned at an early age that neighbors help neighbors when the going gets tough or whenever the opportunity presents itself. How we help one another may have changed over the years, but I believe

cooperation is still a value most of us in the Upper Midwest want to honor.

Like any major project or development of value, events like the recent merger of United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) and Brownton Co-op Ag Center (BCAC) evolved over time and took a lot of work and cooperation. The foundation for the merger began many years ago as BCAC’s General Manager Bruce Loeschn and I began talking about how best to serve our respective member-ships. Yes, as neighboring cooperatives, we competed for your business, but overall our relationship has always been respectful.

When UFC began developing the Brownton Grain Terminal site 10 years ago, we continued to talk about how this might affect the area. Some discussions were challenging. It was difficult not to view changes like this without some fear and longing for keeping things the way they have always been. But as we all know, change is a part of all we do these days. It is how we predict and adapt to change that often makes the difference between success and failure.

In recent years, as farming has continued to change and evolve at a rapid pace, UFC and BCAC continued to talk about how best to serve our members. We looked

for ways to avoid duplicating farmer-owned assets, while at the same time honoring our commitment to serve and utilize the assets our members had already paid for.

Our newest project, an Agronomy Hub at Brownton, will utilize a significant portion of BCAC’s current assets. For example, BCAC’s existing anhydrous ammonia plant will serve all members of the unified organization. This will result in more volume being put through that existing facil-ity, which will also be used for the on-site manufacturing of liquid starters. The new service center shop—constructed just two years ago—will also help the maintenance and operation of all the equipment to be used on the new site.

The utilization of these current assets will not only increase efficiencies but will result in significant savings on the overall cost of the fertilizer terminal project.

Taking cooperation among cooperatives to another level, part of the Brownton project will involve working with CHS, our regional cooperative, to distribute fertilizer to many other retailers throughout central Minnesota. See Dave Eckhoff’s article on page 17 for the details.

We will continue to work with other cooperatives to enhance the volumes and efficiencies of this site. Working together, we believe it is quite possible that the Brownton site, with its world-class grain facilities and soon a world class fertilizer distribution terminal, may serve as one of the best examples of cooperation among cooperatives that we have seen in some time. It serves as a great way to start our second century of service to our members and their communities. ●

G

Members of the Brownton Co-op Ag Center (pictured) recently voted to merge with United Farmers Cooperative .

By Jeff Nielsen, General Manager/CEO

As United Farmers Cooperative nears the end of our first century of ser-vice, we look forward with great anticipation to the future. No doubt the next century will be filled with change, adjustment, and new opportunities. Regardless, we intend to honor and live up to one of our strongest princi-ples—cooperation among cooperatives. It’s in our DNA.

5

© 2015 CHS Inc.

STRONGER ROOTS. HEALTHIER CROPS. BETTER YIELDS.

XLR-rate® liquid starter and foliar fertilizers promote early green-up in colder, wet soils and stronger root development and plant recovery. They’re a proven way to overcome challenges for a great harvest. Ask your local agronomist about how XLR-rate can improve yields and profitability.

800-642-4104

chs5413_CHS_VistaComm_HalfpgAd.indd 1 2/10/15 8:38 AM

PERFORMING OUT HERE TAKES STURDY SHOULDERS. And the right seeds.

n September, after much discussion and a number of meetings, the respective boards of United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) and Brownton Co-op Ag Center (BCAC) voted unanimously to pursue a merger.

Members of BCAC attended informational meetings in November and voted on Dec. 4, 2015, to approve the proposed merger.

Because of its long history of strength and member support, all Brownton Co-op Ag Center equities will be protected in this union. Furthermore, the directors of both cooperatives have committed to maintain solid member representation throughout the entire trade area.

Much like our recent mergers with Waconia Farm Supply and Bird Island Farmers Elevator, UFC members were not required to vote on this business transaction. Nothing will change for the UFC member. All policies, bylaws, and handling of equity remains the same for the UFC shareholder. NOTE: If your board of directors were to propose a merger with a cooperative similar in size to UFC, our membership would definitely vote. We realize that member approval is always very important.

A perfect fitA union between UFC and BCAC had been in our thoughts for a number of years.

It is amazing how right the timing is and what a perfect fit it’s turning out to be.Just as UFC is celebrating its 100th year in business, BCAC will celebrate 100 years

of business in March. Bringing together a combined 200 years of service, the mem-bers of these two companies will be able to utilize the good facilities that BCAC has as part of the major fertilizer distribution facility that UFC is developing at Brownton.

As always, I urge you to contact any director with comments, questions, or concerns you may have. I also look forward to seeing you at UFC’s annual meeting scheduled for Monday eve-ning, Jan. 11, 2016, at the Berdan Center in Winthrop.

Thank you for your con-tinued loyalty and the confi-dence you have in UFC. We will not disappoint you. ●

IBCAC and UFC Union a Perfect Fit

6 www.UFCmn.com

UFC Board of Directors: Front Row—Todd Nelson, Vice Chairman; Jeff Franta, Chairman; and Todd Kettner, Secretary . Back Row—Jeff Manderscheid, Eric Annexstad, Robby Gieseke, Kevin Lauwagie, Kevin Vetter, Jim Oelfke, and Diane Franzeen .

