Payroll with Benefits - Added Convenience With New Payroll VendorThe Human Resource team has exciting news to share! In the coming months Viafield will transition to a new internet based payroll partner, Paylocity.

We currently use HonKamp Krueger as our vendor, and while our experience has been positive, it has not been without its challenges or restrictions. As our company continues to grow more efficient, the HR Team proactively searches for tools and resources to support our forward direction. Paylocity is more than a “payroll” vendor. Our new partner provides many benefits, in addition to conveniences you experience today. One of the most powerful benefits is visibility to your electronic file through the Employee Self-Service tool. You will have access to, with some ability to update, your Personal Information, Work Information, PTO Accrual and

Balance, Payroll Information (Pay Statements, Direct Deposit, Tax), Benefit Elections, Dependent and Beneficiary Information, Performance Documentation, Training Records, and other custom areas like your uniform balance...all in one place. Paylocity offers robust reporting with more ways to track information, so that Viafield can remain in compliance with laws and regulations on a timely basis. Our goal is to switch to Paylocity for the last pay period in June.

Article Continued on Page two of the Viafield Voice

Payroll with Benefits - Added Convenience with New Payroll Vendor. In the coming months Viafield will transition to a new internet based payroll partner by the name of Paylocity. - Pages 1-2

Viafield announces 2nd annual Summer Blast event at Lost Island Water park in Waterloo, Iowa. Event will be held July 21 - Page 2

Ad-Venture Viafield Advertising Insight - An update on current promotions, ads and advertising campaigns your cooperative is participating in. - Page 3

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Shortly after the implementation of Paylocity, we will also update our timekeeping system from Oakland to Timeforce. There are three areas that attracted us to Timeforce, including; the ability to have the leave request submission and approval process on-line (soon no more leave request forms), the ability to see your timecard for the full two-week pay period with time off automatically added to your timecard after it’s approved, and lastly the

ability to sign off on your timecard stating the hours are correct before

payroll is processed. In mid to late July we will begin utilizing Timeforce for our new timekeeping system. The human

resources team will spend time within the next two months training our leaders, time editors, and team members on Timeforce. Timeforce will also provide additional visibility to your time tracking information. More information will be shared as we

approach these super upgrades!

As always HR welcomes feedback especially during this transition timeframe. If you have any questions on this transition please contact Human Resources Team Leader, Anne Benning at 641.315.2515.

“As always HR welcomes

feedback especially during the transition timeframe.”

Minute with Mike - Safety Committee UpdateSeems that planting is barely over and already post emerge applications are ramping up and side dress applications are starting to hit full swing. Hopefully everyone had a chance over the Memorial Day weekend to kick back and catch up a little.

Roadcheck 2012 occured this week (June 5-7). The CVSA, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, was engaged in a big push those days on weight and safety inspections of all commercial vehicles. Scales were opened 24 hours a day through this period and extra DOT officers were on patrol. This DOT Road Check happens on an annual basis.

Reminder to those who may be transporting Nh3 nurse tanks for side dress application: Once you drop the pin in the tongue, the pickup comes under DOT regulations, like a large commercial vehicle. DOT numbers must be displayed; fire extinguisher, emergency reflectors and shipping

papers for Nh3 must be on board; and only hands-free cell phone usage.

Let me know your thoughts on this: my e-mail, mkatcher@viafield.com; cell phone, 641-330-9166.

Article by Mike Katcher

Viafield Announces 2nd Annual Summer Blast

By now most team members should have received their invitation to this year’s Summer Blast.

This year the second annual event will be held at the Lost Island Water Park in Waterloo, Iowa. Bring yourself, your family and your appetite, because this event promises to be a fun get together. Admission to the water park is FREE and a meal will be provided compliments of your cooperative. Team members are allowed to bring spouses, significant other, children, grandchildren (within reason). If you are interested in group hotel rates at the nearby Diamond Jo Casino please contact Tom Murray at 641-756-3611. To reserve your spot please

register online at www.viafield.com/summerblast or contact Jeanette Mulcahy at 641.315.2515 or jmulcahy@viafield.com. Team members must register by Friday, July 13, at 1:00pm.

If you have not received an invitationplease alsocontact Jeanette Mulcahy.

