Agriculture & Industry Progress 2011

By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

About two decades ago, BobLebacken figured there was abetter way to market his cropsthan simply selling them offthe combine, so he decided toexplore other marketing op-tions.The more Lebacken learned

about marketing tools, themore interesting he found itand he decided to get a Series3 commodity trader’s license.He worked for Benson Quinnfor about a dozen years until itmerged with ADM InvestorServices, and then, in 2002founded RML Trading LLC.Lebacken, an introducing bro-ker, clears trades with ADM In-vestor Services.Now Lebacken together with

RML Trading LLC account ex-ecutives Terry Fitchner andBrad Lucke help farmers andranchers market their crops orlivestock.“We give farmers advice and

opinions on the markets, helpfarmers look at markets,”Lebacken said. He and his staffstrive to give farmers bothshort- and long-termmarketperspectives and which mar-keting tools may be advanta-geous to use.“With the volatility in the

markets we are finding some ofthe strategies can be more ad-vantageous than cash contractsat the elevator or just selling

off of the combine.” RML Trad-ing LLC provides farmers andranchers who aren’t familiarwith marketing techniques in-formation.“We want to make sure they

understand if they’re new toit.” Understanding the marketsis important because produc-ers still make the ultimate de-cision about how to markettheir grain, he noted.

ClientsMost of RML Trading LLC’s

clients live in North Dakotaand Minnesota, but some alsoare in other areas of theUnited States.“Business has been gradu-

ally growing,” Lebacken said.Besides doing daily market up-dates on the radio, RML Trad-ing LLC also holds an annualmarket outlook seminar, whichfeatures national speakers, hesaid.Most of today’s agricultural

producers view marketing asan integral part of their farm-ing operation, Lebacken said.Volatile markets and a globaleconomy have increased theneed to do more sophisticatedmarketing than years ago whenfarmers chose to either storethe grain or sell it off the com-bine.“There is more of a need

and desire to do more…. I re-member 10 years ago, when thewheat markets would move 50

cents a year. Now we get that ina day.”RML Trading LLC has a staff

member on call so farmers canget in touch with them after theU.S. markets close at the end of

the day, Lebacken said.“With virtually around-the-

clock trading, the phone is for-warded to one of us,” he said.“We get calls at night and weput in orders.”

Given the variability in themarket, being a broker is chal-lenging.

“It can be awfully frustrat-ing some days. It can be aw-fully fun some days.”

Agriculture Industry 2011& ProgressJanuary 23, 2011

GSection

Eric Hylden, staff photographer

�� Bob Lebacken is the president of RML Trading LLC in Grand Forks.

Good advice � Bob Lebacken and staff strive togive farmers both short- and long-

term market perspectives

Produced by the Grand Forks Herald’s Features team

�� VanceTaylor ispresidentand generalmanager ofthe NorthDakota Mill.

Photo by Ann Bailey

Photo by Ann Bailey

‘Record year’� High cost of fertilizer, precision technology

create demand for Agvise’s servicesBy Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

NORTHWOOD, N.D. –Increasing numbers offarmers are sampling theirsoils, and that’s good newsfor Agvise Laboratories inNorthwood. “This year was another

record year for us,” saidJohn Lee, Agvise Laborato-ries vice president. “Therewere days this fall when wereceived more than 4,500samples a day.” He and BobDeutsch, Agvise Laborato-ries president, attribute theincreased interest in soiltesting to the high cost offertilizer and precisiontechnology that allowsfarmers to pinpoint exactlywhat fertilizers are neededin a particular area of thefield.Crop consultants, farm-

ers, agronomists and fertil-izer and chemicalcompanies use the soil test-

ing services of Agvise. Oncethey determine which nu-trients are lacking, farmerscan apply fertilizers to im-prove them and, hopefully,increase yields.Agvise Laboratories,

which became an em-ployee-owned company in1997, also tests soil samplesfor universities and corpo-rations. The laboratory em-ploys about 30 people,full-time in Northwood and15, at its Benson, Minn., lo-cation.

Busy daysOnce the crop is off in the

fall, soil testing gets intofull swing. “It gets later and later as

more row crops come intothe area,” Lee said. Weather conditions also

play a big part in the soiltesting schedule.“Just like the farmers, it’s

a very weather-dependent

business.”Agvise’s Midwest loca-

tion, its track record of pro-viding accurate samplesand the technical supportits employees provide cus-tomers have helped it tobuild up its business, Leeand Deutsch, said. Besides testing soil sam-

ples, Agvise also analyzesplants, including corn, soy-beans, potatoes and wheatto determine what nutri-ents they lack. “Plant analysis has

gained tremendously,”Deutsch said. This monthpotato tissue samples fromthe southern United Statesare arriving at Agvise Labo-ratories. The laboratories hopes to

have an even better year in2011. Plans are to convertwarehouse space into labo-ratory space.“By next year, we should

be able to do about 20 per-cent more,” Deutsch said.

�� Agvise President Bob Deutsch (left) and Agvise Vice President John Lee at AgviseLaboratories in Northwood, N.D.

Flour power� The North Dakota Mill reportedrecord profits of $13.18 million in

fiscal year 2010

By Ann BaileyHerald Staff Writer

The North Dakota Mill is lookingforward to another good year.“We had another good quarter

for the first quarter of fiscal year2011,” said Vance Taylor, NorthDakota Mill president and generalmanager. Profits for the first quar-ter of fiscal year, 2011 were $2.75million, he said.“Market conditions are good for

the state mill,” Taylor said.The North Dakota Mill re-

ported record profits of $13.18 mil-lion in fiscal year 2010. Thatamount is more than double theprevious record of $6.2 million thatthe mill posted in 2006. About 90 percent of the mill’s

business is sales of wheat flourand 10 percent is pasta sales. One of the main reasons that the

mill’s profits increased in fiscalyear 2010 was a 13.2 percent in-crease in flour shipments, Taylorsaid. The mill shipped 10.8 millionhundredweight of flour during fis-cal year 2010. Flour shipments so far this fiscal

year are 10 percent above lastyear’s shipments for the same pe-riod, Taylor said.“We’ve seen a good, solid de-

mand for our spring wheat anddurum products.”