By Jeff Franta, UFC Board Chairman

Available at:

WITH NUTRENA®, YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT THEY’RE GETTING SUPERIOR NUTRITION.

ELIMINATE THE GUESSWORK.

When you feed Nutrena® equine feeds, you give your horse a lifetime of improved performance and nutrition:

Controlled starch formulas provide peace of mind

Life-stage products specific to your horse’s needs

Improved muscling and topline with guaranteed levels of amino acids in Nutrena® premium feeds

High-fat diets for all performance needs

To find the best formulation for your horse, visit www.nutrenaworld.com.

©2015 Cargill, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

BOARD ELECTIONS This year we have four board members

running for re-election for a three year term.

DIANE FRANZEEN - District 4 (East Central)JIM OELFKE - District 5 (North East)

JEFF FRANTA - District 8 (South West)ROBBY GIESEKE - Member at Large

UFC is always open to having new board members. If you have interest in serving on the UFC Board or Associate Board, please contact any current UFC Board member to start the process.

7

Available at:

WITH NUTRENA®, YOU CAN BE CONFIDENT THEY’RE GETTING SUPERIOR NUTRITION.

ELIMINATE THE GUESSWORK.

When you feed Nutrena® equine feeds, you give your horse a lifetime of improved performance and nutrition:

Controlled starch formulas provide peace of mind

Life-stage products specific to your horse’s needs

Improved muscling and topline with guaranteed levels of amino acids in Nutrena® premium feeds

High-fat diets for all performance needs

To find the best formulation for your horse, visit www.nutrenaworld.com.

©2015 Cargill, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Workers install the 11’ x 72’

truck scale at the new

Hamburg Ag Center .

Anhydrous storage and nurse tanks at Hamburg Ag Center along Highway 5, north of Green Isle .

8 www.UFCmn.com

FC is constructing a brand new Ag Center on Highway 5 between Hamburg and Green Isle. This center will replace our current Hamburg Ag Center and will serve a larger geographic area with more products and services.

The new site will offer anhydrous ammonia, liquid fertilizer, crop protection products, feed, seed, and equipment. For now, dry fertiliz-er will continue to be distributed from Waconia and from the Ag Center’s current location within the city of Hamburg.

Perhaps the most anticipated service to be offered at the new Ag Center will be three bulk soybean bins that will feed into a seed treater. We have also installed a 11’ x 72’ scale that will give us the ability to sell anhydrous out of the new Ag Center.

Construction on the new Hamburg Ag Center began early September, with the pouring of the footings for the 80’ x 160’ office, shop, feed ware-house, and seed warehouse. Workers began constructing the steel frame, walls, and roof of the building in the middle of October, after which the plumbers and electricians started their work. We anticipate the main build-ing will be completed early in 2016.

Construction on the chemical warehouse will begin next spring, after planting, and a liquid fertilizer plant will be installed in the future.

Growing to serve youAlthough we are moving out of Hamburg, we’re still close by and our

location will give us the room to serve you better than before. From this new facility, you’ll have access to every product and service that UFC offers, while still enjoying the services of long-time staff members like applicator Dale Dose and feed warehouseman Norm Schauer. Also officing out of the Ag Center will be field sales agronomist Andy Olson, who joined us in September.

Stop and watch the new facility take shape at our site three miles north of Green Isle on Highway 5. ●

By Bob Nielsen, Location Manager

Hamburg Ag Center Under Construction

UBob Nielsen grew up on a farm

near Fairmont and moved to this area in the early 1980s. He began working for United Farmers Cooperative five years ago as a district sales manager (DSM) in eastern Sibley County. Bob became the location manager at the Hamburg Ag Center this past February.

“I have some very good people to work with,” says Bob. “They made my first spring manage-able.” Bob has been able to main-tain his old customer base while gaining some new customers for the Hamburg Ag Center with the help of master agronomist Jesse Wiant and FSA Andy Olson.

Bob and Rochelle Nielsen raised four daughters and now have four grandkids. They’ve lived just east of Green Isle for 10 years, and they enjoy sport-ing events and socializing with friends.

Here is a current picture of the new Hamburg Ag Center .

Your New Manager

ecember and January are also the best times to review how your weed control program worked in 2015 and what led to its success or failure. You’ve just seen the results of your

crop protection investment disappearing into the header of your combine. It’s a good time to talk with your UFC agronomist about your options for the next growing season.

What looked like chemical failures may have resulted from other factors like weather, timing, or improper application rates. This can be the case, especially if a neighbor with clean fields used the same chemistry you did. Sit down with your UFC agronomist and ask, “What did we do differently?” Once the reasons for your results become clear, your advisor will offer you options for correcting your failures—or for building on your good results.

One option may be to use different chemistry in the coming year’s planned rotation. If that is the best option, now is the ideal time to invest in those products.

Also in December or January, you are like-ly to be farming with your checkbook at your elbow and the impression (real or imagined) that you have very little money to spend on weed control. For this very reason, you should have a conversation with your UFC agronomist first.

