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February 2015
chsshipman.com
(618) 729-9009
CHS Ship-
CUSTOMER NEWSLETTER
Thinking Ahead For You This Spring
February weather is at times a guessing
game. It can be a challenging weather
month, or it can be the beginning of our
spring season. We hope to begin the
spring season soon, and plan to take advantage of every opportunity we’re given.
Although, we cannot control the weather,
one thing that we do have
control over is how prepared we are for spring.
Our operations and marketing teams have done
their best this winter to be
ready when the weather
gives us an opportunity.
By: Bart Baker, General Manager
gone various training to assure that everyone has a safe spring season. One of the
things we are focusing on is to be very
aware of any sensitive areas when we are
spraying around vineyards, orchards,
truck farms, or any apiaries that bring
special challenges. It is our desire to mini-
tions staff at our Open House on Saturday, February 7th if you have questions
on any of our products or equipment.
Having the right staff is the most important thing that we can do to be ready
for the spring rush. I feel very good about
the staff that we have put together, and I am anxious for
the spring season to begin.
Over the past few months, we
have supplemented our long
time staff with some new staff
members who are great additions to the CHS team.
Be sure to attend our Annual
Meeting and Open House on
Saturday, February 7th. We
bumped the date up this year
to get further away from the
spring season. One downside of the earlimize the potential for any issues when
er date is that CHS Corporate is late this
spraying around these areas.
year in preparing patronage checks and
Our employee training also shows how to
those will not be available until midoperate our equipment in the most effiFebruary. We anticipate to have the
cient way possible. Instruction, on how to
amount of your patronage. Corporate will
fertilizer to apply accurately and evenly is
be mailing patronage checks along with
an example of one of topics, and safe
equity statements directly to you.
handling of NH3 and some of our other
Employee training is another task that we
products is another. Ask any of our operahave of control over. Our staff has underOur operations team has
all equipment ready, and
we are even adding a couple of additional tender
trucks in order to be able
to do a better job of spraying in the early
part of the spring season when we are still
spreading a lot of dry fertilizer. Our
toolbars, NH3 tanks, Rogators, Terragators, tender trucks and trailers have all
been through our shops for pre-season
maintenance.
CHS will be closed
Monday, February 16th
For President’s Day
In This Issue:
chsshipman.com
Page
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CHS will be hosting a
trivia night and live
auction
Page
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CHS Energy— We are
the “YES” people
Agronomy
By: Regan Wear, Agronomy Sales Manager
Contact Regan
(618)729-9009
[email protected]
ent placement: “the right product, in the
right place, at the right time and at the
right rate”. We look at all the factors that
could cause loss of nutrients on frozen
ground applications; snow cover, rainfall,
sheet erosion and other weather condi-
for Illinois farmers to show good stewardship through the 4R programs. It is
our goal to improve water quality and
keep more nutrient for the crops. Please
join us in working together to achieve
these goals.
CHS YieldPoint Specialist Jim Walker and
CHS YieldPoint Specialist
We will have a very busy
Joe Huebener have been
spring season for spring
collecting and analyzing
NH3 application. We do
data to help our customhave several customers
ers make the best use of
that are looking at alternainput dollars. We store
tive sources like Urea, and
this data in our Ag Studio
32% to quickly get to field
software. This is all stored
work. These products are
locally at Shipman and
priced closer than normal
only used for your fields to
in price per unit with .7
formulate precision preto .10 cents per unit differscriptions. Our experts are
ence. We do have several
able to give you access to
farmers that have bought
this data and multiple
the Blu-Jet AT 4010 side
years of yield data with
dress applicators for 32%
maps, soil test results for
injection. This will allow
Pictured Above: CHS, Agronomy Manager, Regan Wear and CHS
multiple years, and all of
farmers
the
choice, either put a
YieldPoint
Specialist,
Joe
Huebener
the prescriptions, and custom
light rate of Nitrogen on with ammanagement zones through
monia
and flow that with the rest in
Ag Studio Select. Ag Studio Select is a
tions are factors we at CHS consider
crop, or put all of their Nitrogen on in
free service for our YieldPoint customwhen making winter applications. If we
crop. These units can put a wide range of
ers. CHS YieldPoint Specialist Joe Hueare able to do some winter applications
units per acre on efficiently. We can
bener will be creating “how to” videos
please talk with your CHS sales repreeven set these up to variable rate apply
to walk you though all the functions on
sentative to determine if winter applicayour nitrogen needs. We will have one of
this program. Call Joe or Jim at the Shiption is in the best interest of your fields.
these units on the lot for sale that is set
man office to get more information.
