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Meet Our New Production Supervisor – Eric Zempel

May 19, 2015 by Summer

What do farming and hair braiding have in common? Eric Zempel, the new Production Supervisor here at Corn Capital Innovations!

Eric Knows Farming

Eric Zempel, Production SupervisorEric grew up on a farm between Morgan and Franklin, Minnesota with his two older and one younger sister. His family farmed corn and soybeans.

He graduated from Cedar Mountain High School then continued his education at the University of Minnesota, Crookston. While there he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Natural Resources with an emphasis on Law Enforcement and Management. After graduating Eric attended Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, MN and received his Law Enforcement Skills Training.

Eric started working for Monsanto Pre-Foundation in Redwood Falls, MN as a seasonal employee, until 2012 when he was hired as a full-time seed technician. He currently resides in Danube with his wife, Amy, and dog, Diesel. During his free time Eric enjoys helping his father farm; he also enjoys spending time hunting and fishing.

Eric in the Hot Seat

We felt it was only fair to turn up the heat and put the newbie in the hot seat by asking him a few tough questions. Please enjoy his answers, and a few comments from the peanut gallery, with us!

Question #1: What is your favorite part about working at CCI so far?

My favorite part of working at CCI is being able to interact with the customers and working with a great group of people. (He answered this one perfectly, maybe too perfectly!)

Question #2: What is your favorite tractor?

I don’t really have a favorite tractor. I grew up on a farm that had a majority of red tractors, but a few green ones too. I guess one that works is my favorite. Haha! I do enjoy older restored tractors, just seeing how far technology has come is quite impressive. But you can say that I do like both Case IH and John Deere. (Good call on the safe answer, this could’ve been a deal breaker!)

Question #3: Do you have a favorite memory of growing up on the farm?

My favorite memory on the farm would have to be coming home from school in the fall and going to sit in either the combine or the tractor and ride around for several hours with my parents. Then being taught by my parents how to operate the equipment as I got older. (Wow! I think we can all agree with that!)

Question #4: Can you tell us something unique or funny about yourself?

This is a tough question to answer. I think that I would have to say that since I grew up with three sisters, I have the ability to braid hair and put it up in a bun. Also I have the ability to sew, including putting in zippers, adding seams and attaching buttons. (This will come in handy around the office when we’re having a bad hair day or a wardrobe emergency!)

Meet Eric in Person

Feel free to stop by Corn Capital Innovations and meet Eric in person. He’ll be in the warehouse making sure everything is organized, accurate, and running smoothly. You might also spot him working in the field with seed plots and agronomy practices. Please contact us if you have any questions, or click here to meet more members of our growing team.

How do you think Eric did in the hot seat? Add your peanut gallery comments below.

Categories: General, Production | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Spring Has Finally Arrived – Drive With Caution

May 7, 2015 by Summer

Spring Drive With CautionSpring has finally arrived and that means everyone is excited to be outside!  We want to remind you to drive with caution this spring.

Drive With Caution

Whether you’re traveling for spring break or driving to work, remember that spring means kids are outside playing, people are outside walking and riding bike, motorcyclists are riding, and our favorite, farmers are planting.

Slow Down

Take the extra time this spring to slow down, not only in your car, but in your life.  Enjoy all the sights, sounds, and smells spring has to offer.  Have a great spring!

Categories: General, Mindset | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

2015 Planting Prep

April 15, 2015 by Steve

The snow has melted, the grass is starting to turn green and farm equipment across the midwest is slowly starting to roll out of hibernation. Spring is here and that means planting season is just around the corner! Are you prepared?

Recently I had the opportunity to contribute to this article “Four Areas to Consider in 2015 Planting Prep” by WaterStreet Solutions. I felt it was important to share this information with you. Below are some key points from the article including a link to the full article.

What will it take to prepare for a successful 2015 planting season?

In my opinion, mindset is very important going into a crop year – it greatly influences success or failure. It will be important to approach the 2015 growing season with discipline, patience and strong belief in the crops potential, despite challenging farm economics.