GrowthThe increase in flour shipments

is the result of North Dakota Millplant expansions during the pastdecade, which have increasedplant capacity, Taylor said. Thetotal capacity of the mill’s sevenunits is 3.5 million pounds of flourper day. The mill’s flours, which in-clude white, whole wheat andwhite wheat, are shipped to bak-eries and bakery distributersacross the United States, but thebulk of the customers are on theEast Coast, Taylor said. The mill’sbiggest market is in New York City. The mill also sells 5- 10- and 25-

pound bags of flour, bread ma-chine mixes, two kinds of pancakemixes, 5-pound bags of whitewhole wheat flour and 5-poundbags of organic spring wheat flourin area grocery stores, The markets for organic flour

and white wheat are growing, Tay-lor said. The mill buys its whitewheat flour from farmers via theDakota Pride Co-op.“We’ve been growing that pro-

gram for five, six years,” he said.Reach Bailey at (701) 787-6753;

(800) 477-6572, ext. 753; or send e-mail to [email protected].

By Nancy BartleyThe Seattle Times

SEATTLE– After 70-some years and four gener-ations of milking cows inWashington’s SnohomishValley, the Bartelheimerswere the latest in a longlist of dairy families whohave called it quits. Butthe long, low barns hadbeen empty for less than aweek last month when thecows came home again.Today, the dairy is in op-

eration as one of fourrented locations Jeremyand Jerald Visser areusing to expand their herd.The Bartelheimers sold

off 750 mature cows, someto the Vissers, and leasedthe dairy to the family. As aresult, the Bartelheimerspaid off debt and madetheir mortgage payments,and owner Dale Bartel-heimer, 73, was able to re-tire.It’s tough to make a liv-

ing in the dairy businessthese days, but those thatfind economical ways togrow have a better chanceof surviving, said NedZaugg, Washington StateUniversity Extension’sdairy expert.The Vissers – son Je-

remy and father Jerald –believe the arrangementwill be beneficial by givingthem a place to expandtheir herd (and thereforepotential profit) withoutthe costs of land owner-ship.Most Washington dairies

are family-operated, anumber of them by peoplesuch as the Bartelheimersand Vissers, who havebeen in the business forgenerations.

HeadwindsBut the high cost of feed,

the low price of milk meanthe family-owned dairy is adying breed.When Zaugg came to the

Northwest in 1993, Sno-homish and Skagit coun-ties each had more than100 dairies. Strict state en-vironmental rules were im-plemented in 1997. Nowthere are about 25 in each,he said.“It is a crisis,” he said.Dairy farms also affect

nearby towns, he said. De-pending on the economy,every 100 cows represent$1 million to $2 million inincome to surroundingcommunities, Zaugg said.Towns near a dairy oftenare small and have bene-fited from the dairy fami-lies’ involvement for years.“These people are the

salt of the earth,” he said.“They work hard; theydon’t complain about it.They appreciate naturalresources because that’stheir livelihood. These arethe communities wherethey raise their children.”The Visser family came

from The Netherlands inthe early 1900s and settledon the farm in Sumas,Wash., where JeremyVisser, 33, lives today withhis wife and 2-year-old son.In 1999, the dairy was

about to go under. That’swhen Jeremy went intopartnership with his fa-ther, Jerald, and made anambitious plan to expandtheir operation. Theybegan leasing other prop-erties – one in WhatcomCounty and now two inSnohomish, and expandedthe herd from 140 to 3,000today.With a bigger herd

comes increased responsi-bilities and risks, Vissersaid: “I can’t afford tomake mistakes.”

Getting realHe also has a far more

sober view of dairying thanhe did 11 years ago whenhe jumped into the busi-

ness full of optimism.The year 2009 was the

worst for the dairy indus-try, he said. That’s whenmilk prices dropped totheir lowest, $11.76 forabout 12 gallons, while theprice of feed remainedhigh. Local dairies werepaid $14.20 for the sameamount of milk in 2005, andthe rate today is about $15,Visser said.Feed prices are high for

several reasons. Prime lo-cally grown hay is shippedto lucrative markets over-seas – Saudi Arabia, forexample, Bartelheimersaid. That makes availablehay more expensive.Alfalfa, corn and soy

beans are all part of acow’s diet, and corn pricesare high now, too, Vissersaid, because it’s in de-mand for ethanol.“Unfortunately for a lot

of agriculture, when onedoes well, another pays thepenalty,” Zaugg said. “Noman is an island when itcomes to this picture.”The Bartelheimers, who

came from Germany in theearly 1900s and moved toSnohomish after a stop inNebraska, wouldn’t havebeen able to stay on theland had a tenant not beenfound, said Jason Bartel-heimer, 39.“For the last two years

we’ve been losing money,”he said. “The dairy econ-omy went with the rest ofthe economy.”

PassionJason Bartelheimer can’t

remember wanting to beanything but a dairyman.While attending the Uni-versity of Washington, heskipped so many classes towork on the farm that heeventually left college.When he married, hebrought his wife to thefarm, and they’re raisingtheir four children in thesame way he was raised,

being welcome in the barn“as soon as you’re oldenough to push a wheel-barrow.”Bartelheimer is doing

what many dairymen aredoing in order to stay ontheir farms: He’s planning

to make farmstead cheese,and he bought 42 calvesfrom the herd his fathersold. He’s taken cheese-making classes and prac-ticed in the farmhousekitchen.Bartelheimer says he

knows it will take time tomake money in the cheesebusiness and that he’llhave to find another job inthe interim.His friends jokingly tell

him he needs a night job tosupport his “farminghabit.”That’s a passion Visser

understands. He, too, left

college to return to thedairy. He doubts his chil-dren (the second is duenext month) will be thefifth generation in thedairy business.“They’ll find smarter

ways of making money,” hesaid. “But it’s a wonderfullifestyle for families.”

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PROGRESS: AG & INDUSTRYG2 www.GrandForksHerald.com Grand Forks Herald, Sunday, January 23, 2011

�� Jason Bartelheimer walks through the main barn at his family’s SnohomishValley Dairy on in Snohomish, Wash. The building has been leased to another dairyfarmer as Bartelheimer is trying cheese making over running the farm.

