All prices are cents/bushel except soybean oil and corn oil which are cents/lb and soybean meal is dollars/ton.

Job Description:

COMPANY:  Farmers Grain Company of Central Illinois

SUPERVISOR:  Terry Cundall

LOCATION:  Chestnut, IL

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY STATEMENT

Responsible for implementing and providing leadership to the grain merchandising program.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Develops and implements grain merchandising programs including sales and hedging contracts, margins, bids, and open grain positions

Establishes and communicates storage and drying rates and basic contracts

Determines daily bids, selects best bids and monitors competitive bids

Assists with the development and implementation of grain origination marketing plans

Communicates and coordinates with elevator managers to ensure adequate quantity and quality of inventories to meet merchandising goals

Maintains consolidated daily position and other grain related records

Ensures regulatory compliance

OTHER JOB FUNCTIONS

Performs all other duties as assigned

REQUIREMENTS

Normally requires a college degree, preferably in Ag Economics, Ag Marketing or Agri-Business or the equivalent thereof

Demonstrates essential abilities including business knowledge, collaboration, communication, customer focus, decision making and skill development

Must have and maintain a valid driver’s license and clean driving record

Must have the ability to travel independently and overnight when necessary

Must be willing to work extended hours beyond those considered “normal”

Occasionaly lift lbs

Occasionally performs work in extreme weather conditions (hot, cold, wet, etc.)

Occasionally performs duties around noisy conditions

Working conditions may include dust, fumes, chemicals, and electrical hazards with appropriate safety measures

CASE STUDY – COURTESY OF GRAIN JOURNAL

ILLINOIS RAIL LOADER TAKES THE GUESSWORK OUT OF ORIGIN WEIGHTS

Farmers Grain Co. of Central Illinois installed a new CompuWeigh 30,bph bulk weigh loadout scale, shown above, under the control of a CompuWeigh GMS automation system, at Chestnut, IL.

Farmers Grain Co. of Central Illinois in the village of Chestnut isn’t the largest rail loader on the Canadian National (CN/formerly Illinois Central) system. The million-bushel elevator situated between State Highway 54 and a CN branch line has enough rail siding available to load up to 25 covered hopper cars at a time.

Nevertheless, improvements could be made, even at a relatively small rail operation. The biggest improvement sought at Chestnut was accurate weights on railcars headed for major livestock feeders in the southwestern states.

“It was all guesswork,” says General Manager Ryan Edwards. “We had some idea of the weight we were putting on railcars headed south, but just in the first half of , we were hit twice with penalties for overloads at the CN pull-over in Centreville (IL). We didn’t have any underloads, but you get penalized for those, too. We didn’t want to do that again.”

The solution was to install a bulk weigh loadout scale capable of providing origin weights. Farmers Grain looked at two different bulkweighers popular in the industry before settling on a 30,bph model manufactured by CompuWeigh Corp., Woodbury, CT (), under the control of the company’s GMS bulk weigh scale control system.

The bulkweigher was installed in July and empties onto an existing 30,bph overhead belt conveyor running out to a two-story, trackside loadout tower. The upper story houses the CompuWeigh controls through which the operator can load railcars using a two-way spout. Grain inspectors can use the lower level to determine origin grades.

All in the Software Edwards says Farmers Grain made its selection based on the GMS automation system. “The physical bulkweigher isn’t all that much different from one brand to another,” he comments. “The CompuWeigh software had a few more features that we liked.”

In particular, Edwards was impressed with the CompuWeigh SmartLoad system. This software module allows the bulkweigher to run while the next railcar is brought into position by preloading the weigh hopper and the lower garner. “That allows us to fill the bulkweigher on the fly and speeds up the loading processh” he says.

The company opted not to install an RF tag reader. Edwards says he didn’t think it was necessary loading only 25 cars at a time.

However, he likes the GMS access to a national railcar database maintained by the Association of American Railroads, which is updated coninually with load capacity information on each railcar.

Edwards says that with the new bulkweigher, it takes about four hours to load a car train. The CN allows 24 hours starting from the midnight after placement to load a train before applying demurrage.

Ed Zdrojewski, editor

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Grain and Feed Association of Illinois (GFAI) elected the following members as new area directors at their th Annual Convention in February: Derrick Bruhn of Topflight Ag Cooperative in Monticello, Ill., has been elected as a new East-Area Director. Dustin Loseke of The Scoular Company in Waverly, Ill., has been elected as a new West-Area Director.

The following area directors have been re-elected: Dan Mickey of Central Grain Co. in Belvidere, Illinois as North-Area Directors; Kevin Hartkemeyer of Top Ag Cooperative, Inc in Okaville, Illinois as South-Area Director; Mark Heil of Prairie Central Cooperative in Chenoa, Illinois has been re-elected as an At-Large Director.

Following the Annual Business Meeting, the GFAI Board elected members to the Executive Committee. Mike Rumbold of Rumbold & Kuhn, Inc. in Wyoming, Illinois will serve as President. Former President Jeff Brooks of Grainland Cooperative in Eureka, Illinois will serve as Chairman of the Executive Committee. The following were also elected to the Executive Committee: Kent Sorrels of Sorrells Elevator in Raymond, Illinois as First Vice President; and Eric Wuthrich of Farmers Grain Company of Roseville in Roseville, Illinois as Second Vice President. Terry Bline of Roanoke Farmers Association in Roanoke, Illinois, and Jeffrey Adkisson of GFAI will remain as Secretary and Executive Vice President & Treasurer, respectively.

Rumbold, who is President of Rumbold & Kuhn, Inc. in Wyoming, Illinois has been elected to guide the association that represents more than 90% of commercial grain storage in the State of Illinois. “It’s an honor to serve as President of an organization that is committed to helping the grain handling and feed industries in Illinois,” said Rumbold. “I hope to serve as a strong voice while we work with others to solve challenges and advance the industry.”

In addition to welcoming new members of the Executive Committee, Matt Lurkins, Executive Director of Grain at GROWMARK, Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois was appointed as a new Alliance Director. The following Alliance Directors have been re-appointed: Jeff Carpenter of StoneX in Champaign, Illinois; Ben Knapp of Dunbar, Breitweiser, & Co. LLP in Bloomington, Illinois; and Scott Swartzendruber of Commerce Bank in Bloomington, Illinois. Mission Statement: “To represent, promote and advance the common interests of a viable grain and feed industry through an involved and informed membership.”

The Grain & Feed Association of Illinois is the statewide trade association for the grain and feed industry in Illinois. Membership consists of country and terminal grain elevators, feed dealers, feed manufacturers, grain brokers, truckers and both corn and soybean processors as well as companies who provide goods and services to the industry.

— Grain & Feed Association of Illinois

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