NGFA's Country Elevator Council
Conference and Trade Show

Dec. 5-7, 2004
Adams Mark Hotel • Denver, CO

More than 400 country elevator and feed mill managers and their key employees converged on the Mile-High City on Dec. 5-7 for the NGFA’s 33rd annual Country Elevator Council Conference.

The diverse program content, speakers and trade show received plaudits from conference participants. Topics ranged from the explosive growth of soybean, livestock and poultry production in South America to projections for continued growth of the ethanol industry in the United States. Popular breakout sessions were held on new government initiatives on facility security and rail transportation. And the conference concluded with an outstanding panel on cash grain contracting. During the conference, participants also had a great opportunity to share strategies and money-making ideas with their colleagues.

Mark your calendars now for next year’s conference and trade show, which is scheduled for Dec. 4-6 in St. Louis, Mo., at the Hyatt at Union Station.

“Soybean Rust Session and The Southern Hemisphere’s Midwest - Can U.S. Agriculture Compete?”
Speaker: Dr. Michael Cordonnier, President, Soybean and Corn Advisor Inc., Hinsdale, Ill.
One of the foremost authorities on South American agriculture – Cordonnier, who also writes for ProFarmer, is a world-known agronomist and expert on the South American market. He shared his experience on soybean rust's spread and how it may affect the U.S. crop and yields.

But that's not all he discussed! As one of the foremost authorities on South American agriculture, Cordonnier provided an insider's perspective on the rapid development and trends of agriculture in the Southern Hemisphere and what U.S. Agriculture can do to remain competitive. (No Online Presentation is available.)

“Potential Changes to Federal Grain Warehouse Program --Prospects for 2005”
Speaker: Kendell Keith, President, National Grain and Feed Association (PDF format - 470kb)
Learn the latest on whether – and what type of – legislative or regulatory changes may be coming for the federal grain warehouse program following the exodus of the state departments of agriculture from the Grain Warehouse Working Group.

“Managing Value in Grain and Feed Enterprises”
Speaker: Kirk Martin, Senior Vice President and Director of Business Advisory Services, CoBank, Denver, Colo. (PDF format - 289kb)
Martin discussed a different approach to thinking about the economic value and potential of country elevators, as well as key drivers of business value that will determine the success of country elevator operations in the future.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS (2 - 5:30 P.M.)

“Energy Outlook - What it Means for Ethanol Expansion and Managing Elevator
Energy Costs”

Speaker: Peter Nessler, Director of Renewable Fuels, F.C. Stone, Kansas City, Mo. (PDF format - 300kb)

Mike Gorman, Principal, Brubaker and Associates Inc., St. Louis, Mo. (582kb)

This session focus on trends in energy costs and how they’re affecting agribusinesses, as well as the influx of Wall Street capital into the ethanol industry. It also examined what this combination of higher conventional energy prices and capital influx will mean to continuing growth in the number of ethanol plants and their draw on corn production. In addition, the session provided an overview of how country elevator managers can reduce energy costs without capital expenditures – just by knowing the typical kinds of billing errors made by power suppliers and how to control power use during peak-demand periods.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS (3:30 - 5:30 P.M.)
(Each repeats once)

SESSION 1: “Rail Service -- Prospects Following Fall Harvest”
No Online Presentations available for Breakout Session 1
Key executives with each of the Class I railroads discussed service-related outcomes and plans following the fall harvest. This breakout session was structured to enable country elevator managers to make private appointments with their respective carriers to discuss company-specific service issues.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Speaker - Kevin D. Kaufman, Group Vice President, Agricultural Products, BNSF, Fort Worth, Texas

Kansas City Southern Railway Speaker - Betsy Graverson, Market Manager, KCS, Kansas City, Mo.

Union Pacific Railway Speaker - Bill Eilbracht, General Director of Logistics, UP, Omaha, Neb.

SESSION 2: “Workshop on Energy Cost Management Strategies”
Speaker: Mike Gorman , Principal, Brubaker and Associates, Inc. St. Louis, Mo. (PDF format - 1,019kb)

This two-hour workshop provided managers with intervention strategies for managing energy costs and usage. The focus will be on how to better understand potential power-factor penalties that may be imbedded in your utility bills and ways to minimize them; and strategies for negotiating special rates with your utility company and minimizing energy costs during peak-demand periods.

SESSION 3: “Facility Security and Agroterrorism -- Where is the Government Headed?”

Speakers: Steve Gill, Director of Warehouse and Inventory Division, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Washington, D.C. (PDF format - 929kb)

Randy Gordon, Vice President, Communications and Government Relations, National Grain and Feed Association, Washington, D.C. (PDF format - 586kb)

Learn about the latest initiatives from the Department of Homeland Security and Food and Drug Administration affecting agriculture. And get the latest on USDA’s plans for verifying that Uniform Grain and Rice Storage Agreement warehouses have conducted a facility vulnerability assessment and implemented a security plan. This session also examined ways to comply with the UGRSA requirements, as well as efforts by various agricultural sectors to shape the outcome of bioterrorism-related activities by government.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7

MORNING PROGRAM (8 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.)

“It Doesn’t Get Any Better than This”
Speaker: John W. Phipps, Columnist, Farm Journal and Top Producer Magazine, Chrisman, Ill. (PDF format - 1,897kb)

John Phipps, an Illinois farmer and award-winning columnist for Farm Journal and Top Producer Magazines, provided a substantive, yet light-hearted, look at how country elevator managers can get more pleasure out of their jobs, and in so doing enhance their service to, and communications with, farmer customers. Phipps is the 2004 winner of the American Agricultural Editors Association’s “Writer of the Year Award.”

“Improving Order Execution at the Chicago Board of Trade”
Speaker: Bryan Durkin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Chicago Board of Trade, Chicago, Ill. (Not Available)
Bryan Durkin, executive vice president and chief operations officer at the CBOT, discussed steps being implemented at the exchange to reduce the time lag in executing futures trades on the floor.

“Innovations in Cash Grain Contracting and How to Explain Them to Your Farmer-
Customers and Management”

Moderator: Rod Clark, General Manager, CGB Diversified Services, Mount Vernon, Ind.
Speakers: Dennis Inman, Assistant Vice President and Customer Solutions Leader, Cargill Ag Horizons, Minneapolis, Minn.
Scott H. Irwin, Professor of Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis, Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Scott Cavey, President and CEO, E-Markets Inc., Ames, Iowa

An outstanding industry panel discussed the latest innovations in cash grain contracts, when and how to use them, and – importantly – how to explain how they work so that they’re understandable to farmer-customers and upper management. Other panelists described more conservative approaches that help farmers “pull the trigger” to sell grain.