Our goal is to work toward minimizing
up to cover a 12 row or 16 row planter.
nutrient loss in Illinois and across the
There is much to be done with nutrient
Stop by to take a look at one of these
Mississippi River basin, the 4R process.
application this spring. CHS along with
applicators at the Shipman Route 16
We need to reduce nutrient loss of Nimany other retailers in Illinois are follow- trogen and Phosphorus by 45% by the
location.
ing the 4R nutrient strategies for nutriyear 2025. This is a voluntary program
Hear from the Experts
We will be hosting an informative meeting discussing in-furrow technology on February 23 beginning at 10:00 a.m., at
the CHS Shipman office. University of Illinois, Department of Crop Sciences, Research Assistant, Ross Bender will be
presenting on his research and findings on in-furrow technology. We will also have an additional presenter discussing
Aventine Complete, CHS starter fertilizer, along with BASF discussing their new innovative in-furrow fungicide Xanthion™. If you are interested in attending this meeting please RSVP by calling the Shipman office at 618-729-9009 to
reserve your spot.
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CHS Rallies to Support Local Food Pantries
CHS in Shipman is participating
in the fifth annual CHS Harvest
for Hunger food and fund drive
to raise donations of money
and food to benefit hungry families throughout our community. Hunger in America exists for
more than 50 million people,
according to Feeding America.
That’s one in six of the U.S.
population – including more
than one in five children. CHS in
Shipman will join CHS Country
Operations locations across the
country to raise food and funds
for regional food banks, which
will be distributed to food
shelves throughout our area.
In an effort to raise funds, we will be hosting a trivia night and
live auction beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday, February 21st,
2015 at the American Legion in Jerseyville. This is going to be
a night of fun for the whole family! Tickets are limited so call
or come by the CHS office to get your tickets today.
Tables are going fast! Call Erin at the CHS
Shipman office to get your tickets today.
618-729-9009.
Thank you for your helping us stop hunger,
locally and worldwide!
A New Year Brings New opportunities for Illinois
Why not reward yourself in 2015 by taking advantage of the
financial assistance the CSP program will provide to your farming operation. CSP will provide you a payment for the good
conservation steward that you are as well as a payment to
implement a new enhancement.
you have your spray custom applied or maybe already have
the best drift reduction technologies available, that’s okay
there are over 50 different enhancements to choose from and
remember you only have to implement 1 enhancement.
Contact Aaron at 217-854-2626 extension 3, email me at AaCSP payments go directly to the operator and in past years
[email protected] or stop by our office located in the
average payments range from $15 to $25 per acre each year
USDA Service Center in Carlinville to learn more about the profor 5 years. In addition to maintaining existing conservation
gram and the enhancements and maybe see the financial gain
activities applicants will have to implement at least 1 enhance- the CSP program can bring to your operation. All signed appliment. One popular enhancement is AIR04 the use of drift recation must submitted by February, 27, 2015.
duction technologies to reduce the drift of agricultural chemicals away from the intended target when spraying. Perhaps
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LET US USE PRECISION TO HELP YOU MAKE A DECISION
By: Joe Huebener, YieldPoint Specialist
Are you still wondering what you are going to do with your yield data that you
collected this year? Let YieldPoint Specialists help you. We will analyze your yield
data to help make important decisions.
Using the R-4 strategy (putting the right
product, in the right place, at the right
rate, and at the right time) we are able to
accurately place nutrients back into your
field. YieldPoint helps address the variability within your field by looking at things,
such as yield data and soil test results, to
make sure we are replacing the nutrients
that your current crop took off while addressing the soil and helping to build it up.
The CHS YieldPoint Specialists have been
busy analyzing multiple years of yield
data to make MYYA
(Mult-Year Yield
Analysis) zones for
fields. These zones
help show how that field has done based
on the ground truth yield data. Using
Contact Joe
these zones we are able to help make
management decisions and variable rate
seeding prescriptions.
Also, be sure to ask about
AgStudio SELECT. AgStudio
SELECT allows you to see
everything that we have
done. You are able to see
the multiple years of yield
data, soil test results and
types, any prescriptions we
have made, custom management zones, etc. You are
able to see these wherever
you have internet access, whether you are
sitting in line at a grain terminal, at a
meeting with other growers, or
just at home. You will have the
power to see all of your data at
the touch of your fingertips.
I am in the process of creating
“how to” videos to post on CHS Shipman’s
YouTube channel and website
(chsshipman.com) to
Encirca Yield
(618)729-9009
[email protected]
help walk you through how to use this
tool. AgStudio SELECT is a frees service for
YieldPoint customers.
For more information on YieldPoint or
how to get AgStudio SELECT, contact CHS,
YieldPoint Secalist, Jim Walker or myself
at (618)729-9009.
