Make plans to join us at one of three pesticide applicator workshops. All seven required core credits for pesticide applicator recertification will be covered.

Click the date/location that works best for you to RSVP!

November 2: Fort Morgan, CO
December 1: Holyoke, CO
December 2: Yuma, CO

Welcome to United Energy of Colorado customers! We are happy to have you as part of CHS High Plains! As a new customer of CHS, we are glad to answer any questions you may have during this transition period and beyond. Please feel free to reach out to our customer service representatives at 970-848-5432. Click here to meet our energy team. They can assist with propane questions, help with existing accounts and assist in setting up new accounts.

CHS High Plains is committed to providing you with high-quality customer service!

Calling all teachers! $75,000 in grants available from the CHS Foundation to implement ag-focused projects in your classroom. Grants awarded include $20,000 for first place, $15,000 for second place and $10,000 for third place, in addition to 12 $2,500 finalists. Written and video submissions will be accepted through October 1. Click the link for more details and to apply!

Click here for more information!

Smaller, more intricate parts make today’s modern diesel engines more prone to injector failure and filter clogging, thus making it more important than ever to keep tanks and fuel clean. Fall is the ideal time to perform tank maintenance to remove water and other contaminants before cold weather hits.

Proper tank maintenance helps ensure the fuel supply stays clean and free of harmful contaminants in your storage tank — and remains that way until it reaches the fuel system. Removing water, microbes, and other impurities from the storage tank prevents them from entering your fuel system where they can lead to corrosion, filter plugging, and ice formation that severely hampers engine performance.

Managing the impact of water in your storage tanks is the foundation of proper tank maintenance. A significant amount of water in the tank will likely cause problems including oxidative degradation (rust, scale), particulates and microbiological growth.

AquaFighter simplifies testing for water buildup and resolving the problem. It uses a dip stick test to check for the presence of water and then uses one of four filters, depending on tank size, to absorb suspended water, which prevents bacteria from forming in the fuel tank. Removing bacteria from fuel significantly reduces the risk of diesel filter clogging.

For more information about AquaFighter, please contact your CHS certified energy specialist.

We are pleased to announce that Sueann Schilling has accepted the Controller position for the CHS Grainland, CHS (AIP), and CHS (Yuma) business units.

Sueann has worked at CHS for the past 14 years as an accountant.  In that time she has gained experience in a multitude of areas including accounts payable, accounts receivable, mark to market, general ledger accounting, CHS accounting policies, and extensive knowledge in Energy Force and implementation.  This experience will provide an excellent background for her new role.  She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Regis University.

Sueann’s official transition date will be Monday, August 16th. 

To reach out to Sueann, please email her at Sueann.Schilling@chsinc.com.

Steve Millage spends countless hours sifting through data and results from his on-farm ten-acre test plot to continually better corn yields on his farm.  While 2020 may have been a challenging year, both on-and off-farm, Millage reaped the prestigious honor of being named the 2020 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Yield Contest State Winner for Colorado in the no-till non-irrigated category. He attributes his win to careful seed variety selection based on his test plot results and innovative farming practices.

Millage has been submitting entries in the contest since the 1990s.  During those years, he’s won first place twice and second or third place 13 times.  The 2020 winning entry was Dekalb® DKC57-99RIB DG-VT2PRIB, which yielded 85.5 bushels/acre in the no-till, non-irrigated category.  Millage also submitted the second-place entry in the 2020 contest, Dekalb DKC51-20RIB DG-VT2P.  This variety yielded 80 bushels/acre in the no-till, non-irrigated category.

On-farm test plot

“The key to trying to stay on top of varieties is to have a test plot on your ground,” Millage said.  He credits his on-farm test plot for his success throughout the rest of his acres.  He doesn’t plant any varieties that haven’t gone through his test plot the year before.

Millage attributes his farm’s success to Dekalb corn varieties.  In the past ten to 15 years, Dekalb Hybrids have outpaced other seed corn brands on the Millage farm. Dekalb has brought varieties to Northeastern Colorado that perform well on the Millage farm.  The Dekalb DroughtGard® gene has been a real game changer, bringing yield and standability to his test plot varieties.  

Millage found that skip-row planting is beneficial in the often drought-stricken Northeastern Colorado region.  He began this practice of skip row farming (planting two rows, then skipping a row, then planting two more rows, etc.) about ten years ago.  Skip-row planting creates a moisture “sink” for corn roots to draw moisture from during the growing season.