McClatchy Tribune

Leases let dairy farmers keep land, escape punishing industry“Unfortunately for a lot of agriculture,when one does well, another pays the

penalty. No man is an island whencomes to this picture.”

Ned ZauggWashington State University Extension’s dairy expert

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Land rolling use hassteadily increased, espe-cially on soybean fields inthe Upper Midwest duringthe past few years. Thepractice began in Canadaseveral years ago, gainedsteam in North Dakota andNorthwest Minnesotawhere it has become rou-tine, and now has spreadinto Southern Minnesotaand some areas in Iowa.

Do rolled fieldsbenefit atharvest? The essential concern or

need to use a land roller isto push down rocks, break-down residue and level theground for harvest, andsubsequently reduce grainand yield losses. The ideais that rolling makes com-bining beans faster andeasier, and there is lesschance of picking up rocksor corn root clumps whichcan damage guards, sicklesections or expensive in-ternal combine parts. Some of these problems

or challenges are legiti-mate, but they are not dom-inant in every field orlandscape, given other eco-nomic and environmentalrisks involved with using aland roller. The economicbenefits of such practicehave been difficult to doc-ument, especially in yieldadvantage, seed quality orseed loss. The cost of purchasing a

land roller depends on its

size. The approximatecosts, as provided by someequipment dealers, canrange in price from $17,000for a 20-footer, $32,000 for a45-footer, and $65,000 forthe 85-foot model. Customland rolling rates canrange from $3 per acre to$10 per acre, averaging$6.55 per acre, according toIowa State’s 2010 IowaFarm Custom Rate Survey. Research on using a land

roller in Iowa and Min-nesota showed no yield ad-vantage in soybeans withrolling at different timesand growth stages. Suchdata suggests costs are notcovered by additionalyield.

Impact on soil andwater quality is aconcern Using a land roller dur-

ing early spring and formultiple times (i.e., beforeand after planting) can cre-ate significant soil surfacecompaction, destroy soilsurface aggregates and de-tach residue leading to apotential increase in soilerosion (see picturesbelow). Preliminary re-search from Iowa StateUniversity documents thatland rolling a field re-duced water infiltration.Reduced infiltration leadsto increased surface runoffafter rain events. The find-ings show a significant de-crease in water infiltrationby over three times therate of control (non-rolledplots). This is a one year

evaluation and researchwill continue in 2011. Degradation of soil and

water quality is not only aproblem in the short-term,but also has a long-termimpact. Potential nutrientloss of phosphorous and ni-trogen is also a concern,especially in the springwhere a significant num-ber of rain events andamounts are received inthe Midwest region. Inorder to reduce surfacerunoff, conservation prac-tices that reduce soil com-paction (i.e., maintainingan intact residue cover)are essential to protect oursoil and sustain our waterand environment quality.Regardless of the tillagesystem that the land rollerwill be used on, landrolling can destroy soilbenefits associated withno-till or add additionaldamage if used on conven-tionally tilled ground,where intensive tillage has

already destroyed soilstructure. The University of Min-

nesota researchers ob-served that land rollingmay raise the risk of seal-ing the soil surface duringrain events, which can leadto ponding, as was alsofound in Iowa. The conse-quences of reducing waterinfiltration into the soilprofile increases the po-tential for surface runoffand loss of top soil and nu-trients by erosion, therebyreducing crop productivityand yield. Also, compactedsoil surface may lead towet soil surface conditionsthat can have other effects,such as an increase in soilborn disease, especially inpoorly drained soils, asfound in a majority of Min-nesota and northern Iowafields. The Minnesota andIowa findings confirmedearlier research by NorthDakota State University.Research in 2003 and 2004

from North Dakota StateUniversity concluded thatno yield loss from landrolling is observed, but in-jury levels go up if rollingwas delayed until the firsttrifoliate stage, whenplants are three to fourinches tall. Farmers’ desire to in-

crease harvest-ability bypushing down rocks andcorn root balls should becarefully balanced withthe long-term effects ofrolling on soil quality andwater resources. Potentialeffects on surface soil com-paction as well as addi-tional time, fuel andmachinery cost of landrolling need to be consid-ered since yield advantageor harvest loss from usingthis practice seems incon-sistent at best. Earlier re-search shows that if thebeans are standing welland the combine is prop-erly adjusted, stubble cutloss is less than one bushel

per acre, and should becloser to half a bushel. There are a lot of good

alternative technologies toadjust and calibrate thecombine correctly andmanage residue and otherfarming challenges. If theissue is to remove rocksfrom the field, then thismay not be the most effi-cient solution. Pushingrocks into the soil is ashort-term solution, espe-cially when fields will betilled again the followingseason and the rocksbrought back to the soilsurface. The bottom line is that

while the use of a landroller may provide somecomfort and “peace ofmind,” and may reducecombine breakdown insome fields, it also carriesrisks and potential impactsto soil and water quality inthe short as well as in thelong-term.

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Land roller use: challenges and benefits

By Ryan HowardFergus Falls Daily Journal,Minn.

Buffalo are big business.Around the country, de-

mand has been heating upfor bison meat, a healthy,low-fat beef alternative.However, the amount ofbison in North America isstill low, with only about92,000 head processed inthe continent last year(less than one day’s worthof beef processing).The result? Prices are

rising, and buffalo ranch-ers are working hard tokeep up.That’s certainly the case

for Buffalo Pass Ranch, abison business owned bythe Tuel family in FergusFalls. In fact, said DennisTuel Sr., business has beenso good that the companywas forced to change busi-ness models.The company originally

sold its own brand of buf-falo meat at stores in sevendifferent states. Last year,demand became so greatthat stores couldn’t be sup-plied fast enough, so Buf-falo Pass decided to sellbreeding stock instead.Even now, said Tuel, de-

mand for the young buffalois such that “they’re prima-rily sold before they’reborn.”The Tuels own about 200

head of cattle, some in Fer-gus Falls and most on alarger piece of propertynear Long Lake. The fam-ily has kept buffalo since1991. Buffalo Pass mighthave expanded, said Tuel,but there’s just no room.“We have enough ani-

By David RunkAssociated Press

DETROIT – An effort tofight an invasive plant withinsects that eat it hasdrawn opposition frombeekeepers who worry itwill leave them without anadequate source of nectarand pollen for their honey-bees.Researchers in Michigan

released bugs that feed onspotted knapweed earlierthis year. Western statesand big honey producers,such as Minnesota andWisconsin, previously usedso-called biological controlto help restrain the flower-ing plant, which produceschemicals that deter thegrowth of other plants andcrowds out native vegeta-tion.