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5 Customer Service TipsIn the era of social media, delivering great service is more important than ever. Customers are apt to quickly spread the word about a bad experience, causing a poorly handled issue to cost a company more than one client. To make sure your customers receive a positive impression:

1. Make sure your attitude sends the right message. Be attentive and listen carefully to what the customer is saying. There should be no weariness or negativity in your tone of voice; a customer calling about a problem does not want to speak with someone with a poor attitude. Being upbeat, professional, and courteous shows a real desire to help the client.

2. Anticipate emotion. A client who has had a bad experience may be upset, angry, or difficult to work with. Don’t argue with the customer, but show respect and treat the client with courtesy. Your words and tone of voice should show that you empathize with the customer and will do what you can to resolve the issue.

3. Ask the right questions. Listen carefully and patiently to what the customer is saying. Asking questions will help you clarify the caller’s concerns. This will also allow you to personalize the call and ultimately find a solution for the customer’s problem.

4. Don’t undervalue complaints. An unhappy customer who takes the time to call, rather than move on to a new service provider, offers you an opportunity to save the client relationship and provide excellent

customer service. The customer can provide valuable insights about what the company should be doing, and is also giving the company a chance to find a way to address his or her concerns.

5. Show thanks. Gratitude can boost customer loyalty, so let the customer know you’re thankful he or she is working with you. You have to mean what you say, however. A simple “thank you” can have meaning to the customer, or it can sound like an empty phrase the customer service representative was trained to say. Speak from the heart, and let the customer know you truly are happy to have him or her as a client. Every call is important, and maintaining a solid relationship with a customer takes ongoing effort. Remember these tips to encourage customer loyalty and inspire a client to spread the good news.

Ad-Venture Viafield Advertising InsightAn update on current promotions, ads and advertising campaigns your cooperative is participating in.

Our goal is to make sure that you know what we’re communicating to our customer members, even if you don’t listen to a particular radio station or read a particular newspaper. June Dairy MonthDuring June the Viafield team is supporting dairy producers through promotions in our member newsletter, the Connections, radio

advertisements on KOEL (AM 950 Oelwein) and various smaller stations. We are also distributing posters (see photo) with information about Iowa’s dairy industry and an announcement about our 2012 Malt Machine Dates (see malt machine article).

Cheese for KidsDuring June every visitor to our web site who clicks the CHEESE FOR KIDS link on our homepage, Viafield will contribute a pound of cheese to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, up to 1,000 pounds. Viafield and the Land O’Lakes Foundation’s Feeding Our Communities program will also contribute $1.00 for every pound of cheese donated. The cheese for kids link tracks each participating customer’s prefered location. Please encourage our customers to participate in this year’s cheese for kids promotion and register your location. To encourage friendly

competition among our locations, we are asking those who click to name a location. There’s no prize, but you’ll have bragging rights for providing the most cheese to the food bank.

Important: Viafield Team Members, if you have an idea for a promotion or a place we should advertise, please contact Tom Murray at tmurray@viafield.com.

June Dairy Month Poster

Want to be a Great Leader? be HumbleBragging about superior leadership abilities is not a good idea if you’re looking to be a great leader.

Humbleness rather than boasting is the key to being a leader who is effective and well-liked, according to a study published in the Academy of Management Journal.

Humble leaders genuinely want to grow and develop, and to do this they:

• Admit mistakes. Own up to an error and find a way to fix it.

• Spotlight follower strengths. Don’t take credit for the accomplishments of others. Give praise and recognition to boost the entire team.

• Model teachability. Realize that no one knows everything. Being open to new information is part of the development process.

Failure isn’t absent from a humble leader’s experiences. Rather than

pretending everything is fine, humble leaders focus on improving. Their actions show followers how to grow, and let them know that mistakes and learning are part of the work experience.

While humble leadership skills are valuable at work, they can also be applied anywhere leadership comes into play. A soccer coach, fundraising committee chair, concession stand manager, book club coordinator, and many others in charge of groups can all benefit from practicing humble leadership.

