It has been a little more than two years since I’ve covered the topic of change with cooperative patrons. At that time, I touched on the speed of change and how I believed the pace was only going to increase. To illustrate my point, gas at that time was more than $3 and is now $1.75, and I was delivering my thoughts to patrons of a different

cooperative than the one I now lead.My message then, as it is now, is that in order for an

organization to thrive, the culture has to be built to not only withstand change but to take advantage of it. I believe Ag Plus is off to a good start in the process of creating a culture of change. For example, all three of the previous GMs have departed, yet our business continues to move forward. Individuals within the cooperative have stepped up to the plate, and we’ve also been able to hire some experienced talent. This yields new ideas and ways of doing business that fit today’s ag environment.Ready for action

Anticipating potential issues is one sign of a change-ready culture. With new application and tendering equipment and a plan in place to move equipment and personnel between our three facilities, we’re ready for spring. Most years, the start of spring work varies by about two weeks from one side of our territory to the other. We’ll be able to move resources where we need them when we need them, allowing us to provide more timely service and cover more acres with each machine.

We were also ahead of the game when the COVID-19 situation, with the threat of potential lockdowns and shortages, arose. We had all the inputs you need for spring already in our facilities — with the exception of toilet paper.

Steps were also taken to ensure that Ag Plus was able to fully serve our customers while keeping everyone safe

during the crisis. We worked to make sure ag had a voice in state government, lobbying to ensure ag was considered an essential business (seems obvious, but…). We implemented social distancing standards, encouraged employees who didn’t need to come in to work from home, and disinfected equipment and facilities regularly. No crystal ball

Financially, as of Jan. 31, 2020, Ag Plus had a local net profit of $934,000. Considering that we only had about 2/3 of our normal fall agronomy business, we are in a good place. We are positioned to have a good year if we have a “normal” spring. At this point, the weather is cooperating fairly well, with drier conditions and warmer temps than last year. In fact, we were already doing some spreading the week of March 16.

In recent weeks and months, the markets — both commodity and stock — have been comparable to spoiled children. The only way they can be made to perform is to apply massive stimulus packages. That can’t continue indefinitely. At some point, the markets will have to stand on their own.

We were due for some sort of correction — maybe not 30%, but a significant adjustment. We’ve been riding a prolonged bull market, and a healthy economy has ups and downs — it doesn’t rise forever. My message is, don’t try to outguess the markets. Get out of the way the best you can right now, have a plan going forward, and don’t panic.

I know that many of us are stressed and worried, if not for ourselves, then for our loved ones and friends. There’s plenty of reason for hope, because we’ve beaten far worse. We’re on a challenging journey, but we will prevail. Farmers are the greatest optimists around and spring has arrived again. Here’s hoping for a great production year in 2020. Thank you for your business.

By Todd Ludwig, CEO

SPRING 2020

Building a Change-ready Culture

Reading Data’s StoryHaving just

assumed the position of agronomy operations manager for Ag Plus in early March, Don Brown has been plenty busy meeting employees and customers while getting ready for the 2020 planting rush. This isn’t his first rodeo, however.

The Wood Lake native has plenty of agronomy experience, most recently as the agronomy manager for LQP Coop in Dawson for the past 12 years.

“I’m happy to be here and look forward to the challenge,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to work for a cooperative with multiple agronomy locations, so when this opportunity opened up I made the move.”

One of his immediate concerns was keeping applicators and customers safe in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. “We cancelled all our meetings and the farmers have done a good job of keeping visits to a minimum,” Don notes. “I enjoy meeting face-to-face, but our priority now is doing our best to keep everyone healthy.”

Though he admits it isn’t the perfect hobby for a man in his position, Don enjoys fishing and recently bought a boat. Ask him about that story.

By Steve Traen, Director of Service Businesses

Needless to say that for our retail businesses, the biggest news of late has been the pandemic. Our C-stores obviously create the most opportunities for customer contact, and we took immediate action to protect customers and employees. We implemented sanitizing schedules inside and out (including our fuel dispensers), closed our seating areas,

made the call, as did many other establishments, not to refill personal beverage containers, and individually wrapped any loose items, such as donuts or cookies.

Our HVAC team is practicing social distancing and making service calls if the need is urgent. In all our areas we’re following the 5-point guidelines and practicing common sense.

At the same time, we’re operating with the understanding that life will return to normal at some point and business will

go on. With that in mind, our HVAC team can take a look at your air conditioners in anticipation of the summer season. Schedule a check-up to look the unit over, clean out the fall debris and change the filter. If your unit has seen its last summer, our Champion® air conditioners (and furnaces) come with a 10-year parts and labor warranty. Call Jamie Ratajczak, 872-6182, and ask for Minneota LP service.

For your grain handling and storage needs, we’re offering a 17% discount on bins if ordered by April 30. It’s not too late to order your grain handling equipment to handle harvest this fall. Keep in mind that the wet grain last fall took a toll, so be proactive in your grain handling and dryer maintenance. We can help. Call Zac Boerboom, 428-3287.