ConnectionIt’s not clear why Michi-

gan beekeepers are so wor-ried about knapweedcontrol when those inother states haven’t beenas much. Some in the in-dustry speculated Michi-gan beekeepers may relyon knapweed more for nec-tar and pollen than thosein other states. Regardless,Michigan is among the na-tion’s top 10 honey produc-ers and the home ofbeekeepers who ship hivesas far as Florida and Cali-fornia to pollinate or-chards and fields.Beekeepers argue that ifthey’re hurt, the farmerswho rely on them will suf-fer too.“If it wasn’t for this

plant, we wouldn’t even behere,” said Kirk Jones, the57-year-old founder ofSleeping Bear Farms inthe northwest LowerPeninsula community ofBeulah. If knapweed con-trol efforts prove success-

ful, he said: “It could bedetrimental to the futureof the beekeeping indus-try.“The dispute between the

state and its beekeepers ishappening amid a massivedie-off of bees nationwide.Colony collapse disorderhas killed about 30 percentof the nation’s bees eachyear since it was recog-nized in 2006, according toa report the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture re-leased Friday. The beesare crucial for the produc-tion of 130 crops worthmore than $15 billion ayear, it said.Michigan officials said

they’re keenly aware of the

importance beekeepersplace on knapweed, whichblooms in late July andearly August when manyother plants aren’t flower-ing. As part of the knap-weed fight, they’re lookingat what kinds of nativeflowers could be planted toreplace it – both to sus-tain bees and improve thediversity of wildflowersstatewide.“It’s not an attempt to

take away a resource thatbeekeepers find valuable,but to replace it with onethat might have more func-tionality,” said KenRauscher, director of thepesticide and plant pestmanagement division for

the Michigan Departmentof Agriculture, whichworked with federal offi-cials to oversee the releaseof knapweed-eating bugs.

Knapweed noteasy to replaceBeekeepers, however,

are skeptical about otherflowers’ ability to do thejob.Spotted knapweed, also

known as starthistle, wasintroduced in the U.S. fromEurope in the late 1800s. Itwas brought over acciden-tally, either in contami-nated seed or ships’ ballastwater, according to theU.S. Department of Agri-

culture. The plant hasbeen seen in Michigan forat least a century but hasspread more vigorously inthe past two decades. Itthrives in sandy soils, suchas dunes, and in formerfarm fields, along roadsand in prairies.Many beekeepers have

set up shop near large ex-panses of knapweed, saidRoger Hoopingarner, pres-ident of the Michigan Bee-keepers Association. Itsloss, and a subsequent lossof bees, would hurt honeyproduction, but the biggereffect would come from nothaving bees to pollinatefruit and vegetable crops,he said.Michigan is second only

to California in the diver-sity of crops it producesand is among is among thenation’s leaders in the pro-duction of red tart cher-ries, apples andblueberries – all of whichneed pollination.“If spotted knapweed

goes away and there isnothing that will replace it,then some of these bee-keepers . . . will just leavethe state,” Hoopingarnersaid. “They go now to Cali-fornia or other states forpollination, and they won’tcome back because therewill be no incentive tocome back.”

ChallengesTwo knapweed-eating

flies were released inMichigan in the 1990s, butthose don’t appear to havecurbed its spread,Rauscher said. So in Au-gust, researchers releasedtwo types of weevils onstate land in five counties.Scientists in other stateshave found success inkilling off knapweed with acombination of flies and

weevils.Michigan officials don’t

expect to wipe out knap-weed; the hope is to pare itback. Doug Landis, aMichigan State Universityprofessor who specializesin biological control, isworking with the state onthe project. He said replac-ing knapweed with otherflowers is a must becauseof the way Michigan bee-keepers use the plant.“That will maintain the

nectar flow,” Landis said.Terry Klein, 70, of TM

Klein and Sons Honey inSt. Charles, has about 1,000colonies of bees in centralMichigan. He said he fearsthe economically-troubledstate won’t have the re-sources needed to fully re-plant areas whereknapweed is killed off. Theburden will be on bee-keepers, who will have toraise the prices theycharge Michigan farmersfor pollination, he said.“To me, it’s a double-

whammy,” Klein said.“Costing Michigan jobs.Costing our status as afruit-growing state.”The pilot project will be

evaluated over the nextyear or two, and Michiganofficials don’t expect to re-lease more insects untilthat is done, Rauschersaid. Even if the project isexpanded, it could be 10 to15 years before the bugshave a substantial impacton the presence of knap-weed, leaving time for bee-keepers to adjust, he said.And, the Michigan Bee-

keepers’ Hoopingarneradded, even if Michigandoesn’t introduce morebugs, they could eventuallyspread there from sur-rounding states wherethey’re used to controlknapweed.

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Efforts to kill invasive plant worry beekeepers

Associated Press

�� Beekeeper Terry Klein, 70, of TM Klein and Sons Honey, is shown next to a beehive packed in straw and sheltered for the winter in a barrel on his property in St.Charles, Mich. Klein is one of many Michigan beekeepers worried that efforts tocombat an invasive plant that is crowding out native vegetation could leave themwithout a key source of nectar and pollen that helps keep their honeybeesproductive and healthy.