Making crop protection choices based on sound agronomy, not just on what’s left in your wallet, will be what is most likely to reward you at the end of the season.

If the best option requires more than your current bank balance allows, your partners at UFC will help you look for ways to afford weed control that will produce the best results. Here are two sources of funding that come to mind:• Crop protection product manufacturers have

quite a bit to offer at this time of year. They’re trying hard to link multiple products togeth-er. If you use three to four of their products throughout the coming year, they may offer you some healthy rebates.

• UFC is one of 11 ag retailers that own AgQuest, a financial services company that maintains an office in our Winthrop headquar-ters. Your relationship with UFC gives you local access to various AgQuest operating loans that can help you afford a better weed control solution. See Vince Sloot’s article on page 15.Whatever you decide, be sure to look at the

total picture before deciding on your weed con-trol program for 2016. Consult your UFC agron-omist for options to solve your toughest weed control problems. Then, let us help you find the financing for an effective weed control program.

Remember: A sound agronomic plan may cost more than your checkbook appears to allow, but it will likely produce the best results at harvest time and for many years to come. ●

By Stan Prahl, Crop Protection Products Manager

Base Weed Control Decisions on Sound Agronomy

9

D

If your bean fields looked like this last fall, sit down with your UFC agronomist and re-view your options .

Traditionally, this is the best season of the year to buy the weed control you need for the coming year. You’ll get the greatest value by ordering and paying for your crop protection products now.

10 www.UFCmn.com

What’s Different This Year?

hat seems to be different this year than other years is that in the past when farmers have produced a huge crop, there is usually a pretty good carry (return to storage) in the future’s mar-

ket. This year that is not the case and that should have an affect on your marketing plan.

Normally when the quantity of grain is larger than the market can absorb at harvest, each successive future’s month trades higher than the current month. This is what becomes the carry or return to storage.

Having a grain bin, or some kind of facility to store the grain and keep it in good condition is the only way to take advantage of the carry. The other side of the equa-tion is to make sure the costs and risks associated with the storage is NOT greater than the “carry.” This year the average carry associated with the big crop of corn and beans is below what the market is normally offering.

THE RECENT “CARRY” IN THE MARKET* Corn – cents/bushel Now Usual

Dec –March spread 6-7 12 -14 Dec – May 12-13 18-20 Dec – July 17-18 25-29

*Based on the futures market at time of publication

SOYBEANS – CENTS/BUSHEL Note – Soybeans have a value twice that of corn and

should have a “carry” larger than corn. Jan – March 1-2 Jan – May 7-8 Jan – July 13- 14

The market appears to be saying it’s not worried about buying grain later in the year and is not willing to pay as much above the harvest price as it has in the past.

What this says to a farmer is that if the spreads don’t improve, be watching the local basis, and when that “plate of cookies” is passed, take at least one and maybe the whole plate. Believe me, that is what an elevator merchandiser is going to do when there is less than an average carry in the market. This doesn’t mean you don’t own your crop. It just means you sell it and have the cash to pay bills and you own it on paper, which costs a fraction of the cash price of corn, beans,

or wheat. If you have been to any mar-keting classes or seminars, you know what this means. If you don’t know what I am talking about, I suggest you plan to attend some of the meetings being offered this winter.

Seasonally the market is still within the time frame of when they can make their harvest lows. Take a look at this seasonal chart below, December is the next time frame for the market to make a low after harvest. Given the current market parameters, this may be a great time to establish a basis, but not give up ownership.

Another thing you can take away from this chart is that the price of July corn is now trading lower than the aver-age of the last 15 years. Hummm—not the best news, but true.

The Bottom Line You know the saying “there are lots of ways to skin a

cat and they can all be right.” That’s the way it is when using a strategy for owning or re-owning corn or beans. Keep in mind that you don’t have to use your own bro-kerage account to re-own cash sales. UFC has several different contracts you can use as alternatives to cash ownership. No matter what you end up doing, just make sure when it’s all said and done YOU understand what you did! Remember: Elevator merchandisers as well as “local” commodity brokers are not bad guys, and after each transaction, they want to do business with you in the future.

Whether you choose to use futures or options is determined by your own risk tolerance. Keep in mind that owning a futures contract is no more risky than hug-ging and kissing a bin full of corn or beans.

With all this said, no matter if you are holding cash grain in the bin or in the future’s market, the decision still has to be made when to sell. ●

W

This material has been prepared by a sales or trading employ-ee or agent of MPT Brokerage Services and is, or is in the nature of, a solicitation. This material is not a research report prepared by MPT Brokerage Services. By accepting this com-munication, you agree that you are an experienced user of the futures markets, capable of making independent trading decisions, and agree that you are not, and will not, rely solely on this communication in making trading decisions.

DISTRIBUTION IN SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY BE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. PERSONS IN

POSSESSION OF THIS COMMUNICATION INDIRECTLY SHOULD INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT AND OBSERVE ANY SUCH PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTIONS. TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION INDIRECTLY AND SOLICITATIONS ARE PROHIBITED IN YOUR JURISDICTION WITHOUT REGISTRATION, THE MARKET COMMENTARY IN THIS COMMUNICATION SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A SOLICITATION.