These are four primary components to preparing for the new planting and growing season:

  1. PlanningPlant 15 Prep
  2. Agronomics
  3. Patience
  4. Execution

Planning

  • Anticipate the emotion that happens during planting season
  • Create revenue by increasing production
  • Mentally walk through your planting and growing season
  • Review “what-if” scenarios

Agronomics

Check that all inputs are ready by going through a series of questions. Please review the list of seed, trait packages, fertilizer, weed, production and yield questions in the full version of the article.

Patience

Be patient and consider the soil conditions before you start preparing the ground. Remember: By the time you’ve finished planting you’ve already dictated 75% of the yield potential of your crop! That’s how important soil conditions are during planting. In the full article I’ve included a few questions to ask yourself to determine if the soil is optimal for field work to begin.

Execution

  • Use the previous three factors to execute when the time is right
  • Preparation promotes a smooth season in the field
  • Keep your eyes on the ultimate goal – being the lowest cost per bushel producer

Prepare For a Successful 2015 Season

Make sure you do your pre-planting prep work and take time to prepare your mind for the challenges and opportunities that a new growing season presents. Start by reading the entire pre-planting prep article from WaterStreet Solutions and answering the questions provided. The team at Corn Capital Innovations would be happy to guide you through the pre-planting preparation process, please contact us for more information.

Read Full Article – “Four Areas to Consider in 2015 Planting Prep”

How do you prepare for the planting and growing season? Please share your tips in the comments below.

Categories: General, Mindset, Production | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Contributing to Youth in Rural Areas

March 27, 2015 by Summer

Corn Capital Innovations of Olivia is excited to contribute to youth in rural areas who are inspired to seek opportunities in agriculture. We feel agriculture surrounds us all in some way either directly or indirectly and we want to help individuals to become successful in their agricultural goals.

Agriculture Scholarships

If you’re a high school senior or the parent of a senior you will want to talk to your high school guidance counselor or visit our Scholarship Page to find out more about the different scholarship programs from Corn Capital Innovations.

If you have a passion for agriculture, apply now!  Seniors, find out the requirements today.

Corn Capital Innovations of Olivia, “A Great hand in farming….not only today, but in educating for tomorrow.

Categories: General | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Future of Farming – Recap of 2015 Water Street EDGE Event

March 24, 2015 by Summer

Water Street AttendeesFarming is changing…how do you develop your Edge? Water Street EDGE farm seminar attendees at the Willmar, MN event on February 16th & 17, 2015, learned the skills needed to lead and manage their farm operations in the future. They were engaged in interactive educational sessions, participated in 1-on-1 conversations, and took advantage of networking opportunities.

We value farming as a business and understand how vital education is for future success and advancing technologies. Therefore, we were honored to have the opportunity to co-sponsor the Water Street Edge event with Water Street Solutions. We wanted to ensure that farm businesses and families in south-central Minnesota and surrounding areas had this educational opportunity available to them.

For those of you who were unable to attend, we wanted to share some seminar highlights with you, and what better way to do that than by using technology. Social media is other technology that is fast becoming a part of the future of farming.

Water Street EDGE Tweets

During the event we used the #WaterStreetEDGE to tweet important take-home tidbits from each speaker and session. Here’s some highlights.

Follow us on Twitter @corncapital for more educational information, photos from the field and tweets from the tractor!

Photo Gallery

Here’s a visual tour of the event. We had a great time connecting with all of the farmers, both new and familiar faces! Take a look.

Thank You from Corn Capital Innovations

Most importantly, we want to give a big thank you to all the speakers, panelists, attendees and coordinators of this event! It’s wonderful to be part of a group of agricultural leaders who support ag education and contribute to the future of farming.

Attendees – Do you have any take home tidbits to add to our list? How have you started incorporating what you learned into your farm business?

Categories: Farm Profitability, General | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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