Demand high forbuffalo in Fergus Falls

BISON: See Page G5

By Sheryl JeanThe Dallas Morning News

DALLAS– Chris Gay isout to change the auto in-surance industry.He launched MileMeter

in 2008 as the nation’s onlycompany to offer pay-by-the-mile auto insurancewithout using a vehicle-tracking device. The on-line-only company islicensed to provide insur-ance in Texas, but it’s onthe verge of expanding intoother states and offeringmore options.Gay came up with the

idea after a bad insuranceexperience when his carwas hit by another driverin 2004.Mileage-based insurance

has been around for abouta decade, but it’s been slowto spread.That’s changing: About

10 auto insurers haveadded or started testingpay-as-you-go policies inthe past two years. Suchpolicies are now offered inabout 35 states by insurerssuch as Progressive, Amer-ican Family and GMAC In-surance.Nearly two-thirds of U.S.

households would payabout $270 less per carunder a mileage-based in-surance program, accord-ing to a report by theBrookings Institution.Gay calls MileMeter the

“anti-insurance insurancecompany.”Customers pay in ad-

vance for up to 6,000 milesat a time and can buy moreonline if needed.MileMeter rates are

based on customer-sup-plied odometer photos,age, home location and ve-

hicle type but not creditscores or driving habits.The theory is that insur-

ance companies can offerlower rates to people whoseldom drive and aredeemed less risky.

Drive less, paylessInsurers say mileage-

based coverage is bestsuited for retirees and col-lege students who don’t

drive much, people whouse mass transit but need aweekend car, businesstravelers who fly a lot andfamilies with an extra carthey drive only occasion-ally.Alex Hageli, director of

personal lines for theProperty Casualty InsurersAssociation of America, at-tributes the increased in-terest to more advancedtechnology and the time ittakes to build a system tomonitor and analyze data.Mileage-based insurance

is “the next big thing,”Hageli said. “It’s one morestep toward getting themost accurate picture ofthe level of risk a driverrepresents for insurers.”One in four Progressive

customers sign up for itspay-as-you-drive program,said Richard Hutchinson,general manager of usage-based insurance. Hewouldn’t disclose customernumbers or say whetherthe program is profitablebut said the company iscommitted to expanding itto more states.Ohio-based Progressive

was first to try mileage-based pricing and now of-fers it in 25 states. Itspricing also includes timesof day driven and drivingbehavior collected by a de-vice under a car’s steeringcolumn.Gay, a former systems an-

alyst software programmer,wrote the code for MileMe-ter in 2004. He also raised$260,000 in seed capitaland won Texas regulatoryapproval.But by late 2007, chief

executive Gay nearly shutdown the company duringthe financial crisis. Then,

he received a phone callthat saved it: MileMeterwon Amazon.com’s start-upcontest, which helped at-tract $7.65 million in capi-tal from Compass GlobalFund.Today, MileMeter has

several thousand cus-tomers, said Gay, 34. Hewouldn’t disclose revenuebut said the eight-em-ployee company is prof-itable on underwriting.

SavingsMost MileMeter cus-

tomers drive less than thenational average of 12,000miles a year and pay about$200 a year for insurance,Gay said. The Texas aver-age is $854 a year for liabil-ity, collision andcomprehensive coverage.“It’s been great,” said

Rebecca Jackson, aMileMeter customer for 18months. “I (fly) 95 percentof the time for work, so Ihave a 3-year-old car with15,000 miles. I can pay forwhat I need.”Jackson, who lives in

Dallas and drives up to

4,000 miles a year, nowpays about $600 a year forfull coverage that used tocost her $1,400 through adifferent insurance com-pany.MileMeter’s rates be-

come less competitive as acustomer adds more milesor coverage. For example,2,000 miles at the lowest li-ability level costs $89.60 forsix months. The price in-creases to $326.40 for 6,000miles.MileMeter recently re-

ceived $2.1 million inbridge financing – interimfinancing provided untilthe next major private eq-uity funding – from Com-pass and companymanagement to hire andexpand, Gay said.Next year, the company

plans to offer a mobile ap-plication, explore newproducts and enter Califor-nia, the largest U.S. autoinsurance market, after alaw was passed there lastyear allowing price-per-mile coverage, he said.So far, State Farm and

mals for the amount ofland we have now,” hesaid. “The amount of landis the limiting factor.”While Tuel hesitated to

say that business was thebest it’s ever been, he didsay that it was definitelydoing well. It all dependson the market.“There’s a huge fluctua-

tions in the price of ani-mals because there’s nosteady stream of supply,”he said.Right now, however, the

bison at Buffalo PassRanch are going for about$1,000 a head.“It’s a viable business,”

remarked Tuel.Tuel believes buffalo are

actually easier to raisethan cows.“They’re a lot more

hardy, and they eat a lot

less,” he explained.The animals do have

their downsides. Unlikecows, they are very wildand even potentially dan-gerous, and they cannotgive birth until they are 3years old, as opposed to 2years old for cows.But, Tuel added, they

will also be able to bearyoung for more years thana cow.“The animals themselves

will have babies untilthey’re 25 years old,” hesaid.Bison fans say the meat

doesn’t taste gamy – it hasa rich, beefy flavor but is alittle sweeter. Since it’s solean, chefs say preparing itproperly requires slowercooking over lower heatthan beef. They say steaksshouldn’t be cooked pastmedium or medium rare.Those who prefer meatwell done might want to trya bison pot roast.

South Dakota, Montana,North Dakota, Nebraskaand Colorado are the topbison states, but the ani-mals are raised in all 50,Carter said, including aherd on the Big Island ofHawaii and one on Long Is-land in New York.The U.S. Department of

Agriculture counted about4,500 ranches and farmswith nearly 200,000 bisonin the U.S. in its 2007 Cen-sus of Agriculture. Thetotal North American herd,which includes animals instate and national parks, isestimated at 450,000, com-pared with fewer than1,000 a little over a centuryago.CNN founder Ted Turner

is the world’s largest bisonrancher with about 55,000head. He co-founded theTed’s Montana Grill chainin 2002 to help popularizethe meat, and it now sellsabout 1.5 million pounds of

bison a year, about 40 per-cent of its annual sales ofabout $100 million, chiefexecutive and co-founderGeorge McCarrow Jr. said.The chain’s bison burg-

ers typically run $12 to $15,or $3 more than the sameburgers made from beef.When the Atlanta-basedcompany raised prices by$1 earlier this year, cus-tomers kept forking it out.