The risk of loss in trading futures and/or options is substantial and each investor and/or trader must consider whether this

is a suitable investment. Past performance, whether actual or indicated by simulated historical tests of strategies, is not indicative of future results. Trading advice is based on infor-mation taken from trades and statistical services and other sources that MPT Brokerage Services believes are reliable. We do not guarantee that such information is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. Trading advice reflects our good faith judgment at a specific time and is subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that the advice we give will result in profitable trades.

DISCLAIMER

CORN & SOYBEANS

By Marc Peterson, Director of UFC’s Risk Management Department

10 www.UFCmn.com 11

Protect Equipment Beyond the OEM WarrantyBy Merle Bohlin, UFC Energy Marketing Manager

have two questions for you: Do you currently buy Cenex® lubricants and premium diesel fuel from United Farmers Cooperative? In today’s ag economy, are you planning to keep

your equipment longer than normal?If you do and you are, then I encour-

age you to consider the Cenex Total Protection Plan® warranty. It’s designed to catch small things happening in your equipment before they become a big expense. If you do break down, it’s also an inexpensive insurance policy that extends the manufacturer’s warranty.

Sign up each piece of new equip-ment for a one-time fee of $299. You get $200 in lubricant credits back at signup, so it costs you just $99 for a warranty that covers your equipment up to 10 years from date of manufacture and up to 10,000 hours.

If you use Cenex lubricants and Cenex premium diesel exclusively, this warranty will cover the internal lubricat-ed parts of the diesel engine, transmis-sion, hydraulics, final differential, and

hubs, as well as the diesel fuel injection pump and injectors.

All you must do is perform regular maintenance, as prescribed by the manufacturer, and submit a used fluid sample from each oil change or drain according to the warranty agreement. From each sample, you’ll receive a LubeScan® report that will help you perform timely maintenance to avoid downtime and more expensive repairs.

That’s all there is to it! If you use Cenex lubricants and premium diesel and take regular oil samples, no burden of proof is required if you ever file a claim. The Cenex Total Protection Plan will pay whatever the manufacturer’s warranty does not cover; it often pays the entire repair bill where OEM cover-age has run out.

Best warranty anywhere You can even cover a piece of used

equipment up to 8 years and 8,000 hours for a one-time fee of $399—a net cost of $199 when you consider

the $200 in lube credits you’ll receive at signup.

I have not found another warranty that will cover whatever the factory warranty won’t cover with no hassle. Plus, everything required of you under this warranty is designed to catch a problem before it gets too big, saving on the downtime required to make major repairs.

When you do decide to sell, the warranty is transferable—improving the resale value of the equipment. I know of a farmer who trades tractors every two years. There is a waiting line for his used tractors at the dealership because they are covered under the Total Protection Plan warranty.

For more information on the Cenex Total Protection Plan, visit www.cenex.com/about/cenex-guarantee/cenex-to-tal-protection-plan. Be sure to call the UFC Energy Department at 507-647-6602 or 888-832-5734 to sign up your equipment. ●

I

12 www.UFCmn.com

Leading Change in the Feed/Food IndustryBy Leon Wenninger, Feed Operations Manager

n 2008, there was increased concern by the U.S. pub-lic about the safety of our food supply. In addition, there was growing concern about the use of antibiot-ics in livestock feed and the potential for residues in the food system. In response to these concerns, the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came out with the most recent version of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which was passed into law in early 2011.

This act enabled the FDA to focus more on preventing food safety problems and less on reacting to problems after they occur. It provided the FDA with new enforce-ment authorities designed to achieve a much higher rate of compliance in our feed mills, through preventive measures and risk-based food safety standards. These standards are identified to better contain problems when they do occur.

After this act was passed into law, the UFC Feed Division took an early, proactive approach. In 2012, we wrote our own risk-based standards and were one of the first mills in Minnesota to become HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) certified. These standards are outlined in a complete HACCP program designed specif-ically around our mills. UFC invested an extensive amount of capital and time in developing a procedures manual that met all FSMA standards.

In September 2015, both our Klossner and our LeSueur mills received scores over 98% on a two-day independent audit, giving each mill their third straight year of HACCP certification. We will implement this same program this

coming year at our Cologne mill.

All three mills and the employees operat-ing them are dedi-cated to filling our customers’ needs and to producing high quality feed. A survey was sent to a cross section of

feed customers. Please take time to fill out this survey. It will help us provide you with the best products and services into the future.

The FSMA rules will change how all of us in the feed industry do business in the future. The next change, coming in January of 2016, will require a Veterinarian Feed Directive (VFD) for several more feed-grade medications used in manufacturing or sold over the counter. UFC will hold training meetings with our patrons in the next year to address these issues.

UFC’s Feed Division is committed to doing our part to produce safe feed/food and helping our patrons meet the new FSMA requirements. Feel free to contact any mill if you have questions regarding the new FSMA regulations or comments concerning our feed. ●

I

Semi pulls out of the loading bay at UFC’s Klossner feed mill .

Truck loads at UFC’s Klossner Feed Mill .

Adam Portner and Luke Dinse, produc-tion staff members at the controls of the Klossner feed mill .

13© 2015 Cargill Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.

