www.keycoop.com | March 2017
IN THIS ISSUE
Grain market spring fever ____2
Nitrogen stewardship________3
New CENTROL team member__3
Retirement reception invite__4
Employee banquet _________6
Key gives back_____________7
your essential business partner
Key Cooperative celebrates the career
of General Manager Jim Magnuson.
Jim will retire this March after
40 years of service to cooperatives.
A monthly publication dedicated to informing and connecting members.
The journey of a General Manager
Jim Magnuson celebrates retirement
The road ahead
Turning a new page
By Jim Magnuson, GM,
[email protected]
IT HAS TRULY BEEN an
honor and a privilege to be associated with Cooperatives, Agriculture and Rural Communities
over the past 40 years as a lender,
business consultant, trainer,
and finally as your General
Manager. A sincere thank-you
to the directors, management
continued on page 5
By Sara Clausen, Director of Communications, [email protected]
WITH TIES TO Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the U.S. cooperative story dates back to the mid-1700s. Though a new concept in the
colonial era, a “mutual company” was a model in which a group of citizens
could own and run the company for the benefit of its members. More than
300 years later, this model is solid and plays an enormous role in today’s
economy.
For Key Cooperative General Manager Jim Magnuson, it was this
longevity and a strong belief in the value of the cooperative business model
that drove him to spend his entire 40-year career with cooperatives. “Cooperatives add great value to local communities,” said Jim. “They are an
extremely important part of Midwestern agriculture.”
Jim’s story began in 1977 at the Omaha Bank for Cooperatives (now
January 2017 Key Connections | 1
continued on page 4
Spring fever lures outside money back to markets
By Scott Stabbe, Grain Merchandiser, [email protected]
HARD TO BELIEVE we are once again closing in on
spring work. But as I write this on February 13, the six- to
ten-day forecast predicts “much above average” temps and
“above average” moisture. It’s the kind of weather that just
adds to spring fever.
The markets seem to be getting antsy as well. Outside
money is coming back in to buy, adding to their long position in corn this past week by 320 million bushels, which
explains the move higher in corn. The USDA Crop Supply
and Demand report on February 9 didn’t hurt corn as it
lowered corn ending-stocks by 35 million bushels, dropping
it to 2.320 billion bushels. Outside money also added to
their bean position. Bean ending-stocks stayed unchanged
at 420 million bushels with a 10.2 percent stock-to-use ratio.
A significant portion of the Midwest would have to
be impacted by a weather event to lower yields and cut
into these elevated ending-stocks numbers enough to see
a substantial rally in prices. I recall saying the same thing
last year around April 10, and then by April 15 the Funds
started to buy. They didn’t quit until mid-June after moving
the corn price $1.25 higher—and no, I never did or would
have predicted that was possible.
This year feels awfully similar to last year. Most
producers have been selling beans for cash and holding
corn. Last year some sold during the rally, and naturally
some waited for the next move higher, but that never came.
This year, we could see the same thing if the Funds come in
to buy and producers hold off selling.
I have been told that I usually recommend selling and
never think the market can rally, and that can be attributed
to my aversion to risk. It’s why I have never done anything
but hedge grain. (Well that, and the Key Cooperative
General Managers, Board of Directors and bankers also
want everything hedged!) We’ve also seen some changes in
how speculators are treated in the last ten years or so, and
as a result, more outside money has come into commodities,
adding volatility.
There is no safe bet on where prices are going, which
is why we recommend looking at your yield and revenue
per acre and managing your sales accordingly. Folks who
work for a good average come out in a good spot year after
year. Use an average price contract, sell some on every rally,
or sell larger lots and do some options to stay in the market
with limited risk—all have their place. Prioritize your areas
of risk and manage them accordingly.
There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all market
strategy, but holding a whole crop and hoping for a weather
issue is a pretty risky maneuver. It can pay off once in a
while, and when it does, that risk earns a big reward. However, my philosophy remains that it is better to live to fight
another day than to just go for the glory.
CAUTION: With the big temperature swings we have
been seeing, keep an eye on those bins.
Thank you for your patronage.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley
Climate FieldView offers new features in 2017
The information you need, at your fingertips
HIGH-QUALITY FIELD IMAGERY > Get frequent and consistent highquality field satellite imagery to help you identify issues early and take
action to protect yield.
CUSTOM VARIABLE-RATE SEEDING PRESCRIPTIONS > Optimize your seed
investment with easy-to-use variable-rate seeding prescription tools.
YIELD ANALYSIS TOOLS > Analyze seed performance by soil type, by field
or even by field regions so you can pick the best seed for next season.
If you are interested in Climate FieldView for 2017,
please contact your CENTROL Precision Ag Specialist.
