Latest News From Retail Management

The Numbers Look Great... But Is It On The Surface Or Sustainable?
The Numbers Look Great... But Is It On The Surface Or Sustainable?

A rising tide of unique market circumstances may mask key business differentiators.

Ferrie: 3 tips to address ugly corn syndrome, replant decisions and insects
Ferrie: 3 tips to address ugly corn syndrome, replant decisions and insects

This week, farmers in the Midwest are reporting crop extremes. Some say they have their best crops in recent memory, while others are making replant decisions.

Fleet Tracking: What One Co-op Has Learned
Fleet Tracking: What One Co-op Has Learned

After a pilot program with eight locations and 54 machines, Ceres Solutions is eyeing a full fleet tracking program as early as 2022.

App Launches to Streamline Dry Bulk Freight
App Launches to Streamline Dry Bulk Freight

“It was hard to get the settlements process right, for example, but we did it,” CEO Jeff Schreiner says. “We can say we provide a seamless integration. It’s all baked in.”

At the beginning of 2020, Growmark had hub and spoke model for its dry cargo distribution with a majority of focus on its midwestern footprint, centered on its Alpha, Ill., distribution center.
Growmark Leans Into The Perfect Storm For Distribution Changes

“What kept me up at night was any disruption to our primary distribution hub in northwestern Illinois,” says Rod Wells, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Growmark.

Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork
Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork

Take time to train and develop your farm team to be more successful.

Ken Ferrie
Ferrie: Don’t Screw Up The 2021 Crop Just To Mark Anhydrous Applications Off Your To-Do List

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie notes that in most cases, trenches are sealing well. However, in some especially dry areas he’s hearing complaints that that’s not always the case.

Ag Retail's One-Stop-Shop For Facilities
Ag Retail's One-Stop-Shop For Facilities

As CEO it’s been David Hemming's vision for five years to bring together assets and resources to be a one-stop shop for ag retailers’ facility needs, and Precision Tank is a far different company than 16 years ago.

Q&A With Jim Farrell
Q&A With Jim Farrell

After 34 years at Farmers National Company, Jim Farrell retired as its president and CEO in December 2019, and he became president of Farrell Growth Group.

Mark Faust: How To Persuade Powerfully
Mark Faust: How To Persuade Powerfully

If you want to persuade people, then follow the Four Rs of Persuasion, and build a reputation.

The high-resolution images displayed in the AgMRI platform provide a row by row and plant by plant view. The newest feature to AgMRI is Compare View, which allows for side-by-side comparisons of field images gathered through the season.
Analytics To Look At 50,000 Acres In 30 Minutes

The AgMRI platform provides a row by row and plant by plant view, and the newest feature is Compare View, which allows for side-by-side comparisons of field images gathered through the season.

Final compliance deadline nears for ELD mandate
Final compliance deadline nears for ELD mandate

The final compliance deadline for mandated electronic logging devices in U.S. trucks will arrive Dec. 17.

AgPro Podcast: Good Data Is the Foundational Building Block
AgPro Podcast: Good Data Is the Foundational Building Block

Steve Cubbage shares the key steps in using data for agronomic decisions.

Raven Invests In, Intertwines Autonomy With Its Portfolio
Raven Invests In, Intertwines Autonomy With Its Portfolio

Raven has doubled down on machine autonomy.

MGN
Register Before January 6 for CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

ARA encourages users to register early to ensure enough time to complete the registration because all users must gain access to the clearinghouse once it is implemented on Jan. 6, 2020.

This is a serious problem, but not a hopeless one. Here are three tips.
Agriculture’s Talent Pool Is Running Dry

This is a serious problem, but not a hopeless one. Here are three tips.

“We’ve had guys run 24-hour shifts already applying anhydrous. So far, we’ve applied 25,000 acres, and we’ve got 60,000 acres of custom anhydrous yet to do,” reports one retailer in Iowa. 
Late Harvest Delays Anhydrous As Unapplied Acres Stack Up

“We’ve had guys run 24-hour shifts already applying anhydrous. So far, we’ve applied 25,000 acres, and we’ve got 60,000 acres of custom anhydrous yet to do,” 

Skyland Grain and United Prairie Ag Will Merge
Skyland Grain and United Prairie Ag Will Merge

With the merger, the company will span 36 locations in Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado with a total storage capacity of more than 87 million bushels.

Left to right: 2018 Syngenta Glyndon, Minnesota Fusarium head blight trial comparing yield results from Miravis Ace, Caramba and Prosaro 421 SC fungicide treatments.
Syngenta Miravis Ace Fungicide Premix Available For 2019 Season

Treatment provides head scab control with applications as early as 50% head emergence

This week (March 25 to 29) is the National Safety Stand-Up For Grain Safety Week.
Retailers Encouraged to Stand Up For Grain Safety

You can share your stand-Up success stories on social media with the hashtag #StandUp4GrainSafety

Iowa’s Tony Schwarck is the winner of the 2019 Tomorrow’s Top Producer Horizon Award, which recognizes an outstanding farmer 35 and under and is sponsored by Pioneer.
Young Farmer Cashes In On Corn With Cattle

Tony Schwarck of Riceville, Iowa, diversified his family's crop operation with a feedlot.

Agribusiness Workplace Trends: How Does Your Company Compare?

What trends are emerging in this tight labor market? The Agribusiness HR Review shows competing for talent is a challenge and companies are exploring new recruitment methods to attract and retain good employees.

What trends are emerging in this tight labor market? The latest edition of the Agribusiness HR Review shows competing for talent is a challenge and companies are exploring new recruitment methods to attract and retain good employees.
Agribusiness Workplace Trends: How Does Your Company Compare?