Feed Them Like Your Family. The Nutrena® NatureWise® Difference.

NatureWise® delivers quality by paying attention to these four basics:

Natural Ingredients Good Digestion Flock Health Egg Quality

Marketing Meetings Planned for Early 2016

atch your mail for dates, times, and loca-tions for our upcoming United Farmers Cooperative marketing meetings. The Grain Division will host a wide variety of meetings at locations across our territory,

for your convenience. We look forward to seeing you and helping you gain insights into the grain markets.

Reasons to attend a marketing meeting include:• Expert commentary on current market conditions• Learn about projections for the January ‘16 USDA

production report• Explore benefits of a trading account with Marc Peterson• Hear about different contracting options:

o Minimum Price Contractso Advantage Program (price set by market professionals)o Basis Contractso Hedge-to-Arrive Contracts

Meeting dates will also be posted on the grain page of www.UFCmn.com and advertised on the UFC Facebook page. ●

W

Gain insights into the grain markets . Attend a UFC marketing meeting this winter .

14 www.ufcmn.com

“Intakes are improved after calving from what we were doing in our previous program. Fresh pen milk production is up and Hydro-Lac is the only thing that we are doing different.” - John Warren, Dairy Producer

740 Bowman Street • Stewart, MN 55385800.422.3649 • www.formafeed.com

The post-calving state in a cow’s life is critical. Hydro-Lac is a year-around tool to help fresh cows:

• Replenish lost fluids • Heal tissues damaged in the calving event • Return to positive energy balance

Fresh cows fed Hydro-Lac 14-30 days post-calving showed a 900+ lb. Fresh ME improvement on average, a potential 5:1 Return on Investment*!

Contact your UFC representative for more information about adding Form-A-Feed’s Hydro-Lac to your feeding program!

MAXIMIZE FRESH COW PERFORMANCE WITH HYDRO-LAC®

*Kohls, et. al. 2015 17-Herd Fresh Cow Field Demonstration Summary

14 www.ufcmn.com 15

“Intakes are improved after calving from what we were doing in our previous program. Fresh pen milk production is up and Hydro-Lac is the only thing that we are doing different.” - John Warren, Dairy Producer

740 Bowman Street • Stewart, MN 55385800.422.3649 • www.formafeed.com

The post-calving state in a cow’s life is critical. Hydro-Lac is a year-around tool to help fresh cows:

• Replenish lost fluids • Heal tissues damaged in the calving event • Return to positive energy balance

Fresh cows fed Hydro-Lac 14-30 days post-calving showed a 900+ lb. Fresh ME improvement on average, a potential 5:1 Return on Investment*!

Contact your UFC representative for more information about adding Form-A-Feed’s Hydro-Lac to your feeding program!

MAXIMIZE FRESH COW PERFORMANCE WITH HYDRO-LAC®

*Kohls, et. al. 2015 17-Herd Fresh Cow Field Demonstration Summary

s having money borrowed against your 2015 crop preventing you from lining up your 2016 and 2017 finances? AgQuest, your local UFC-based lender, is positioned to

offer multiple years of finance. A little time spent with me evaluating your needs can be the first step to accessing input costs and markets offering you the best chance at a profit margin.

If a tax liability due to deferred income taken last January (coupled with negative cash flows) is putting you in a corner, it is imperative that we review your financial position promptly. This will enable you and your lender to discuss best practices for this situation. A clear conversation with your UFC agronomist will also reveal whether it is in your best interest to prepay or to purchase closer to spring.

While it is still early, 2015 crop year farm payments (potentially paid in the fall of 2016) can begin to be estimated based on certain assumptions. To know more, please call.

Watch for information on our annu-al AgQuest/UFC Risk Management

Meeting scheduled early in the new year.

Insurance notesPrice endorsement options for your

2016 crop insurance policy are again available through numerous underwrit-ing companies AgQuest offers. These fill a need for producers looking to uti-lize risk management options beyond the basic multi-peril coverage. Contact us to learn more and to receive a quote.

One of your largest farming expo-sures is not on the farm or in the field, it is on the road. Being an attentive and defensive driver is just one way to min-imize a potential loss. Having a trust-ed insurance advisor to help manage the risks and provide the knowledge needed to protect your farm is a price-less tool. When was the last time you reviewed your coverages to make sure they are in line with your operation on and off the farm?

UFC and AgQuest continue to intro-duce relevant tools to assist you in

managing risk. Watch as we roll out enhancements to our strong property and casualty division in the form of people, products, and providers of these tools.

For more information, contact UFC’s AgQuest Team: Vince Sloot at 507-995-9029, Tim Lewis at 612-756-2903, or Dawn Wickenhauser at 507-647-6606 x 6749. You may email us at vsloot@agquest.net, tlewis@agquest.net, and dwickenhauser@agquest.net, or visit us at www.agquest.net. ●

By Vince Sloot, AgQuest Business Relationships Manager/Crop Insurance Specialist

Financial and Insurance Update

I

Once again, UFC and AgQuest teamed up to provide our area farmers with harvest lunches .

Lisa Johnson, one of UFC’s newest team members, delivers lunch to Dan Hahn in his combine .

