Sharpening the Axe

It is a wild and crazy time to be involved in production agriculture.  Harvest delays are widespread across the corn belt which have narrowed basis levels to historic levels in many trade territories.  Corn ending stocks almost seem to be phantom as grain elevators and ethanol plants are struggling to access bushels to fill trains and continue production.  Yields are good where mother nature has not trumped our efforts and commodity and input markets can’t seem to figure out which way they want to move with foreign trade wars in play. 

Under the current economic conditions in agriculture it is critical for both your farm and Full Circle Ag to make sure we are both maximizing on our opportunities.  Your cooperative has kicked off a key initiative called “Sharpening the Axe."  This is a bottom up driven project within our cooperative focused on improving our performance in 2020.  Each of our location teams has been tasked with identifying and executing an action plan on three to four key areas that they can improve performance to support you, our member owner. 

The top asset in our organization are our employees. They are the key to the experience you have with doing business at your cooperative.  It is extremely hard to attract and retain top talent in the current climate within agriculture.  With this in mind, we are going to try a new initiative to help drive employee satisfaction while gaining efficiencies to drive more revenue to the bottom line.  FCA’s winter business hours will change to 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday effective December 2^nd.  Starting January 13^th, 2020 our agronomy only locations will transition to 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and all other locations will remain on the 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. schedule five days a week. 

I know of several other cooperatives who have had this strategy in place for several years.  Each of them feels it has provided a huge benefit in improving employee morale.  This is a key to retaining high performing employees who remain focused on supporting your operation.  Thank you for your cooperation as we evolve to help drive a better working environment for our employees while targeting a higher level of satisfaction from you our member owner.  Please call any of our management team at the main office or locations with any questions or concerns you may have. 

We want you to know that we will be here to support your operation through the good and challenging times.  Our goal continues to be your first choice for industry leading resources and knowledge.  Thank you for your business and understanding as we look for ways to support your success.

Jeff Thaler
CEO

Our Mission/Vision Statement: To be our customer's first choice for industry-leading resources and knowledge.