From chainsaws to motorcycles and boats, our small engine experts can handle it. Get that mower in now for a tuneup or overhaul. Or, to get a real feel for a Ferris® mower, schedule Donny Sigler to bring one out to you to try on

Your Safety Our First Concern

“When you take a close look at the data on a business or a portion of the business, those numbers tell a story.”

Interpreting that story and making recommendations for change based on the narrative is precisely what Sheri Claeys does in her role as business analyst. It’s a new position at Ag Plus, and an important one in light of the cooperative’s diverse mix of businesses.

“We’re involved in retail, energy, and agronomy,” Sheri explains. “With the three legacies coming together, each of them had different processes and ways of running their businesses. What I’m here for is to look at all of those businesses from a financial perspective. Basically, I’m a data geek.”

A native of Wilton, North Dakota, Sheri grew up on a grain farm. Since graduating from the Carlson School of Management in Minneapolis, she has worked in manufacturing, warehousing and operations, usually focusing on process improvement. Joining the Ag Plus team

Seizing the Opportunity

Don Brown, Ag Plus Agronomy Operations Manager

©2020 Ag Plus Cooperative. All Rights Reserved.2

Reading Data’s Story

Bring on Spring!By Justin Ranek, Agronomy Sales Manager

your yard. Reach the small engine team at 223-7241.When the need arises as the crops go in, our shops

are geared up and ready to go for all spring supplies and maintenance. Don’t forget our tire trucks. Our shop numbers are: Marshall, 532-9686; Canby, 223-7241; Slayton, 836-8585, Minneota, 872-6182; and Ivanhoe, 694-1566.

Hunt Brothers Pizza™ has been a hit in our Minneota C-store, and now it’s available in Marshall. You can buy it by the hunk for a quick meal on the go or order the whole pizza. Right now, buy the first pizza (any toppings) for $9.99 and get as many more as you wish for $8.99 apiece. Reach the Marshall store at 532-7472.

Spring has arrived, and I’m happy to say conditions look considerably more promising than they did last year at this time. We got rid of a lot of subsoil moisture over the winter, lost the snow earlier, and are enjoying more moderate weather than we endured in 2019.

The wildcard this year, of course, has been COVID-19. As Todd mentioned,

we’ve taken measures to avoid any supply issues, laying in additional fertilizer and stocking up on corn and soybean pre herbicides. We didn’t want to rely on any in-season fertilizer shipments.

To get inputs on your field when you need them, we’ve added two new dry floaters and a fertilizer tender to the fleet. All our computer-based equipment in the applicators and throughout our fertilizer blending and loadout system have received their software updates from the manufacturers. We are as ready as we can be when Mother Nature says it’s time to go.

Our new van trailer for seed and chemical delivery got a good workout this spring serving our customers. Now we’re ready to meet all your agronomy needs and look forward to watching this crop come out of the ground.

Sheri Claeys, Ag Plus Business Analyst

marks a return to home base for one of the Claeys, Sheri’s husband Derek, who grew up on a hog farm near Porter.

“Ultimately, we wanted to be near family, either in Bismarck or here, and this was a perfect match,” Sheri states. “I have a little bit of experience in a lot of different areas, which is helpful for Ag Plus right now.”

Currently, Sheri is cleaning up data and building spreadsheets to be uploaded into the new Agvance system as the legacy systems are consolidated. Future projects include working with agronomy on the precision planting platform.

A runner, she estimates she’s covered more than 40,000 miles. “My knees are feeling it now,” she admits. “But I’m also a rockhound and really like agate hunting. We also have a 20-pound cat, Tank.”

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The integration of our three legacy cooperatives continues to move ahead, and that means some positive changes in human resources as well. Coming into the merger, all three cooperatives had a different retirement plan. We now have a new 401k plan in place for all employees administered by United Benefits, the group who also manages our pension plan.

After being outsourced at the end of 2019, payroll is back in-house as of Jan. 1! We’re processing it through our Agvance system, and it’s been a smooth transition.

As we have come together, a number of veteran employees have retired.

With John Head’s retirement, we now have an agronomy sales manager and agronomy operations manager. Those positions are held by Justin Ranek, who came to us last October, and Don Brown, who joined us this March. Brian Rangaard is now the agronomy location manager in Canby, Wade Eischens continues in that role at West Branch, and Adam Karbo is the interim agronomy location manager in Ghent.

These retirements, combined with the opportunity to gain more operational efficiency, has resulted in

some departmental restructuring. As a part of that process, we have observed areas of employee strength and potential development.

To capitalize on those strengths and provide more opportunities for individual growth and career advancement, we’re looking into both internal and external resources to expand staff training. Potential employee development strategies include coaching, mentoring, cross-training and online education.

Prioritizing Equity Retirement

New Co-op, New Opportunities

By Mark Fischer, Board of Directors Chairman

By Andrea Pyle, Director of Human Resources

Whenever cooperatives merge, one of the most important concerns is determining how member equity will be handled going forward. This has been a priority for the Ag Plus board of directors, and the board has adopted the following policy regarding equity payouts. Please note that this policy is subject to change at any time.