16 www.ufcmn.com

Introducing the 2016 BASF Grower Advantage offers to help you maximize yields, improve cash flow and

lower your overall cost of production per bushel.

Now is the time to start planning for success in 2016!

2016 BASF Grower Finance AdvantageBASF has again partnered with John Deere Financial to help

protect you from rising or fluctuating interest rates by offering 0% financing on your BASF crop protection purchases.*

• Improved cash flow• Provides additional purchasing power when you need it• No payments and no interest due until December 2016• $2,500! That’s the savings you would realize by utilizing the 0% financing

option of Finance Advantage on a $50,000 crop protection purchase amount versus a standard operating loan that would charge you prime + 1.5%

2016 BASF Grower Planning AdvantageQualify for up to $100/gallon with early planning on Priaxor and Headline AMP purchases for the 2016 growing season.*

• Maximize yield with the most consistent Plant Health products available• EPA recognized Advanced Plant Health benefits• Superior disease protection and industry leading length of residual

2015 on-farm trial results are currently being captured. Data received to date is extremely positive in both corn and soybeans.

*Contact your local UFC retailer for specific program details.Headline AMP and Priaxor are registered trademarks of BASF.

2014 Soybean Results:Priaxor vs. Untreated

2014 Corn Results:Headline AMP vs. Untreated

4.4 bu/ac 16.5 bu/ac

®

®

®®

e continue to work toward making our Agronomy Plant at Winthrop and our much-anticipated

Brownton Fertilizer Distribution Facility into hub plants that will serve all UFC Agronomy Centers. In this article, I’ll bring you up-to-date on work at both locations.

You may recall that our plans to devel-op the Brownton site, where we already have a grain rail facility, involved a part-nership with CHS, Inc. We planned to take unit trains of urea from the regional cooperative’s proposed nitrogen fertiliz-er plant at Spiritwood, ND.

Over the summer, CHS decided not to build that plant. Instead, it purchased 11% interest in CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC, which operates nitrogen produc-tion facilities at Donaldsonville, LA, Port Neal, Iowa, and Yazoo City, MS.

CHS will need a distribution partner in central Minnesota for urea and 28% liquid nitrogen, primarily from the Port Neal facility. Our Brownton Distribution Terminal, which will be 100% owned by UFC, will act as a hub where CHS can ship unit trains of urea all year round, in preparation for supplying UFC and other cooperatives in Central Minnesota. UFC will receive storage and put-through fees on the fertilizer CHS ships into and out of the Brownton terminal.

Please note: Our partnership with CHS will not change our conventional options for acquiring fertilizer for our grower-owners. We can still take in

fertilizer by rail and barge from New Orleans. What it gives us is more options for providing what our farmers need, when and where they need it—that’s why we’re building Brownton.

We’re still working through the per-mitting processes at Brownton with the watershed, township, county, and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as working with civil engineers to develop site plans. Behind the scenes, we’re determining our equipment needs and selecting contractors. We have already installed the turn lane for the distribution facility, and it will only be a matter of time before dirt begins to fly.

Our goal remains to have the Brownton Distribution Facility fully oper-ational by the spring of 2017.

At WinthropWe have finished sandblasting

and painting one blending tower at Winthrop, and we anticipate replacing the second blending tower by March 2016. This will increase our blending capacity at this hub plant by 35%, improving customer service and helping to assure timely applications of fertilizer.

As we move toward the central dis-patch of fertilizer, from the Brownton and Winthrop hub plants, please keep the following in mind. Whether it is assembling a highly trained team of applicators or expanding our fertilizer distribution system, we do it all to antici-pate and meet your future needs. ●

By Dave Eckhoff, Vice President of Agronomy

Change and Expansion of Our Agronomy Facilities

W

Future site of Brownton Fertilizer Distribution Facility .

Changes at the Winthrop hub

plant will increase its blending

capacity by 35%.

16 www.ufcmn.com 17

18 www.ufcmn.com

ecember is also the best time to purchase grain dryers, grain legs, storage bins, and miscellaneous handling equipment.

Manufacturers traditionally offer the big-gest discounts at this time of the year.

With the growing market for on-farm grain handling systems, United Farmers Cooperative is expanding its construc-tion crew. Until now, our crew has been headquartered exclusively at Lafayette, although we’ve had a designer based at Gaylord. Soon, we’ll be expanding

our crew to Gaylord where we will offer dryer service and repair. Our new Hamburg Ag Center will also handle grain equipment.

Make UFC your first choice to esti-mate and develop your on-farm grain site. We employ experienced crews and provide full service, from concrete

work to bin construction to skilled mill-wrights. We can do part of your project or we can deliver a turnkey system.

We have expertise in CAD design for layouts and drawings, and we’ll be glad to show you several projects we’ve completed recently, like the one on this page.

D

Let Us Plan and Build Your Grain SiteBy Leon Portner, Grain Handling Product Sales Managerand Steve Heldt, Project Manager

Used Augers and Dryers for SaleIf you need some 2015 expense, check with the Lafayette Ag Center .

We have a good inventory of used augers and dryers on hand .

