and I cannot right now remember how I met him...........I think he was recommended to me by another grower..........

Anyway...........fellow's name is Laverne Klecker, with Sunrich (I think they go by SunOpta now), Hope, MN.

Over the years Laverne has not always paid the highest prices, but some years I did better than others.  Always have to remember that Laverne works for the "other guy".............but I swear, this guy is absolutely trustworthy.  I have never had an issue with him that I felt was settled unfairly.  I have never felt that he sliced me on prices more than maybe 10% of what I might get elsewhere---------but I would have had to run the risk of dealing with someone I did not know........and I really don't know that in the long run the "other buyer" would have not gotten to me in some manner anyway.

We currently ship all corn by railroad car............Laverne orders and pays for the car, it is delivered here in Osky, we weigh and load, and then it goes whereever..........some goes to the organic poultry houses on east and west coast, and a lot goes to the SunOpta processing plant in NE Iowa.......and into I believe Frito Lay chips.

Soybeans we truck to Hope on our ticket. 

Lots of horror stories out there about organic buyers........I have never had a problem.........well, with the exception of one..........a local outfit.  They kept after me to do a little business with them and their processing plant, so one year I did........gave me a contract to sign for beans that said if they rejected a load for any reason, I could not sell it elsewhere without their permission------SAY WHAT???!!!

Fortunately, we only had about 30 acres of beans, less than 1000 bu.........but I refused to sign the contract as printed-------they agreed to a change, and then when we delivered the beans, we had more discounts on there than I had ever heard of.........enough that I could have trucked that 1000 bu to Hope, MN to Laverne, and actually have been better off compared to what the local paid.

We also buy our seed from Laverne............one of the first years, we received seed that was about 50% splits..........well, maybe not that much, but it sure looked like that much.     Called Laverne, told him..........he and his seedsman showed up the next day (250 mile drive), he looked at the beans and said that we would have new seed the next day, and we did. 

So............as long as Laverne is in the ballpark on prices---------and he always has been, and I see nothing changing in future--------I'm locked in.  If he quit and went with the XYZ company, I would try to follow him.  I value the man's honesty.

re the bin cleanout-------I note I did not address that--------Laverne will get behind periodically, and not meet the contract date for taking all grain of usually May 31..................for example, I'm sitting on 2-3 carloads of corn right now..........but that does not bother me much.........he always gets it out by combining.  In fact he told me the other day that he has two cars ordered for this week--------but sometimes Union Pacific marches to their own drummer...................so, our bins get cleaned out annually...........one big reason being the cashflow needs..........MINE.