Advanced technologies

Millage began farming in 1975.  By the 1990s, his goal was to raise 40 bushels/acre dryland corn.  Each year, he has worked hard to increase his knowledge of corn growing.  Seed companies such as Dekalb have advanced their hybrids and technologies and his yields have trended higher as well. Now his goal is to raise 100 bushel/acre dryland corn.  To reach his target yields, Millage reviews results from his own test plot and test plots on other farms and yield data from Climate FieldView™.

Millage has received an assortment of prizes throughout the years from his winnings.  In a typical year, Dekalb would send him on an all-expense paid trip to the Commodity Classic, which is annually held each spring.  This event features educational programs, speakers, entertainment and a trade show.  While the Commodity Classic was cancelled this past spring, Millage still walked away with a large banner, a new charcoal barbeque cooker, a box of steak, lobster and shrimp, a bottle of whiskey and a neon Dekalb sign.

Cooperative help

Thom Simpson serves as Millage’s CHS agronomy sales representative (ASR).  He also takes an active role in the on-farm test plot and assists in variety selection.  “It has been a real joy working with Steve over the past 13 years to make his farm successful.  Steve is one of the few growers that calls to schedule a test plot every year,” Simpson said.

For more information on seed varieties, contact Simpson at 970-520-1529 or by email at: thom.simpson@chsinc.com. 

Thank you to our patrons for completing and returning the producer board ballot and motion for producer board to serve as delegates to the CHS Inc. annual meeting or special meetings.

The results of the election are as follows:

• Doug Brophy, representing Yuma County Region 1, was reelected to the CHS M&M Board of Directors.
• Tim Mollohan, representing Washington County, was reelected to the CHS M&M Board of Directors.
• The Motion for Producer Board to Serve as Delegates to the CHS Inc. Annual Meeting or Special Meetings passed.

Creating connections to empower agriculture – that’s the slogan at CHS and this statement drives our business decisions each day.  The CHS shuttle facility, located northeast of Holyoke, ties together agronomy, grain and rail in one location.  The availability of a facility like this provides CHS with the unique opportunity to capitalize on the marketplace and receive product in a better cost position.  This provides cost savings benefits to growers when they purchase their crop nutrients and crop protection products from CHS.

Two trains, which were booked up to six months ago, arrived at the Holyoke shuttle within a few weeks of each other in December 2020.  These trains contained urea ammonium nitrate (32-0-0), which will eventually be applied to fields across northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska.  Additionally, CHS can receive base fertilizer products such as super phosphoric acid to make 10-34-0 and ammonium thiosulfate (12-0-0-26). A typical railcar unit will contain 110 cars and deliver 11,000 ton of product.

Once the product is unloaded, it is safely stored at a warehouse in Holyoke.  When spring rolls around, the product will be blended to the grower’s specifications at the newly constructed liquid plant, which sits at the same location as the shuttle.  CHS uses these base products and will blend according to each field’s requirements. 

Most of the liquid fertilizer used by CHS is domestic, but some of the dry fertilizer is imported from overseas.  While CHS may import some urea ammonium nitrate, the vast majority is domestically produced. 

When sprayers and planters begin covering fields again this-coming spring, think back to the long process to get product here and the careful planning that takes place to deliver a high-quality product to growers’ fields.  CHS works diligently to create connections of value for all growers and customers.

We’re launching another new feature available to our producers through the MyCHS app! The Grain Summary is a new report that totals a customer’s grain payments over a calendar year or any selected timeframe.  It can be found in the top left menu on the home page of MyCHS under the Reports drop-down section. 

Benefits of the Grain Summary:

• Subtotals of dollars paid by commodity
• Pull grain payment information easily by calendar year, or customize the date range
• Data includes gross amounts, total charges and net paid amounts from grain sales
• Easily print or save the report as a PDF for records or to send to key business partners
• Updates several times per day and is available online 24/7

Log into MyCHS today to see the benefits of this new feature. If you have any questions, please contact mychs@chsinc.com.

Just in time for fall harvest, a helpful new feature is available to producers through the MyCHS app!  Proof of Yield, a report that totals a customer’s grain deliveries by bushels over any selected time frame, is now available in MyCHS.

With the Proof of Yield report, producers will be able to:

• See subtotals per commodity
• View simple summaries of total grain bushels by year and commodity
• Pull historic data, as past years are often needed and MyCHS provides that data
• Verify the details of grain deliveries including dates, bushel, weight, test weight and moisture
• Easily print or save report as a PDF

Other benefits:

• It’s useful for insurance and U.S. government for crop claims (determines APH history, too!)
• It’s flexible to pull by month, calendar year, or a custom date range
• Easy access to send to key business partners such as accountants, insurance agents or tax partners
• No waiting for mail delivery

Click here to enroll in MyCHS today!