Leon Portner

Dean Messner

Steve Heldt

Winter is a good time to plan and design your on-farm grain handling and storage project. By doing the planning now, we can get your project on our construction schedule and build it at the earliest possible date next summer.

AgQuest Insurance Agency is an Equal Opportunity Provider.

Vince Sloot, Finance / Crop Ins.

cell 507-995-9029vsloot@agquest.net

www.agquest.netwww.ufcmn.com

705 E. 4th St., Winthrop

Together... We Find The Way!

WINTER is the time to “Think SPRING”!

Tim Lewis, Property & Casualty Ins.

cell 612-756-2903tlewis@agquest.net

www.agquest.net

There is still time to take advantage of prepayment options at UFC. The best prices and discounts typically disappear by spring!

Another good reason to prepay is tax management. Farming is one of the few industries still allowed to

use cash-based accounting for income taxes.

Take advantage of an AgQuest loan by year-end for prepays to assist your “best” financial practices.

Review your insurance strategies with us to know how it supports your marketing of the 2016 crop.

Let us help you customize your finance and insurance plans to fit your farm operation.

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By Tyler Zollner, Farm Equipment Product Sales Manager

As we head into winter, the Lafayette Ag Center has both tractor mounted and skid-steer snow blowers in stock, a good selection of new and used skid-steer loaders and spring tillage implements from which to choose.

We’ve hired more mechanics in Lafayette and Norseland, so we have plenty of capacity to accept any DOT certification jobs you want accomplished before next spring as well as repairing equipment that failed this fall. You can certainly bring in your skid-steer loader for a tune-up to get it ready for winter, which tends to be hard on that kind of equipment.

The new Hamburg Ag Center will also have mechanics once it opens this spring. Plus with the dryer service crew moving to Gaylord, they’ll be able to make small repairs on a vari-ety of equipment too.

For those of you servicing your own equip-ment, we have a good stock of snow blower parts, PTO knuckles and shafts, skid-steer load-er parts and filters.

Remember United Farmers Cooperative for all your equipment, service, and parts needs. ●

Pictured here is an on-farm grain handling complex UFC constructed recently for Brian Brandt of Norseland . The complex features an 80,000-bushel bin, a dryer, a wet holding bin and an air system .

IN OUR SEARCH FOR WAYS TO PUSH EVERY ACRE TO ITS LIMITS, THE ONLY THING WE HAVEN’T FOUND ARE THE LIMITS.With pinpoint data from our revolutionary R7® Tool and worlds of expertise, we can help your yields and operation soar. By combining Answer Plot® data from over 200 sites with the latest satellite technology, we can help match the perfect CROPLAN® seed to every acre. The results are 360 degrees of smart, personalized solutions with big returns. To find a WinField retailer, go to winfield.com

©2015 Winfield Solutions, LLC. Be Greater is a trademark and Answer Plot, CROPLAN, R7 and WinField are registered trademarks of Winfield Solutions, LLC.

Tyler Zollner with spring tillage inventory at Lafayette Ag Center .

Skid loader specialists Duane Miller (left) and Brian Koehler work on a Bobcat at the Lafayette Ag Center .

To explore what we can do for your on-farm grain handling project, contact:• Leon Portner, Grain

Handling Product Sales Mgr., Lafayette, 507-228-8224

• Steve Heldt, Project Manager, Gaylord, 507-237-4203

• Dean Messner, Grain Bin Sales, Gaylord, 507-237-4203 ●

UFC Expands Service Crews

20 www.UFCmn.com

The Main Player in Snow Removal

lot of retailers either sell snow blowers or snow plows, but UFC Farm Supply is different. We are literally the headquarters

for all aspects of snow removal—resi-dential, commercial, and farm.

We sell snow blowers AND snow-plows, along with salt spreaders, shovels, and scrapers.

Let’s start with snow blowers—we carry a full line of Toro® and Craftsman® single-stage or two-stage snow blowers to fill the needs of both homeowners and commercial snow-removal companies.

What really separates us from the big box stores of this world is that UFC Farm Supply services what we sell. We have on-site certified technicians

that work on all this equipment. We also have a full selection of Toro and Craftsman replacement parts—and we can order parts for just about any make or model of snow blower.

We also sell accessories, cabs, and clothing. We have it all when it comes to snow blowers.

Moving on to snowplows—what makes us different is that we install them. We’re not just selling the piec-es and leaving it up to the customer to figure how to install them. We will literally take apart the front of a truck to install a snowplow. Here again, we service everything we sell.

As for spreaders, we really do cover the gamut from push spread-ers to commercial pick-up mounted spreaders. Similarly, you can buy

10- to 50-pound bags of salt from UFC Farm Supply or we will load bulk salt right into a commercial spreader.

As you can see, we do all of it. That’s what separates us from the competition. It’s what really makes us THE MAIN PLAYER in the snow removal industry, compared to those who only dabble in it.

As winter approaches, we’re the place to come to. We have the sales people who know snow removal bet-ter than anybody, and we have the service technicians for your current or future needs. You can feel good about UFC Farm Supply at Waconia, Burnsville, and Maple Plain because, as far as snow removal is concerned, we’ve got your back. ●

Toro snow thrower.