2 | www.keycoop.com
Nitrogen stewardship, step one
Protecting your nitrogen investment
By Kelly Els, Sales & Marketing Manager, [email protected]
buzzword in the statewide media for
How do N-Serve and Instinct
II work? N-Serve and Instinct II
the past two years. Most of the talk
inhibit the Nitrosomonas bacteria
started in early 2015 when Des Moines
in the soil, keeping nitrogen in the
Waterworks brought a lawsuit against
stable ammonium form longer and
13 drainage districts in Sac, Calhoun
protecting against leaching and deni-
NITRATES HAVE BEEN the
trification. Protection
and Buena Vista
counties. The lawsuit
TM
from leaching is the
claimed the districts
number one way
and farmers were
to prevent nitrates
not doing enough
ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
from getting into our
streams and rivers.
to keep nitrates out
of the streams of the Raccoon River.
lawsuit sought government regulation
Why should you use a nitrogen
stabilizer? Nitrogen stabilizers:
of water coming out of the drainage
• Keep nitrogen in plant zone longer
tile and into streams and rivers. While
• Ensure nitrogen availability when
Along with monetary damages, the
plants need it
this lawsuit was rejected by the Iowa
Supreme Court in January, which ruled
• Protect your nitrogen investment
these counties cannot be sued by
• Protect the environment and nitrogen
Des Moines Waterworks, the pressure
in the root zone by reducing denitri-
is still on to manage nitrates in our
fied greenhouse gases and leaching
streams and rivers.
into groundwater
Managing our nitrogen and
is a multi-step process. Below are
What are some of the agronomic
and economic benefits?
some questions you may have on
• Increased yield
what Key believes is one of the first
• Improved standability
steps in managing your nitrogen
• Reduced risk of stalk rot
investment: using a nitrogen stabi-
• Increased grain protein
lizer. While there are several good
• Faster crop drydown
products on the market for this, our
products of choice are N-Serve for
and economic benefits of N-Serve
anhydrous fertilizer and Instinct II
and Instinct II make these products a
for UAN.
win-win for the environment and the
being good stewards of this nutrient
®
®
The combined environmental
grower. The use of a nitrogen stabi-
When do nitrogen losses occur?
lizer is one of the cornerstones of our
Most nitrogen losses occur during
SUSTAIN platform. If you are inter-
the spring when rain and warm soil
ested in using a nitrogen stabilizer for
temperatures lead to heavy losses
the first time or joining our SUSTAIN
through leaching and denitrification.
platform, please contact your local
Key Cooperative Sales Agronomist.
CENTROL welcomes
Rick DeVore
This month, CENTROL Precision Ag welcomed new team
member Rick DeVore. Rick will
be filling the role of Precision
Ag Specialist in the northwest
region. He has an Ag Business
degree from Iowa State University and has spent the past six
years in the Precision Ag industry. Watch for Rick in the field
this spring!
[email protected]
515-509-5999
Help us
locate these
members!
The people below have
unclaimed patronage
dividends from Key
Cooperative. If you know
someone listed below,
please contact Vicki
Gruhn at Vicki.Gruhn@
keycoop.com or call
641-594-8102.
Troy Hibbs
Harlan Middlekauff
Marjorie Wickham
March 2017 Key Connections | 3
Jim Magnuson celebrates retirement
CoBank). Traveling Iowa and Nebraska as a loan officer and
business consultant for 10 years, he experienced the surge
of cooperative growth and the beginning of trainload grain
shipping. “One week, I came back with seven requests for
concrete train-loading elevators,” said Jim. “All seven were
built!” A few years later, the farm crisis hit. “I remember
going to members and boards having to share the bad
news—their cooperative was failing.”
In 1987, Jim joined the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives
in Ames as Director of Co-op Education and Development.
Working with cooperatives all over the Midwest, he sharpened his skills and was soon consulting full-time, facilitating board planning, conducting merger studies and leading
cooperative board and staff training. In the mid-1990s, Jim
was invited to be part of the “Farmer-to-Farmer” program
of Volunteers for Overseas Cooperative Assistance (VOCA),
an international development organization. Jim traveled
to Poland, introducing the U.S. cooperative structure. Two
years later, he was off to Moscow, Russia, where he helped
translate a text on cooperative business.
Jim got his first taste of local cooperative management in 1995 when he went to work for Heartland Co-op.
But after a short time as its Grain Operations Manager, he
received a call from Sully Cooperative Exchange asking if
he was aware of its GM opening. After much discussion and
encouragement, the rest is history. On December 1, 1997,
he joined SCE as the new General Manager. Jim spent the
next few years learning and building a future path, adding
locations, facilities and services. In 2009, Key Cooperative was formed through the merger of Heart of Iowa and
SCE. Additional growth resulted in Key Cooperative being
ranked as a Top 100 Cooperative by USDA for the past
several years.
