....beautiful....

This morning I was able to catch the sunrise at the house!  I have been waiting for this moment because my farmers have recently moved their beet equipment into the yard and I just knew this would be an awesome photo with the sunrise in the background!  I just wanted to share it with you!  Again, we live in a BEAUTIFUL part of our world!

Relax and have a wonderful New Year's weekend!

Oh the Wind

Wow, they were not kidding when they called for wind today!  I'd venture to say it is more than just a "light breeze."  I went over to the new Coop Main Street Market to get lunch for the crew and on my way out, the lid blew directly off my meat and cheese tray and the cheese started flying around.  It was crazy!  Anyway, the new grocery store there is very nice!  You should go check it out.

Please be careful today!  I have heard on the radio that light trailers are blowing over!  It was interesting, while talking to a farmer yesterday, he mentioned that we might have a "square day" today.  Curious, I asked what that meant.  He proceeded to tell me that when it is 50 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 50 m.p.h., that is a "square day."  Then I decided that I didn't know which would be better, the 50/50 or 30 degrees and 30 m.p.h. wind?!  Glad I don't have to choose!

~Photo taken in Illinois!~

~Home Sweet Illinois~

Home Sweet Illinois~It was wonderful!  I hope that everyone had as great a Christmas as possible!  I got in late last night and I am so thankful for the time that I got to spend with my family!  My family just keeps growing and growing!

WOW, how green it was at home!  The weather was beautiful and totally did not feel like December in Illinois. I got to run outside in only a light jacket.  Yesterday, we got a little snow/sleet just enough to make it white for my sisters birthday!  Then it melted, allowing us all to make it to the airport and return home safely.

Merry Christmas!

Please take care and have a wonderful Christmas!  See ya next week...stay tuned for more updates from Stateline Bean!

Winter Wonderland

They were right!  We woke up to a snowy winter wonderland!  It is gorgeous!  As I was driving to work, I got distracted by the Monument.  The sun was shinning on it perfectly on the freshly fallen snow.  I just kept driving towards it so that I could get a better view.  So beautiful!

I do hope that everyone travels safe and is able to get to their final destination this weekend to celebrate with friends and family!

Snowing

The snow is here earlier than expected!  It started around 7 am this morning and is coming down.  It's starting to accumulate a little bit.  We will see what tomorrow brings!

Boxcars Leaving

The sun is shining with a chill in the air.  They are calling for heavy snowfall on Wednesday night.  I hope that I can still make it to Denver on Thursday!

Cars heading out....

...the railroad came to pick up our boxcars today!

Beautiful Weekend!

The weather this weekend was, yet again, beautiful!  It's hard to believe how warm it is just one week before Christmas!  So awesome!  Hopefully everyone was able to take advantage of the excellent weather!  Wishing you well as you finish up your Christmas decorating, shopping, family organizing, baking, etc.  Don't forget to take time to stop and enjoy the true meaning of the season!

Christmas Spirit

Good Morning All!

I just wanted to take a second to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  I know it's early, but I just had to share this photo with you of Mr. Pilot, our Board President's dog.  He has been with us all week long and it's going to be so sad when he goes back home.  We have all really enjoyed having him around!  He is such a great and quiet dog....loves "to go" anywhere in the vehicle with you.  Today, he is going with me to the post office.  :)

Day #2

Day #2=SUCCESS!  We had a more steady crowd in today!  It was alot of fun!  Thank you all for visiting!

While we were all inside visiting, the guys were working really hard outside loading boxcars.  There are 8 cars in this picture and 7 were loaded between  today and yesterday (one car was rejected).  Great work guys!  We have had beautiful weather for the past 2 days.

Day #1

Day #1=SUCCESS!  Lots of food, fellowship, and seed ordering happening today here in Gering.  I have really enjoyed being surrounded by great people in agriculture!

Seed Booking Days Tomorrow and Thursday

Heath is here in Gering with us today with our new Stateline pickup, helping load boxcars.  The truck is going to good use!