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MARKETING & INVESTMENTS

Mark your calendars for February 2nd, 2011 and join us for our annual meeting. Look for more information as the date approaches or contact RML Trading LLC with questions.

Speakers will begin at 2:00p.m., going until approximately 5:00p.m.

MARKET ANALYSIS

AG COMMENTARY

Speakers will begin at 2:00 p.m. and go until approximately 5:00p.m.

A sandwich bar and social will follow.

Returning for his 5th year, is Senior Vice President of Research at ADMIS, Steve Freed. RML looks forward to having Steve back and hearing his insight and analysis of the upcoming grain markets.

WEATHER OUTLOOKProviding his outlook for 2011 weather patterns is the CEO and Founder of Meridian Environmental Technology, Inc., Leon Osborne. Leon has been a leader in the fields of research and teaching in atmospheric science. For the past decade Mr. Osborne has lead Meridian Environmental Technology to become one of the premier applied and research technology companies involving advanced weather and information technology solutions.

RML is excited to bring John Phipps to the annual meeting for the first time. Along with managing a family farm, John is the host of the nationally recognized U.S. Farm Report. John brings a thoughtful and humorous approach to the Ag community that you may have seen in The Farm Journal (John’s World) and Top Producer (Perspective).

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**IF YOU OR YOUR COMPANY IS INTERESTED IN BEING A SPONSOR OF THIS EVENT CONTACT ANN AT 701-775-1008**

R001542577


Continued from Page G4BISON/

Pay-by-the-mile auto insurance begins to catch on

McClatchy Tribune

�� Chris Gay, founder and CEO of MileMeter Inc.,poses with his 1996 Volvo wagon insured by hiscompany in Dallas. MileMeter bases insurance rateson the number of miles driven.

AUTO: See Page G6

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the Automobile Club ofSouthern California havefiled with California regu-lators to offer policiesunder the new law. Theirapplications are under re-view.Gay also is exploring

other options, such asother states and talkingwith multiple insurers tolicense MileMeter’s tech-nology in new markets.This summer, MileMeter

won a $1.4 million federalgrant under a national pro-gram to relieve road con-gestion caused by 250million cars, including 18million in Texas. MileMe-ter will gain $1.25 millionin revenue and 6,000 newcustomers to track underthe program, Gay said.MileMeter still faces ex-

pansion barriers, such asfunding, increased compe-tition and state regula-tions, but Gay isundeterred.“We’ve proven that cus-

tomers want it and that it’sprofitable,” he said. “Theindustry is trying to playcatch-up to where we arenow.”

Continued from Page G5AUTO/Diversification allows regional family

seed company to continue to see growthBy Tom ChervenyWest Central Tribune,Willmar, Minn.

MURDOCK, Minn. –The farm fields north ofMurdock lie fallow andsnow-covered, but the win-ter scene is anything butquiet.There’s a drum beat of

hammers at the Falk SeedFarm, where a warehouseand adjoining loading dockare under construction. Byspring, the site, which isabout the size of a footballfield, will be stacked withbags of seeds reaching to-ward a towering rooftop.Most of the seeds are des-tined for the farmlands ofwest central Minnesota toproduce the coming year’scrops.Many others are food-

grade seeds bound forprocessors in Japan, Koreaand Europe, and will be-come tofu or sproutingbeans. Food-grade seedsbound for export now ac-

count for anywhere from 20to 40 percent of the com-pany’s business in a givenyear, said Jim Falk, com-pany owner and manager.Welcome to the world of

a family owned seed busi-ness in Swift County,where diversity and inno-vation are as integral apart of the business as isan old fashioned alle-giance to providing cus-tomers with the highestquality product possible.“We built this business

one year at a time,” saidFalk, who founded thebusiness 26 years ago. Hehad just returned from col-lege with a degree in geol-ogy but a heart set onfarming. He joined his fa-ther as the fourth genera-tion of the family to workthe land north of Murdock.His father raised certi-

fied seed, and Falk said hesaw the seed business as avalue-added opportunity.Falk Seed provides seed

certified by the Minnesota

Crop Improvement Associ-ation to farmers in an 80-mile radius of Murdock.The company offers con-ventional, food-grade andorganic soybeans, andwheat, oats and barley.Wheat has become one ofthe company’s most impor-tant areas, Falk said.The company also offers

seed mixes for conserva-tion lands and pasture, andhas cultivated a number ofniche markets, includingpremium, hulless oats forhorses.Its diversification into

niche markets has been re-warded by growth in manyof them. While serving the

needs of production agri-culture is the core of itsbusiness, Falk said themarkets for organic andlocal foods are better thanmany realize. The com-pany has annually up-graded and improved itsmilling, conditioning andcleaning operations. It canmeet and exceed virtuallyany specification neededby its customer, thanks toequipment ranging fromtraditional screening andmilling to computer con-trolled, air-blown gravityboards.The growth of its con-

tract and export busi-nesses led Falk to be a

pioneer in robotic technol-ogy. In 2001, it became thefirst seed company in thenation to install a roboticsystem to stack pallets. Themachine stacks palletswith a precision measuredin millimeters. It is pro-grammed for 100 differentstacking alignments andcan palletize 400 bags anhour.That pace will be neces-

sary as the company fillsthe warehouse under con-struction, and prepares forthe upcoming planting sea-son.Spring is a “crazy” sea-

son for the company, Falksaid, but diversificationhas made this a busy oper-ation through much of theyear. Seed cleaning is nowa 10-months a year opera-tion, he noted.The seed business cur-

rently employs four full-time workers and onepart-timer. The workforceexpands by four positionsduring the planting season.

“We built this businessone year at a time.”