4 | www.keycoop.com
continued from page 1
Throughout his career, Jim served as a director
with several industry-related organizations. In 2013,
Jim was elected to the CoBank Board of Directors.
CoBank, a member of the Farm Credit System, is Key
Cooperative’s primary lender. “I have had a unique
opportunity to complete the full CoBank circle,” said
Jim. “Starting as an employee, then a customer and
now a director.” Through CoBank, Jim also serves as
a director of ACDI/VOCA, the successor to VOCA.
This month, we celebrate the close of Jim’s service
to cooperatives and his nearly 20 years as General Manager
of Key Cooperative. “I’ve had a wonderful career,” said Jim,
“But more importantly, it’s been an opportunity to help
build something with lasting value for members and rural
communities.”
Jim and Marilyn will reside near La Crosse, Wisconsin, spending time with family and friends and pursuing
hobbies and volunteer interests.
Retiring
40
AFTER
g
YEARS
O F S E R V I C E TO
C O O P E R AT I V E S
PLEASE JOIN US AS WE HONOR
JI M MAG NU S ON
MA RC H 2 7
2:00 - 5:00
S 14 O F F I C E
13585 620 T H AV E N U E
R O L A N D, I A
MA RCH 30
2:00 - 5 : 0 0
S U L LY O F F I C E
504 6 T H AV E N U E
S U L LY, I A
Turning a new page
staff, employees and members of Key Cooperative for their
support, counsel and friendship. Our accomplishments,
however great or small, are the result of a team effort. No
one accomplishes great things alone, and I certainly had
more than my share of help along the way.
It’s now time for me to turn the page to new adventures focused on family and friends. Key Cooperative will
remain in good hands with strong, focused leadership and
a highly skilled staff dedicated to serving our customers
and building our communities. Key Cooperative has a rich
history, a strong position and a bright future guided by
clear objectives and our daily promise to be your Essential
Business Partner.
So . . . what have we learned and where do we go from
here? First and foremost, we have seen that the quality of
our employees absolutely makes all the difference. Their
skills, dedication and commitment to customers is essential
to rising to the top in a commodity business. We have never
been disappointed hiring the best-of-the-best. When others
are cutting back, our staff is well-equipped and ready to
pounce on any opportunity.
We also know leadership must be open-minded
and well-informed. The time invested by directors and
management staff in training and planning is essential to
a successful outcome. Some of our most valuable activities
have been visits to other cooperatives. These visits provided
an invaluable opportunity to learn how others are handling
day-to-day and long-term business operations. Good ideas
come from a wide range of sources, and leaders must
dedicate time and effort to being exposed to new thoughts,
methods and directions.
Leadership also has to communicate effectively. A
cooperative is a team sport, with each member/customer
and each employee having an important role to play. If we
listen to each other, seek the truth, focus on common goals
and work effectively together, great progress can be made.
Forging win-win relationships with customers is critical
to delivering Key Cooperative’s long-term value promise.
These relationships must be durable enough to stand the
test of time and reasonable differences of opinion.
We know a cyclic, seasonal business like Ag demands
strong financial reserves in order to bridge the gap between
the inevitable feast and famine of the marketplace. Strong
continued from page 1
internal controls, consistent enforcement of the accounts
receivable policy and accurate financial checkpoints all
contribute to our ability to know the cooperative’s position,
track progress and define capacity.
Finally, we know change is inevitable, and expecting anything to stay the same is the ultimate exercise in
futility. But with change comes opportunity. A realistic
perspective and a commitment to seeking opportunities
in everything is a great leadership asset. Always remember
that Key Cooperative is in the game for the long term to
serve the sons, daughters and grandchildren of our current
members/customers.
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including:
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JOIN THE CELEBRATION!
ParticiPating vendors: Key cooPerative, Bertch
caBinets, Pella glass, village decorating,
sully PlumBing and heating
www.agday.org
March 2017 Key Connections | 5
Congratulations!
We are Key!
RETIREMENTS
Key Cooperative
celebrates
employee
achievements at
annual banquet
EACH YEAR, the
Key Cooperative team
comes together for
an evening of fun and
activities. Now with
20 locations, the event
allows employees to
meet, share stories and
celebrate milestones
(see list on right). This
year’s event included a
night of casino games
and prizes!
Terry Thompson, 12 years
Doug Hocking, 32 years
Jerry Holveck, 32 years
Jim Beck, 23 years
Barry Jones, 40 years
David Cole, 2 years
John Houck, 29 years
Last fall, employees raised funds to support a
pie in the face contest in celebration of United
Way. Parts and Service Operations Manager
Greg Conard received the pie in the face at this
year’s banquet courtesy of his daughter, Hailey.
