An innovative option makes broadcast crop nutrient applications more available.
Farmers wouldn’t be satisfied with just 20 percent weed control from a herbicide application, but that’s typically the best nutrient availability they can expect from dry phosphate fertilizer applications.
“Under the best soil conditions, only one-fifth of applied phosphorus may be available to the crop throughout the season,” says Steve Carlsen, Levesol and crop enhancement manager, CHS Agronomy. “Availability is even less when soil pH levels are too high or too low or in soils that contain too little organic matter.”
This article first appeared in the LIFT newsletter, a publication of CHS Agronomy. Read the entire article.
As growers finalize planting preparations and plan in-season fertilizer and sidedress applications, they may be looking for solutions for micronutrients deficiencies identified by soil or tissue sampling on their most productive acres. What are the most essential micronutrients and what products can help with yield and profitability?
The essential micronutrients include Zinc (Zn), Iron (Fe), Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Molybdenum (Mo) and Manganese (Mn).
They are considered micros because they are needed in smaller amounts compared to macronutrients by the plant.
Many micronutrients hold the key to how well the other nutrients are used; attribute to how well the plant develops and effects the total yield it will produce come harvest.
They also help feed the microorganisms in the soil to perform important steps in various nutrient cycles of the growing process.
We are pleased to share our second quarter results for fiscal year 2020. We reported net income of $125.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020, which ended Feb. 29, 2020. This compares to net income of $248.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2019.
The company reported revenues of $6.6 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 compared to revenues of $6.5 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2019. In the first six months of fiscal year 2020, CHS reported net income of $303.3 million compared to net income of $596.3 million in the first six months of fiscal year 2019.
As our essential businesses work to meet spring season demands amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to focus on the health and safety of every person and community connected to CHS and the cooperative system.
We want you to know that CHS remains fully operational and committed to providing the essential products and services you need. Our supply chain is prepared and moving into action as spring fieldwork begins. Grain is moving and the spring shipping season has begun. We are grateful for those positive signs.
Thank you for your business. Please let us know how we can help you navigate through the days and weeks ahead.
As the global
pandemic around COVID-19 continues to evolve, CHS Farmers Alliance is
implementing additional precautionary steps to protect the health and wellbeing
of our employees, families, customers and owners, and communities in which we
live and work. The following protocols
are effective Monday, March 23, until further notice.
The
Huron main and LP offices are closed to all traffic. Please call 605-352-6492, or contact your certified
energy specialist for energy needs.
We will continue to provide LP deliveries under
the recommended guidelines and management discretion. During deliveries we are
requesting customers have no contact with the driver. If
you have an emergency, please call 605-352-6492.
LP services will
continue under the recommended guidelines and management discretion. All
customers will be required to fill out a simple customer screening
questionnaire prior to a CHS employee providing in-home service work. If you do
not wish to participate in our screening process, we will not be able to
perform service work at this time.
All payments can
be made at the Huron office drop box or mailed in. Payments will not be
accepted inside.
We don’t take
this challenge lightly, but we’re committed to working through it with
effective planning, communication and execution. With our talented and
committed team, best-in-class assets and our values of safety and cooperative
spirit, we are confident CHS will continue to deliver products and services for
customers and value for owners.
As you are
aware, the impact of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 continues to
rapidly evolve. Safety is a core value for CHS Farmers Alliance and includes a
focus on the health and wellbeing of our employees, families, customers and
owners, and the communities in which we live and work.
We
understand that spring is here, and I want to emphasize; we are open for
business. We are simply adjusting some protocols. CHS Farmers Alliance has
implemented the following changes effective Thursday, March 19th,
until further notice:
We are
limiting access at all locations. We respectfully ask you to contact us through
phone or email whenever possible. Some of our locations have enacted split
shift schedules; staff that can work remotely, have been asked to do so and
will be available via phone or e-mail.
If you need a grain check, please contact
us and we will mail it promptly, deliver it to local bank for deposit or setup
a pickup location outside of the office.
All visitors
to our office will be required to complete a questionnaire before entering our
facilities. We are also asking all staff and visitors to adhere to the 6-foot
distance recommended by the CDC to reduce virus spread.
For in-home
propane leak checks, inspections or service; customers will be asked to
complete a simple
screening questionnaire prior to any CHS employee providing in-home service
work.
We have
restricted face-to-face meetings. Our sales staff will conduct business via
phone, text or email. As a company that prides itself on the relationships we
have built, this will be a difficult change. However, face-to-face meetings
pose a greater risk for everyone involved. If you need to conduct critical
business that requires an in-person meeting, please call for an appointment to confirm
access to the facility and availability of staff.
We ask you
to call ahead for product pickup whenever possible, our team will ensure that
everything is ready to load upon your arrival.
For those customers or vendors delivering
grain or picking up products, we ask that you limit your time in the office to
essential business. At some locations, we are asking drivers to remain in their
cab. Please check our location policies or watch for information and direction
upon arrival.
We will adjust our practices as necessary in the coming days,
weeks or months. Rest assured, it is our commitment that
we will continue to provide excellent service and support throughout this
unprecedented time, even if we must do it differently. We value your business, your
trust in CHS Farmers
Alliance and appreciate your understanding during this time. We look forward to
resuming normal interactions as soon as it is deemed safe to do so.
With the impact of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19 evolving rapidly, we want to reassure you that CHS is taking steps to protect the health and safety of our employees, our owners and customers, and the communities we serve.