Jim FalkFalk Seed Farm owner/manager

Climate trends in Minnesota not good news for barleyBy Jochum WiersmaUniversity of MinnesotaExtension

Minnesota’s crop econ-omy, which totaled over$12.7 billion in 2009, de-pends not only on corn andsoybeans but on a varietyof other crops, includingwheat, sugar beets, drybeans, alfalfa, sunflower,potatoes, oats and barley.These crops are importantin Minnesota in large partbecause the Minnesota cli-mate is conducive to theirgrowth. Minnesota’s cli-mate trends, however, mayaffect some crops.Long-term observations

across Minnesota provideevidence for higher aver-age temperatures (particu-larly at night), higher

summer dew points, andhigher total precipitation.This raises a questionabout whether the produc-tivity of individual cropsand cropping systems willchange.To determine whether

changes in climate havehad an effect on the pro-ductivity of barley, a groupof researchers from theUniversity of Minnesota,including University ofMinnesota Extension, ana-lyzed three decades of ‘Ro-bust’ yield trial andweather data from the uni-versity’s Research and Out-reach Centers in Morrisand Crookston. ‘Robust’ barley is one of

the most successful varietyreleases from the Univer-sity of Minnesota. Devel-

oped 30 years ago, it hasdominated the six-rowmalting barley acreage fornearly as long. The recentanalysis showed that cli-mate has had an impact onyield from ‘Robust’ overthis period, with a strongerimpact in Morris than inCrookston, Minnesota. The group concluded

that barley was still withinits climatic tolerance atCrookston, whereas barleyat Morris is growing in anenvironment that is closerto its climatic limits. How-ever, if growing-seasontemperatures are to in-crease further, as some ofthe records are alreadypointing toward and as hasbeen forecasted by cli-mate-change models, theexpectation is that the

southern edge of the bar-ley growing region willmove north because barleyis no longer well-suited forMinnesota.Funding for the project

was provided through agrant from the Center forUrban and Regional Af-fairs (CURA) at the Univer-sity of Minnesota. Thecomplete report is ex-pected to appear in thespring issue of the CURAReporter, available inMarch 2011.For more information

about agricultural produc-tion of small grains, visitwww.smallgrains.org, a col-laborative website fromUniversity of MinnesotaExtension and the Min-nesota Association ofWheat Growers

Corn the common denominator in fuel and meat pricesExtension.org

It’s not just the cost oftransportation that can af-fect meat prices. Fuel-ormore accurately, ethanol,plays a part on anotherlevel, according to a Uni-versity of Kentucky agri-cultural economist. And itall goes back to corn. Ethanol is made mostly

from corn in the UnitedStates, and more than one-third of the country’s corncrop goes into making it,

said Professor Lee Meyer,from the UK College ofAgriculture’s Departmentof Agricultural Economics.The U.S. Department ofAgriculture projects agreater percentage of thecorn crop will go towardethanol production in thenext few years. “Though corn produc-

tion is on an upward trend,production has not in-creased nearly as quicklyas the use of corn for fuel,”

Meyer said. “Somethinghas to give. That meansless corn is going to beused for feeding livestock.” Corn is the primary feed

for chicken and hogs, andit is often used for the laststage of feeding cattle.“It’s all about the reality

of a simple balance sheet,”he said. “We are going topay for our corn-basedethanol by having lessmeat and paying higherprices for it.”

AUTO/By Dean KuipersLos Angeles Times

Put solar panels whereit’s sunny, wind farmswhere it’s windy. If only itwere that simple.Choosing the best sites

for renewable energy proj-ects is a challenge forclean-power developers;selecting the right locationand securing permits cantake months, even years.That’s because seeminglyprime parcels may haveendangered species, trickytopography or poor accessto transmission lines. Thelocal government could behostile to incentive pro-grams. Banks and utilitiesneed to know exactly howmuch power is going tocome off a site hour byhour and how much moneyit will make – none of itevident without a deepdive by lawyers and inves-tigators.Now a former gaming ex-

ecutive believes that hehas come up with a way todo it faster and morecheaply using the 3-D ani-mation modeling thathelped make the videogame “The Elder ScrollsIV: Oblivion” into a big hitand a ray-tracing technol-ogy used on the “ToyStory” movies.David Levine, former

chief executive of Emer-gent Game Technologies inCalabasas, Calif., and a for-mer executive at severalenergy-data-mappingfirms, has developed apatented Web-based toolthat crunches vast quanti-ties of publicly availableinformation.

SpottingopportunitiesDetails on a site’s sun ex-

posure, topography, vegeta-tion and othercharacteristics can begleaned at the touch of abutton. The idea is to spotopportunities – and obsta-cles – quickly.“Geostellar identifies

the fastest, most profitableand least risky paths to in-creasing renewable andclean energy production,”Levine said.Online prospecting tools

are already available fromother well-establishedservices, including 3TIERInc., AWS Truepower andClean Power Research.They also use public dataand correlate it withdecades of proprietary re-search on specific sites torefine their numbers.Geostellar has a differ-

ent idea. The companyuses patented algorithmsto model the whole U.S. atonce, with an eye toward

tackling the entire globe.To measure solar re-

sources, for instance, ituses 3-D modeling to trackthe path of the sun tomeasure how sun andshade change hourly onevery square meter ofrooftop and desert scrub inthe country. Geostellar hasdeveloped similar model-ing for wind and is workingon hydro and biomassmodels.For homeowners,

Geostellar expects to makeit easy to figure out howmuch power can be gener-ated off their roofs. Com-mercial developers,utilities or banks that sub-scribe to the Geostellarservice will be able to getdata about the resourceand the parcel as well asthe cost of electricity gen-erated. They also can sub-mit queries for projectsites capable of producinga specific amount of en-ergy.Green energy veterans

hope the company’s tech-nology can get projects tomarket faster and morecheaply.