KEY ANNIVERSARIES
5 Years of Service
Greg Conard
Jason De Bruin
Logan Hobbs
Danielle Kleve
Cindy Laverman
Morgan Moore
Nikki Russell
Ryan Schumacher
Alex Vanden Broek
10 Years of Service
Mark De Vries
Ted Hammes
Scott Richardson
Mindy Samson
15 Years of Service
Scott Smead
20 Years of Service
Phil Hoogeveen
Wayne Ritter
25 Years of Service
Brent Larson
30 Years of Service
Kim Staecker
Doug Van Zee
35 Years of Service
Kevin Quinn
40 Years of Service
Barry Jones
Key Cooperative fuel card update
Customers with a Key Cooperative fuel card may have noticed their
card was set to expire in February. No need to worry! We have
extended the life of your fuel card for one more year. This means you
can continue to use your current card; you will receive a new card
next year. In addition, the expiration date will not affect the NAPA
discount program when you show your card to purchase parts. For
fuel card questions, call 800-469-1040.
6 | www.keycoop.com
Key Cooperative gives back!
Key Cooperative is pleased to have many industry partners to support our matching grant program. The program allows Key
Cooperative to give back by contributing grant funding to community betterment and food-related projects.
Do you have a great community project? Check out www.keycoop.com/community-involvement to find our matching
grant form. Your project may be just the right one for our program!
1
4
2
5
3
1
Key Cooperative is pleased to support the Barnes City Fire Department by
providing a $10,000 grant toward the purchase of a new fire truck. The Barnes City Fire
Department is a rural volunteer department and relies heavily on grant support. General
Manager Jim Magnuson presented the grant to members of the department.
2 Collins-Maxwell Elementary School requested grant funding to purchase a therapy
dog for the students of the school district. Jim Magnuson presented a grant for $2,500
to Collins-Maxwell Schools.
3 The Collins-Maxwell Agriculture/FFA Department plans to build a greenhouse for
the school and community to expand agricultural education. Students will get hands-on
experience with various growing systems and learn about running a small business. Jim
Magnuson presented a grant for $5,000 to the Collins-Maxwell Ag/FFA program.
4 The Grinnell Saddle Club is the recipient of a $2,500 grant to improve the arena
and horse facilities on the Poweshiek County Fairgrounds. The grant funding will go
toward an updated PA system, new fans and arena maintenance. Jim Magnuson and Key
Cooperative Grinnell employees Marcus Hocksbergen and Dan Dunsbergen presented the
grant to Grinnell Saddle Club representative Amanda Hocksbergen.
5 Key Cooperative Credit Manager Mindy Samson presented a $2,000 check to Janice
Brown, a representative from the Pella Community Food Shelf. As a result of the
donation, over 300 families will have access to food and hygiene products during the
winter months.
STUDENTS:
APPLY NOW!
Community scholarship
applications due by
March 31, 2017
Key Cooperative will award
twelve $1,000 non-renewable
scholarships this spring.
Students attending ColoNesco, East Marshall, English
Valleys, Gilbert, Grinnell,
Lynnville-Sully, Nevada,
Newton, North Mahaska,
Pella, Pella Christian, RolandStory or Sigourney are
encouraged to apply. To view
scholarship criteria or acquire
the application, visit www.
keycoop.com or contact your
local Key Cooperative office
by phone or email.
March 2017 Key Connections | 7
PRST STD
AUTO
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
SULLY, IA
PERMIT NO. 250
your essential business partner
13585 620th Ave
Roland, Iowa 50236
Explanation of photo contest and entry
instructions here.
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER: WINTER TWILIGHT
By Sam Cutts – Highway 6 near Colfax, IA
OUR BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Bob Finch, President
Rick Fopma, Vice President
Dave Hassebrock, Secretary
Perry Ritland, Treasurer
R. Chris Anderson
Bryce Arkema
Ryan Bell
Scott Henry
Sue Keenan
Branon Osmundson
Brian Sampson
Dave Vander Pol
The Connections photo contest is open to any member or customer that receives our newsletter.
One winning photo will be selected and placed in the newsletter. Winning photographers will
receive a $20 gas gift card! Photos must feature agriculture or rural settings; Iowa-based scenes
are preferred. Photos must be submitted by the 10th of each month in order to qualify for the following month’s newsletter. Please include your name, address, phone number and email address
with your submitted photo(s).
Key Connections is sent to you
Submissions may be emailed to [email protected].
[email protected].
courtesy of Key Cooperative. Please
send comments or suggestions to
Sara Clausen at 515-388-8030 or at