Equity earned with our legacy cooperatives will be retired according to the equity policies of the respective companies. Specifically, LCFS equity will be retired at age 65, FCA at 75 and Prairie Pride at 72. At the end of each fiscal year, the Ag Plus board will determine if funds can be allocated to equity retirement. If equity can be retired, the dollar amount available for that purpose will be divided between each legacy company by the percentage of total equity that the cooperative brought into Ag Plus — Prairie Pride, 37.73%; FCA, 33.46%; LCFS, 28.81%.

When all the old equity in one legacy company is retired completely, all the funds allocated to old equity retirement will go to the other two companies, then to the final company.

All old equity will be retired before the retirement of any equity earned in Ag Plus. Ag Plus equity will be retired based on the year earned rather than the age of the patron. Patrons will be allocated patronage on Ag Plus earnings, a portion of which will be paid out in cash.

It is also our goal as a board to pay out all estates on a quarterly basis upon request.

If you have questions regarding our equity retirement policies, please don’t hesitate to contact a board member or Todd Ludwig.

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Safety Is a Mindset

While Ag Plus doesn’t handle grain, just about every farmer we serve does. It’s been well documented that the circumstances under which grain was harvested last fall led to concerns about grain quality and bin safety this winter and spring. Unfortunately, those concerns proved true for a number of farmers.

As this COVID-19 pandemic unfolded this spring, I couldn’t help but think of the parallels between the responses to the virus and the attitudes we often see toward safety.

You’ve heard all the reactions to the virus. Maybe you’ve even uttered some of these phrases yourself. “What’s the big deal? They’re blowing this way out of proportion.” “I’ve heard all this sort of stuff before and nothing has ever come of it.” “Some of these people should worry, but I’m in good shape. It’s not going to affect me.”

Sadly, it’s the same line of reasoning I’ve heard when it comes to safety. We tend to tune out the warnings when we’ve heard them all before. Yes, you’ve knocked bridged grain loose in a bin and gotten away with it — maybe more than once. You’ve taken some shortcuts with safety shields and no one has been hurt. The problem with this line of thinking is, it only takes one time. One chance exposure to a tiny virus, and one time going into a bin when you have no business being there.

Don’t be a statistic. Follow the guidelines. Enforce them with your farm workers. Teach them to your kids the most effective way — by following them yourself. There’s no reason to lose anyone else in a bin or to any other preventable farm accident.

Stay safe this spring. We like having you around. So does your family.

Choosing Right Over Right Now

By Angie Hulzebos, Controller

By Liz Rheingans, Director of Safety

As Todd mentioned in his article, Ag Plus is in a good place financially and positioned to enjoy a good first year.

Our accounting services and information technology teams continue to prepare for our software system integration. We had initially hoped to accomplish this by January, but quickly realized the process would require more

time. There are many points of data we need to work through. Our patrons are our top priority, so we want to ensure a smooth transition with little or no service interruption for you. We don’t have an exact conversion date, but it will likely be after our busy spring agronomy season, but before fiscal year end.

We’ve been sending communications to our patrons asking for your email address and phone number. With our new system, we have the ability to email invoices and statements to you. Specifically, we can email the invoice for shop work, LP, bulk fuels and agronomy as it is being billed. This service is not available for C-store receipts.

Emailing this information saves time and money, both of which benefit the bottom line of the company you own. As to the cell phone numbers requested, we have the ability to send mass texts with company updates, meeting notifications, and other alerts. If you’re interested in either option (or both), please contact one of our offices to provide your information today!

I also have a couple of staff updates to pass on. Brandon Mullenberg joined Ag Plus in March as an IT technician. He’s a great addition to the team and works with Aaron Petersen, our IT systems administrator. Also, both Donna Skorczewski (Ghent/West Branch) and Angela Meyer (Marshall) have been named accounting service supervisors for their respective locations.

We have a strong team and anticipate a great 2020!

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"Emailing [your] information saves time and money, both of which benefit the bottom line of the company you own.”

Ag Plus Cooperative1100 East Main StreetMarshall, MN 56258507.532.9686

Marshall - Main Office - 507.532.9686Canby - 507.223.7241 Ghent - 507.428.3287

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New Routes Will Yield Rewards By Adam Steffes, Director of Energy

If you are an Ag Plus energy customer, you may see a new face the next time you receive a delivery. We’re realigning our delivery routes for both bulk refined fuels and propane. In the past, drivers from the three cooperatives that now make up Ag Plus used to wave to one another as they passed on the road. Realigning our routes will let us use our equipment and

people more efficiently. That’s better for our department, our cooperative and, as customers and owners, better for you.

You should be seeing the changes first on our propane routes during the summer-fill season. By August and September, we should have retooled our bulk fuel routes as well.

As was the case in the past, we’ll need your help to make our new routes as efficient as possible. The more communication and lead time we can have from you regarding your energy needs, the easier it will be for us to most efficiently route the product.