PackaginginformationLevine’s Geostellar “is

not inventing any wheels,so to speak,” said Matt Ch-eney, chief executive ofSan Francisco-basedCleanPath Ventures, whichinvests in renewable proj-ects and advised Geostel-lar. “He just puts theinformation in a packagethat is easily and readilyaccessible, so it essentiallyshortens the development

process remarkably. Andfrom that perspective, it’ssomewhat of a break-through.”Set to launch soon,

Geostellar plans tieredpricing for its subscriptionservices. Energy producerswill pay based on the num-ber of users they have andthe size of the area theyneed to cover. Landownerswill get the service free.The state of California andmany residential solarpanel installers such as So-larCity already offer roughestimates on electric billsavings for free.At a recent meeting with

GreenPower Capital inBurbank, Calif., a companythat arranges funding forrenewable projects, Levinepulled out a laptop todemonstrate Geostellar toCEO Dick Talbert. Levinedoesn’t necessarily wantTalbert’s money as much ashe wants his queries: Get-ting better data to the fin-anciers is the holdup inmost renewables projects.Geostellar’s utility-scale

tools were not available atthe time of the Green-Power meeting, so Levineproposed a simpler ques-tion: What if a homeownerin Indianapolis – whereTalbert is from– wantedto figure out whether in-stalling a solar power sys-tem made sense? On theGeostellar site, Levinepulled up a Google Earth-based map of Indiana’scapital. Solar potential ismeasured on the map in ascale from hot pink (lots) toblack (none).Levine demonstrated

that if homeowners or de-

velopers were to zoom inon a roof, they could seeexactly how much sunwould hit every squaremeter. More clicks revealthe whole parcel, whoowns it, whether there areany renewable energy in-centives in that area andhow the sun exposurechanges during the day.The user can then get anestimate of how muchmoney could be made byputting a solar system onthat roof, or what the pay-back time would be.“This is going to be a

great tool for developers,”Talbert said.

PotentialGeostellar, based in Mar-

tinsburg, W.Va., has takenin about $500,000 in seedmoney since March; an in-fusion of $1 million is dueto close by the end of theyear. Pilot clients includedevelopers AES Solar En-ergy Ltd. and CommunityEnergy.“I think it’s got the po-

tential to be somethingquite transformative,” saidChris Dymond, managing

director of large infra-structure project financecompany Greengate and aspecialist in renewables.Dymond is an angel in-vestor in Geostellar.“One of the primary

challenges for renewableenergy power projects hasbeen the amount of timeand effort it takes to char-acterize the resource,which is the engine drivingwhether or not this projectwill be successful or gobankrupt,” Dymond said.Todd Stone, marketing

and communications direc-tor for 3TIER in Seattle,likes the sound of Geostel-lar’s sun-tracking algo-rithm but doubts that theupstart’s information canmatch that developed byfirms such as the one for

which he works. 3TIERuses a decade of on-sitemeasurements from allover the world to projectwind speeds, for example,over a 40-year period.“At the end of the day,

it’s a science problem,”Stone said. “It’s not an in-formation mash-up and de-livery problem.”Levine believes that his

data are of high quality butalso that data deliverymakes a difference – pre-cisely because it leads tohigher-quality data.“What Google found that

was valuable for them wasthe aggregate of all of thesearches: What are peopleinterested in?” Levinesaid. “That’s when this be-comes a revolution. That’swhen it really gets fun.”

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Startup aims to simplify site selection for clean-power projects

McClatchy Tribune

�� David Levine, CEO of Geostellar, says the company uses details such as a site’ssun exposure and topography together to examine the potential for energygeneration. “The idea is to spot opportunities – and obstacles – quickly,” he said.

“Geostellar identifies the fastest, mostprofitable and least risky paths toincreasing renewable and clean

energy production.”David Levine

CEO of Geostellar

North Dakota & Minnesota Operators Salute the Area’s

Farmers

Edinburg Farmers Elevator

Edinburg, North Dakota701-993-8421

David Ramsey, Manager

R001544481

Gary W. Fuglesten - General ManagerPinto Beans • Navy Beans • Seed

P.O. Box 162 • 401 Broadway • Buxton, ND 58218Phone (701) 847-2622 • Fax (701) 847-2623

Email: [email protected]

R001544502

HAGERT SEEDHAGERT SEEDCORN - WHEAT SEED - SOYBEANCORN - WHEAT SEED - SOYBEAN

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Northwood, North Dakota

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NORTHWOOD EQUITY ELEVATOR

(701) 587-5291 • www.NorthwoodEquity.Com

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P.O. Box 286, Argyle, MN 56713(218) 437-6634 • www.Argyle-Coop.Com

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5449

11

Thompson Farmers Co-Op

www.ThompsonFarmers.com

Thompson

701-599-2740

Toll Free: 1-877-354-1055

Mike Morgan- Manager

Fisher

218-891-2255

Tom Kraft- Manager

R001

5449

12

DAHLEN FARMERS ELEVATOR & OIL

Dahlen (701) 384-6144Petersburg (701) 345-8234

Pete Peterson- Manager

“Your Full Service Elevator”

R001

5449

14

R001545073

Receiving Hours: 8:00 - 4:00 (701) 775-8126 • Jeff Blaskowski- Manager

PEAVEY COMPANY

4256 54th Avenue NGrand Forks, ND 58201

R001

5445

23

Chris Schaefer- Manager

Osnabrock Farmers ElevatorStation’s Located:

Nekoma701-949-2722

Osnabrock701-496-3111

R001545077

Tronson Grain Company

Tro

nnsssoon GGGrrraaaiin CCCooommppp

any

Doyon - Tolna - Lakota(701) 398-3512Rick Tronson, Mgr.

R001

5449

13

Larimore, North Dakota 58251Manager: Ron Carlson

(701) 343-6363Seeds & Pinto Beans

Larimore Bean Company

R001544738

Working to Serve Area Farmers

Harriston 1-800-437-8205Mayo- 1-800-223-5873Manufacturer of Harriston & Mayo Farm Equipment

R001

5447

48

Fisher, MN 56723

218-891-2211www.AgriMaxLLC.Com

R001

5449

15

Grain Drying, Seeds & Cleaning

FFarmers E Elevator C Company

(218) 281-1364Danny Grunewald- Manager

33461 340th Avenue SW, Eldred, MN 56253 R001

5446

81

We are your complete source for John Deere & Frontier Agricultural, Commercial and Residential Turf Equipment. Forks Equipment is your STIHL “Elite” full line dealer in the Grand Forks region. See us for all your STIHL products, parts and service needs.

5101 Gateway Drive - Grand Forks, ND - (701) 746-4436Your resource for everything John Deere.

R001545068

R001544907

Agriculture & Industry Progress 2011

Documents

Transcript of Agriculture & Industry Progress 2011