We are developing plans with the goal of continuing to provide the highest possible level of service to our customers and owners. Specific measures include:
Close coordination and collaboration to ensure safety and wellbeing of employees, customers and communities
Cancelation of annual meetings and other meetings of large groups and limiting visits to CHS facilities
Additional use of voice, video and other technology to serve you, our customers and coordinate farm visits
Activating plans to flex employees between locations or business units to better serve you
New process and rigor for interactions with vendors, suppliers, contractors or other third parties to promote health and safety
Fully utilizing our powerful and flexible supply chain and asset base should it become necessary to deliver to or from alternate locations
As the busy spring season unfolds, we will continue to adjust as circumstances change. We don’t take this challenge lightly, but we’re committed to working through it with effective planning, communication and execution. With our talented and committed team, best-in-class assets and our values of safety and cooperative spirit, we are confident CHS will continue to deliver products and services for customers and value for owners.
Grain bins can be dangerous places. Purdue University researchers report that bin-related injuries such as entrapments, equipment entanglements and asphyxia are on the rise – more than 60 incidents occurred in the U.S. in 2018.
As part of our commitment to safety as a core value, CHS is partnering with other ag industry leaders to support Grain Bin Safety Week, Feb. 16-22. Here are the top three things you can do to promote safe practices around grain bins:
Decrease the risk of cold-weather downtime with the right diesel.
When temperatures drop, a farmer’s work doesn’t stop. Keeping equipment running at its peak during colder weather requires a watchful eye on what’s in your fuel tank.
Here’s the main problem that comes when temperatures drop: Diesel fuel hits its cloud point — the temperature at which wax crystals begin to appear in the fuel, also known as gelling. Cloud point is reached in #2 diesel fuel when fuel temperatures hit 4 to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on where you buy your fuel, says Chad Christiansen, manager of product quality and additives for CHS.
Significant increase in fall propane demand helped balance difficult market conditions
CHS reported net income of $177.9 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 that ended Nov. 30, 2019. This compares to net income of $347.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
The results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 reflect:
Revenues of $7.6 billion compared to revenues of $8.5 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
Strong supply chain performance in our propane business that was a positive contributor resulting from efficient sourcing of propane during significantly increased fall demand – brought on by unseasonably early cold and wet weather during harvest – for crop drying and home heating.
Less advantageous market conditions in our refined fuels business compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, during which the company experienced historically wide pricing spreads between Canadian crude oil and crude oil from the United States. CHS processes Canadian crude oil at its refineries in Laurel, Montana, and McPherson, Kansas.
Poor weather conditions that occurred in fiscal year 2019 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 continued to negatively impact our Ag segment’s operations, resulting in lower crop yields, poor grain quality in some areas and lower fall crop nutrients sales.
Pressure on grain volume and margins due to slow movement of grain associated with unresolved trade issues between the United States and foreign trading partners.
Decreased fertilizer volumes compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 due to a slow harvest in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020.
“We are not immune to the challenges of our industry, and our first quarter results reflect the difficulties brought on by fall weather and ongoing trade tensions,” said Jay Debertin, president and CEO of CHS Inc. “The cooperative system, however, provides CHS and its owners stability to withstand these difficult times. Our focus remains on building efficiencies in our supply chain and on operating in this challenging agricultural environment.
“During a cold and wet harvest, we leveraged our supply chain to meet the significant increase in propane needs of our owners and customers,” Debertin continued. “Our focus on meeting the needs of our owners helped deliver the successful launch of two products – Acuvant™ and Trivar™ – that will be available for spring planting.
“We know the remainder of fiscal year 2020 will continue to present challenges, and we are confident in our ability to find opportunities in those challenges, to help our owners grow their businesses and to continue to strengthen our company,” he said. “No one feels those challenges more than our owners. We remain committed to supporting communities and experts as they address the stress felt across rural America.”
First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Business Segment Results
The following segment results were reported for the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 as compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
Energy Pretax earnings of $162.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020 compared to $232.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 reflect:
Significantly less advantageous market conditions, driven primarily by decreased crude oil spreads on heavy Canadian crude oil processed at our refineries and, to a lesser extent, decreased crack spreads in our refined fuels business compared to the same period during fiscal year 2019. The decreased crude oil differentials and lower crack spreads were partially offset by favorable hedging activity in refined fuels.
The decrease in pretax income for refined fuels was partially offset by significantly improved propane margins from a late, wet crop combined with unseasonably cold weather across much of CHS service area that led to increased fall demand for crop drying and home heating compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.
Ag Pretax loss of $13.9 million compared to pretax earnings of $80.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 reflects:
Poor weather conditions in fiscal year 2019 that culminated in a late and smaller fall harvest, resulting in decreased demand for farm supplies and crop nutrient products.
Ongoing global trade tensions between the United States and foreign trading partners continued to negatively impact grain volumes and margins.
Lower margins in our processing and food ingredients business.
Nitrogen Production Pretax earnings of $16.5 million compared to pretax earnings of $23.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 reflect:
Lower equity income from our investment in CF Nitrogen, of which CHS has partial ownership, attributable to decreased market pricing of urea and urea ammonium nitrate, which are produced and sold by CF Nitrogen.
Corporate and Other Pretax earnings of $20.7 million compared to pretax earnings of $30.8 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2019 reflect:
Results primarily from lower equity income from our investments in Ardent Mills and Ventura Foods and decreased income in our financing and hedging businesses due to market-driven interest rate reductions and lower trading activity, respectively.