Contact Zach
(618) 334-2200
[email protected]
By: Zach Belleville, Encirca and Precision Specialist
Planting season is just around the corner and everyone getting
their equipment ready and seed orders finalized now is a good
time to start thinking about Variable Rate Seeding. Encirca
Stand is one of the services offered through Encirca Yield. With
Stand you have the capabilities of maximizing your stands
and yields, using decisions zones. These decision zones use
several different attributes that allow for the best possible
outcome for each field. A few of the attributes that are used
in decision zones are Topography, yield, and the ERU’s
(Environment Response Units). Also Real Time Weather data
can be applied and used to help make real time decisions.
This plan provides planting planning, logistics, risk assessment
tools, multi hybrid prescriptions, and insight analysis. Studies
have shown that there can be an 8-13 bushel increase by
implementing Variable Rate Seeding. The planting planning
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will help a grower to better plan when and where they need to
go next, field by field. If you would like to know more about
Encirca Stand, please feel free to give me a call at 618-3342200.
CHS Autumn Rewards Receives Great Responses From Growers
By: Dwayne Milner , Seed Manager
We are looking forward to 2015 and have
been analyzing data this fall. We have
been working on planting intentions and
programs through R7 and YieldPoint to
get ready for the spring. In the next couple months there will be a lot of seed to
be delivered and we will be asking for
delivery times from you. It is always our
goal to serve you with the excellence and
it is a great help to us when there is a prearranged drop-off location.
Contact Dwayne
(618) 535-4169
[email protected]
become the norm in the very near future.
We will have several more customers usIf you have a planter capable of VRS
ing VRS this spring; putting the right popuplease feel free to contact me or your
lation in the right areas to maximize yield
local CHS sales representative with any
and return on your investment. This will
questions or concerns.
Contact Rich
Winter Wheat
(618) 567-0640
By: Rich Metzger, Southern Area Agronomy
As the weather warms up and winter
wheat begins to grow, producers will be
able to accurately assess their stands,
and degree of winterkill that occurred, if
any. This will help make decisions on
whether to keep the stand, destroy it to
go to another crop, and if determined
feasible implement appropriate management strategies. Evaluating a winter
wheat stand consists of two aspects;
plants per square foot and how uniform
the stand is. Yield is directly affected by
the number of plants per square foot in
the field.
Optimum plant stands for winter wheat
are said to be in the range of 24-28
plants per square foot. The general rule
is, if you have at least 60% of the optimum stand this is adequate for nearly
full yield potential under ideal condi-
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tions. Winter wheat has the ability to
compensate for lower plant densities
but, there is a limit to that ability and the
plants must be uniformly distributed to
take full advantage. Evaluating a stand of
winter wheat early in the season requires making a number of assumptions.
If we assume 1 million kernels per bushel, 25 kernels per head (secondary tillers
will bring the average down), 4 tillers per
plant (low plant densities will likely produce more tillers) and 8 plants per
square foot could potentially produce 35
Bu/Acre. Areas with fewer plants per
square foot will bring the yield down,
while areas with more plants per square
foot will raise the yield potential. Each
producer will need to decide what yield
potential is adequate for their operation.
The general recommendation for nitro-
[email protected]
gen fertilization is to have all or most of
the nitrogen required to reach optimum
yield available to the plant before
jointing. There is some thought that nitrogen applied as soon as the plants
break dormancy or as soon as the soil is
no longer frozen will stimulate tillering,
although possibly to a limited extent. If
the spring is wet, the window of opportunity may be narrow enough that
getting it on early will help insure that
the nitrogen is available before jointing
occurs. Particularly if the field has a history of weed problems, weed control
becomes more important with a thin
stand of wheat. If the crop is planted
into wheat stubble, adding a half rate of
fungicide with the herbicide may help
maintain secondary tillers and subsequent yield potential.
We Are the “YES” People
CHS Sales Delivery and Equipment Logistics Specialists Ryan
Page and Justin Joyce recently
attended a Toughbook troubleshooting seminar in Indiana.
Toughbook is the energy tracking
system used by the CHS energy
team to retrieve customer information. “Training helps increases
efficiency” said CHS, Energy Manager, Brent Phelps “We have a
great team of people and it is
Contact Andrew
(618) 535-4001
[email protected]
always our goal to serve our customers with excellence.”
Kevin Albert, you may know him
as “Prince”, has a unique role
and is a huge asset to the CHS
energy team. Kevin is our tank
installation expert, tank manager,
and oversees our bulk plant facility at CHS in Shipman. “I cannot
imagine this business unit without
Prince.” said CHS, Energy Manager, Brent Phelps.