What trends are emerging in this tight labor market? The Agribusiness HR Review shows competing for talent is a challenge and companies are exploring new recruitment methods to attract and retain good employees.

Whether you are managing millennials or you are a millennial leader responsible for guiding a group of employees in day-to-day operations on your farm, generational differences shouldn’t be ignored.
5 Millennial Management Tips

Whether you are managing millennials or you are a millennial leader responsible for guiding a group of employees in day-to-day operations on your farm, generational differences shouldn’t be ignored.

Your time is valuable. Want to get the most from every hour? Become a master time manager.
Management Tip: Eliminate This Huge Time Waster

Your time is valuable. Want to get the most from every hour? Become a master time manager.

The well-being of the team is important to America's Pig Farmer Patrick Bane. Having a good relationship with each employee is critical to the farm’s ability to run smoothly.
Mutual Respect Boosts Team Performance

Employees conserve their energy for those who appreciate the work they are doing.

To manage attitude and, therefore, aptitude, use this six-step performance formula.
Six Steps To Better Management of Millenials

To manage attitude and, therefore, aptitude, use this six-step performance formula.

MFA Resolves Dispute With EPA
MFA Resolves Dispute With EPA

The company will participate in a Supplemental Environmental Project to install emergency shutoff equipment.

CFATS is back in the news because the Congressional authorization for the program is set to expire in January 2019.
CFATS: What It and Its Renewal Means to Ag Retail

CFATS is back in the news because the Congressional authorization for the program is set to expire in January 2019.

Margy Eckelkamp
Technology Provides A New Level Of Scrutiny

It’s not just about when you are using the machine, but how the machine is being used, and what’s next for that machine.

Annual report reveals key trends
2018 AgPro Salary Survey

Here's the full report from the 2018 survey

A helpful Q and A on the hours of service regs and ag commodities
A helpful Q and A on the hours of service regs and ag commodities

Putting a finer point on government regulations or providing clarity on bureaucratic language is not easy to do.

Telematics Pay Off With Eyes On Efficiency

After monitoring machine performance in the past three years, Southern States has been able to increase efficiency of its sprayers and spreaders by 8%.

Telematics Pay Off With Eyes On Efficiency
Telematics Pay Off With Eyes On Efficiency

After monitoring machine performance in the past three years, Southern States has been able to increase efficiency of its sprayers and spreaders by 8%.

An Analogy Between Baseball and Pest Control
An Analogy Between Baseball and Pest Control

If successful pest control constitutes a run scored, then the four bases you have to touch are time, equipment, people and products.

<p>Grain bins</p>
Three Ways To Prevent Injury In Your Grain Facility

Grain industry injuries range from grain bin explosions and entrapment to respiratory diseases. Most incidents can be avoided however through proper maintenance, procedures and training.

Mike Frank, Executive Vice President, Nutrien & President, Nutrien Retail
Q&A With Nutrien’s Head of Retail Mike Frank

Just weeks before the announcement of the rebranding of Crop Production Services, AgPro conducted this Q&A with Mike Frank, Executive Vice President, Nutrien & President, Nutrien Retail.

Setting Your Direction: Vision & Mission Statements
Setting Your Direction: Vision & Mission Statements

It is worth your time to develop a vision and mission statement.

Alleged dicamba drift damaged an estimated 3.1 million acres in 2017.
States Tighten Dicamba Regulations

With nearly half of the soybeans in the U.S. expected to be planted with Roundup Ready 2 Xtend seed, equip your company and sprayer operators with these regulatory changes to avoid off-target damage in 2018.

8 Tips For Fire Prevention
8 Tips For Fire Prevention

Here are eight tips to promote a culture of safety.

Ken Ferrie: Technology Is How We’ll Survive Tight Margins
Ken Ferrie: Technology Is How We’ll Survive Tight Margins

While the current ag economy is resulting in challenging times, Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie says it is an exciting time as well—because there is a flood of new technology from planting to harvest.

Site Upgrade Mitigated Unforeseeable Crisis
Site Upgrade Mitigated Unforeseeable Crisis

GAR is the nation’s largest single-location retail operation and was named the 2016 Retailer of the Year.

<p>New Century FS Floater</p>
Iowa Retailer Finds Blueprint for Successful Expansions

Floaters sitting idle in the field coupled with an unnecessarily slow and inefficient process to load fertilizer at the warehouse were catalysts for change at New Century FS.

Electronic Logging Device Regulations Just Ahead
Electronic Logging Device Regulations Just Ahead

December 18, 2017 is the compliance deadline for the Electronic Logging Device installation requirement.

Ohio River Closed Again as Water Levels Rise
Ohio River Closed Again as Water Levels Rise

Traffic along the Ohio River is seeing major hurdles this harvest season.

AgPro Podcast: CHS Says 4R Management Is Proactive And the Right Thing To Do
AgPro Podcast: CHS Says 4R Management Is Proactive And the Right Thing To Do

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

AgPro Podcast: MFA Steps Up Its Approach to The Right Rate and 4R Management
AgPro Podcast: MFA Steps Up Its Approach to The Right Rate and 4R Management

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

AgPro Podcast: Verdesian Life Sciences Tells The 4R Advantage for Retailers
AgPro Podcast: Verdesian Life Sciences Tells The 4R Advantage for Retailers

How are you adopting and promoting the 4R strategy across your nutrient management business?

States Ask Applicators About Dicamba
States Ask Applicators About Dicamba

As the industry searches for the right solution for in-season dicamba some states are turning back to the users and applicators to find what they think is happening.

How to Manage Harvest Stress
How to Manage Harvest Stress

Your mind and body are irreplaceable. Use these tips to make sure you’re caring for them effectively, even when it feels like you don’t have time.