Boss snow plow.

A

21

SnowEx salt spreader.

By Steve Spears, Vice President of Consumer Goods and Hardware

21

he way I see it, you only get one chance to put your crop into the ground, so it’s important to make sure your planter is ready to go. At our Lafayette

and Hector Ag Centers, we can put most brands of planter meters on our test stands and make sure it is running the way it was designed to. We can detect and replace worn out parts in most meters. We can also convert them to Precision Planting meters.

With Precision Planting’s 20/20 moni-tor, you can truly see what your planter is doing. Most monitors tell you how many seeds you’ve placed in the ground, but the 20/20 will show you how many skips/doubles you’ve planted or when your seed spacing is off. It will also show you how much potential revenue you’re losing as a result of your planter’s inaccuracy. I’ve personally seen old, tired meters that were losing 20-30 bushels an acre. In addition, the monitor can also control variable-rate seeding, row shutoffs, downforce control, and can be used as a yield monitor at har-vest time.

Similarly, Ag Leader systems can control planters, sprayers, and pretty much any piece of application equipment. They’re also used as yield monitors at harvest time, and are capable of auto-steering a tractor or combine. A majority of the Ag Leader technologies I have installed for UFC cus-tomers involves auto-steering, controlling hydraulic drives, variable-rate planting, and row shutoffs.

I have a few customers who are strip till-ing. In the fall, they place a single-file line of fertilizer in the ground, and in the spring

they plant their corn directly over the top of that line of fertilizer. Ag Leader is capa-ble of that kind of accuracy—less than one inch of variation from fall to spring.

I would sum up the goals of our cus-tomers this way: They want to do the best job they can with planting and other field operations, using the tools and technolo-gy available to them, and then using their yield monitor as a report card of how well they conducted each operation throughout the growing season.

Everyone has the capabilities of using and applying these technologies to their operations, but many don’t have the confi-dence to try it on their own. They dread the complexity and the possibility of failure.

My answer to this is, “Don’t worry. We’re here to support you and help you with these new technologies. We’ll walk you through step by step and make sure you are comfortable at the controls.”

New to our precision ag team is Alex Platz, who has an agricultural systems tech-nology degree from SDSU in Brookings. He works out of our Lafayette Ag Center and does Precision Planting and Ag Leader sales, installations, and service. We also have precision ag veteran Joey Kruse at the Hector Ag Center who also does sales, installation, and service of our Precision Planting and Ag Leader lines. Both of these individuals are trained and prepared to support your precision equipment needs.

Why not give it a try? Contact Hector Ag Center at 320-848-2296 or the Lafayette Ag Center at 507-228-8224 and ask to speak to our Precision Planting and Ag Leader experts. ●

By Jason Ries, Precision Ag Sales Advisor

Precision Ag Equipment Update

TIn 2016 and beyond, we

must help our customers maximize productivity on each acre. To do this, we need to hire the right staff—highly skilled and competent in all aspects of precision agriculture.

We are extremely happy to have Jason Ries back in the employment of UFC. Jason’s skill set in working with the Precision Planting and Ag Leader systems is widely recognized—including his knowledge of installing, calibrating, and troubleshooting this equipment to make sure it effectively captures valu-able data available to each producer.

—Greg Peton, Executive Vice President of Sales

Jason Ries (left) and Alex Platz with the monitor display at Lafayette Ag Center .

Hiring the Right People

22 www.ufcmn.com

IN OUR SEARCH FOR WAYS TO PUSH EVERY ACRE TO ITS LIMITS, THE ONLY THING WE HAVEN’T FOUND ARE THE LIMITS.

Answer Plot, Be Greater, CROPLAN and WinField are registered trademarks of Winfield Solutions, LLC. © 2015 Winfield Solutions, LLC

On today’s farm, knowledge is vital. WinField offers retailers a wealth of insights to help

farmers make the right decisions at every step. By combining Answer Plot® data from

nearly 200 sites with local expertise and the latest satellite technology, we can help

match the perfect CROPLAN® seed to every acre. The results are 360 degrees of smart,

personalized answers farmers can count on for big returns. Learn how you can help

farmers push every acre to new heights at winfield.com

23

Date: Monday, Jan. 11, 2016

Location: Berdan Center in UFC’s Main Office at Winthrop

Meal: Served at 6 p.m.

Meeting: Begins at 7 p.m.

Agenda:• To receive audited reports of the cooperative• To elect directors for three-year terms• To transact any other business, which may prop-

erly be presented or brought before the meeting

We look forward to seeing you there!

UNITED FARMERS COOPERATIVENOTICE TO MEMBERS

Please Join Us for Our Annual Meeting

705 East 4th StreetPO Box 461 Winthrop, MN 55396

www.UFCmn.com

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAID

VISTACOMM

BOARD ELECTIONS This year we have four board members

running for re-election for a three year term.

DIANE FRANZEEN - District 4 (East Central)JIM OELFKE - District 5 (North East)

JEFF FRANTA - District 8 (South West)ROBBY GIESEKE - Member at Large

UFC is always open to having new board members. If you have interest in serving on the UFC Board or Associate Board, please contact any current UFC Board member to start the process.