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Twenty Dollar Decisions - It All Adds Up In the latest location leader meeting, attendees viewed “$20 Decisions,” a presentation that highlighted the impact these decisions have on our cooperative. First, to know how important a $20 decision is, you have to know WHAT one is. Every day each team member makes decisions that can earn or cost the company $20. Although this doesn’t seem like much, the presentation asked the question, “What if every team member made one of these decisions, what would that mean for Viafield?”

Impact of $20 decisionsCurrently your cooperative has 153

full-time active team members 18 locations and 260 working days per year. One $20 decision per day at each location equals $360. Take that number times 260 working days and you get $93,600 per year. That’s the impact of ONE DECISION AT EACH LOCATION. With 153 team members, one $20 decision a day equals $3,060. In 260 working days that number goes to $795,600.

Return on salesWhat is the impact of each team member on profitability? As a cooperative, Viafield is judged based on our return on sales by banks, our members and potential business partners. The benchmark for profitability is 2% of sales. In 2011 we had $420 million in sales and made $2,203,024, which is a return on sales of .52%. Twenty dollar decisions by all team members would have increased our return on sales to $3,000,000.

Team member bonus programAs you can see, these $20 decisions have a large impact on our company ($795,600 savings). These decisions also impact team member performance bonuses. Team members receive 6% of local savings. Last year the performance bonus pool would have increased $47,736 if every team member had made one $20 decision each day.

We encourage team members to discuss $20 decisions at your location meetings in the coming months. More specifically, what decisions are made at your location each day and how they all can add up to more earnings.

For more information on this article or anything accounting related please contact Steve Bodensteiner, and Laura Boyd at 641.315.2515.

Malts on Tap at Viafield — To celebrate June dairy month Viafield will inviting customers to enjoy an ice cream malt with our team. Malts will be served from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at:

Monday - June 18Clermont and Marble Rock

Thursday - June 21Carpenter and Maynard

Tuesday - June 19Elgin and Rockford

Friday - June 22Northwood and Sumner

Wednesday - June 20Arlington and Rudd

Please welcome - new teammate, Bill Hoffman, to our Agronomy Team! Bill will be based out of our Arlington location and will be covering the southeastern portion of our trade territory working in applications as well as sales.

Transition - Part-time customer service team member Molly Hess (Lamont) will now be working full-time in office customer service at our Randalia location.

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June 12 - Safety Committee Meeting – ISU Extension Office Charles City – 9:00 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.

June 12 - Right to Know Training – ISU Extension Office - Charles City 1:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.

June 18 - 22 - Malts on Tap at Viafield Locations (see malt article for locations)

July 10 – Financial Tools and Concepts Meeting - Sleep Inn Hotel - Charles City -10:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.

The Viafield Voice section dedicated to you, our team members

Congratulations Grads! In May several team members celebrated their children’s graduations. We want to recognize those individualsand wish them luck.

Clif Davis’ daughter, Tyler (1) - Northwood Kensett High School

Laura Boyd’s son, David (2) - Charles City High School

Dave Feldt’s son, (3) Colton - Northwood Kensett High School

Charlie Hamilton’s step daughter, Ashley Goodenbour (4) - East Buchanan CommunityHigh School

Rick Gage’s daughter, Leah (5) - Valley Community High School

Years of Service HonorsWe thank those team members who have accomplished years of service milestones during 2012 for their hard work!

Curt Schaub 30 years on June 7, 2012

Matt Katcher5 years on June 10, 2012

Congratulations!Lonnie Davis (Manly Shop Team Member) and

his wife, Samantha, had a baby

girlSaturday, May 19, at

2:05 p.m.

Madilyn Marie Davis weighed 5lb 15oz and

was 20 ½” inches long.

Madilyn She joins her

10-year-old sister, Mackenzi, who is very

excited about her little

sister’s arrival!

1)

2) 3)

4)

5)

“Check out our career section of the website…we want our team members to continue developing as Viafield grows opportunities!”

Current Full-Time openings• Agronomy Account Relationship Manager, Agronomy Business Unit-Marble Rock, Rockford, Rudd area - • Agronomy Applicator - Northwood Location • Grain Marketing Relationship Manager- East Region, Location TBA• Sales Leader- Location TBD

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All Access Picture Pass to the Elgin Feed Mill Expansion and More?Follow Viafield on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to see pictures of this facility and all other building projects at your cooperative!