YLK CLASS #32 AUGUST SESSION

YLK AG AND INDUSTRY DAY

We began our day at CSS Farms in Kearney, Nebraska. We heard from Laurie Widdowson who graduated from UNL with a Bachelors of Psychology degree and married a farmer (she assured us she uses her psychology often). Over her twelve years with CSS Farms the company has quadrupled in size and signed contracts with Lay’s and other large chip potato manufacturing companies. She told us it takes an average of five years from a potato being planted until it reaches your table. She had us examine a bag of Lays and boasted that if they were potatoes grown by CSS Farms they should have no discoloration or light brown rings caused by excess sugar. The batch of Lays pictured below came from a patch of potatoes in Arkansas.

Next we travelled to Ward Laboratories where Dr. Ray Ward discussed how he tests soil samples and helps farmers solve production problems. He showed us the testing room where the soil composition and the caloric value of cattle feed are tested. Mr. John showed us the cutting edge technology Ward is experimenting with to make the testing process more accurate and efficient using lasers. At the conclusion of the tour, Dr. Ray told us the story of how he was denied a government job out of college because he was color blind. He impressed on us the importance of hard work and determination.

The next stop for the day was Baldwin Filters at Parker Hannifin. Matthew Efferson, a veteran who has been with the company for thirty seven years gave us a tour and showed us the new production lines he is working to create. Efferson works with packaging, conveyor belts, and product identification systems.

Lunch at Bayer was followed by a presentation by Mike Wilken from Agri Affiliates. Mr. Wilken shared with us his expertise in appraisal of farmland. He told us the three main reasons he appraises land are for banks wanting information for client financing, partition values for court disputes between spouses seeking a divorce, and estate sales after the passing of a loved one.

Following the presentation by Mr. Wilken, Tim Archibald of Bayer spoke to us about his job as the manager of site operations and allocator of capital. He then took us on a tour of their tower which sorts seed corn by size, shape, and even color profile. He showed us the seed packaging machines and how the seed is stored and processed. As pictured in one of the photos, Bayer keeps a sample bag from each batch of seed corn for three years.

Our final destination of the day was the Nebraska Public Power District. Todd Spellman and Jamison Cawley explained the energy makeup of Nebraska. I was personally surprised how much energy is generated by nuclear plants. We learned NPPD communicates with the Lincoln Public Power District, Omaha Public Power District, and even power companies in Texas to keep the electricity flowing wherever you go. We toured the facility starting with the iconic linemen trucks. We then moved into the lineman dispatch center and learned how to write a repair ticket. We thanked NPPD for hosting us, and they insisted that we take some merch on the way out.

Written by Mason Hershberger