Pictured Above: CHS Sales Delivery and Equipment
Logistics Specialists Ryan Page and Justin Joyce
Here to Assist You this Spring
By: Andrew Murray , Pioneer Sales Associate
February tends to be the calm before the storm in the seed
business, as we are finalizing orders and begin to palletize and
get ready for delivery. As you look over your plan for 2015 if you
see any changes you would like to make don’t hesitate to call
and let us know or let us assist you in that decision making process. It is also time to calibrate your planter units with our Precision Meter Max Machine. Our machine can run Kinzie, John
Deere, and Case IH finger and vacuum units. When running
these units we have the ability upgrade or replace any worn
parts with Precision Planting Parts. By calibrating your planter
meters to the seed size you plant, you can achieve proper seed
placement and yield advantages. Units with starter fertilizer
systems should also be flushed out and gone through and check
that all rows are clean from any debris that may have entered
the system.
It also a good idea to have these systems calibrated insure
you’re applying an accurate rate of product. We will be cali-
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brating these systems again this year, please feel free to contact
any of your CHS Pioneer Sales representatives to assist you with
calibrating your system.
Our Pioneer team is compiling our Side by Side comparisons as
well as test plots. These plots could be put in with our tractor
and planter to minimize the time needed from the farmer and
task of cleaning his planter out. If you would like to host one of
these trials feel free to contact our team.
SBI Update
I have mentioned in earlier SBI updates that we
have an ongoing IRS tax issue due to changes in Center Ethanol Company (CEC) taxable income for years
ending December 31, 2007, 2008, and 2009. Bergan
Paulsen is our tax professional that has been working with us on this issue. They have been in contact
with the IRS for several months and have been
attempting to get the IRS to agree to an alternate
solution that would minimize the challenges associated with this issue. Bergan Paulsen feels that we
have exhausted our options for reaching an alternative solution with the IRS, and that our only alternative is to agree to allow the IRS to proceed with
sending out notices to our members. The IRS will be
sending each SBI member a notice for each of the
tax years (2007-2009) indicating a change in their
taxable income and in the amount of tax due.
The tax issue is due to CEC not correctly reporting
taxable income for the tax years ending December
31, 2007, 2008, and 2009. The net change of taxable
income for SBI during that three-year period is an
increase of $721,632. The changes from 2007-2009
also affected income for 2010 and beyond. However, the impact from those changes was already made
in those years. We believe that the change in taxable
income for 2007-2009 will be an increase of $681
per SBI ownership unit. The changes in federal taxable income as a result of the IRS notices received
may also lead to having to amend state income tax
returns. The IRS will share its results with the Illinois
Department of Revenue, but you will not receive
notices from them.
CHS Shipman Agronomy Scholarship
CHS in Shipman has partnered with Lincoln Land Community College and now offers a full-tuition scholarship for
qualified applicants who wish to earn a two year degree
in Precision Agronomy/Fertilizer. For more information
call the CHS Shipman office at 618-729-9009.
CHS
Spotlight
Employee
John Thompson is originally from Alburn, Illinois and has been
with CHS Shipman since November 2014. John has worked in
agriculture his whole life and even worked on a rice farm in
Arkansas for 14 years. He and his fiancé Lisa now live in Greenfield, Illinois and are actively involved in local 4-H.
“John has been a great addition to the
CHS operations team!”
-CHS Logistics Coordinator Bill Fisher
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Safety is Always Our First Priority
By: Dave Reiniesch, Safety and Compliance Specialist
As we hit the heart of winter, I hope everyone has had a safe
holiday season.
One thing to always remember is that we all on the farm and
in agriculture retail have a high-risk, unforgiving, and dangerous job everyday. With over 5,000 fatalities in our industry, it
is imperative that we put safety first and foremost when confronting the hazards we face in our daily routines.
At CHS Shipman, we put over 1,000 hours of mandatory safety training into our schedule to combat the hazards we face
everyday. We keep accurate statistics on any injuries our employees get injured on the job. Some of the hazards we focus
on are being struck by objects, slips/trips/falls/, power tools,
chemical exposure/being crushed by objects/off-road equipment/burns/and commercial vehicles.
Contact Dave
(618) 729-9009
[email protected]
Our drivers participate in extensive bin entry procedures
throughout their careers at CHS. We focus on engulfment
hazards, personal protective equipment, air quality monitoring, and having the ability to lock out any energy hazard before ever considering bin entry.
CHS drivers are more than happy to assist our growers from
outside of their grain bins, but we cannot enter the bins.
There is no exception. Our employees will go home the same
way they came to work, and their safest part of the day is
while they are at work.
One topic that has brought a lot of attention to our CHS team
lately is our commercial drivers entering grain bins on the
farm. At CHS, we our employees to the highest standard of
safety while on company property and while doing work off of
company premises. One thing that sets CHS apart from other
agricultural companies is our dedication to providing untouchable service to our patrons. However, we must do this safely.
We cannot allow our drivers to enter grain bins on the farm.
Are you or do you know a student pursuing Ag?
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