Just a quick reminder, don't forget about our Seed Booking Days tomorrow and Thursday this week.  I'm cooking!  I am all ready to cook some beans tonight!  I went to the store last night to get all of the ingredients for Crock Pot Tamales and the Bean Pie that we had at our Annual Meeting.  We received an EZ Bean Cooker as a Christmas gift the other day in the mail.  What a great invention.  I will be giving it a try tonight!  Check it out:  http://www.ezbeancooker.com/ for more details.  I will let you know how it works.  It's supposed to cook beans in 12-50 minutes, depending on the bean, without soaking or anything.

America the Beautiful

Good morning, I just wanted to share with you all a picture that I was fortunate to take this weekend!  I was just in awe when I saw him sitting there on a limb just outside of town.  It was a beautiful sight!  I was so very close that I thought that he would fly away as soon as we stopped the pickup, but he just sat there keeping a close eye on us.  Look at his beak and those talons!  I was very aware that his neck feathers were  a little ruffled.  He never budged though.  Amazing!  What beautiful things you can see if you take the time to enjoy!

Beautiful

The picture above was taken by Dave as the sun was setting a few nights ago.  We live in a beautiful place!

Sugar Factory Tour

I must say that I was fascinated by the factory tour last night.  I drive by it almost everyday and there are so many more steps that the beets go through before they become sugar than I initially thought.  We learned about each step and what is produced at each one.  Then we got to view, in action, each step.  I was amazed by all of the computer sensors in the factory that are constantly being monitored for any problems.  A simple click on the computer and things can be slowed down or stopped to prevent furthering the problem.

A view of the Monument from on top of the factory.

We toured and then had a very nice meal that was donated from several local businesses.  The tour fee will go towards scholarships that the sugar factory awards.  Thank you for a great opportunity to share what you do, with the community.  It was really neat because there were a couple of ladies there that had worked in the office of a sugar factory way back when and they were just elated to get to tour.  They said that everyone in the community should get the opportunity to go.

Moon picture next to the huge bins.

What I am going to start looking for in the stores are sugar (brown, powdered, or white) that has a lot number that begins with the letter "F."  This "F" I learned last night, means that sugar was made at the Scottsbluff Factory.  :)

Stateline Crew

I was so happy to see several of our Stateline growers at this tour last night.  Hillside Farms and Rein Family Ag are in this picture with me.  I also met one of our grower-members for the first time last night too (not pictured).

Sugar Factory Tour

I am really excited to get to be a part of this year's Sugar Factory Tour at Western Sugar.  Sugar beets are a whole new thing to me and the longer I am here, the more I learn.  This harvest, I got to go ride in a beet digger and tonight I will get to see the whole process at the factory.  I am thankful for this opportunity.

Sugar beet in the field next to the house.

Post Office

I just wanted to send out a quick thank you to our post office in Gering.  I get to get the mail everyday and I look forward to my visits because they are so nice and helpful!  Thank you for all that you do!

-3 Degrees

The guys are all bundled up today as it was -3 degrees this morning when we got here.  Totally freezing!  The best part about the whole day is that the sun is shinning and the temperature is now 32 degrees above zero!  Dave and Gerald made us some chili today to eat for dinner!  It sure hit the spot on a day like today!  Thank you guys!

Cold and Sunny Here

This is a really neat picture of our facilities here in Gering.  You can see the leftover snow from this past weekend covering the ground and the sun is s*h*i*n*n*i*n*g.  Cold, but very peaceful outside, the sun is helping warm things up a bit.

Wonderful Visit

I had the most wonderful opportunity to visit with the Rein Family this afternoon.  I went over to present them with their "Clean Bean Award" for the 2011 crop year.  Both Jeremy and Jack tied for third place in the Pinto category.  We just had the most wonderful conversation and I got to see their home and where they farm.  I just had to take the opportunity to snap a few pictures of their most unique propane tank!  How awesome to turn a white tank into an eye catching watermelon!  Great idea Gloria!  Thank you for your friendship and fellowship.

Chilly

We woke up to a little snow this morning.  They have been talking about a front coming through all week.  This wasn't the fun, pretty kind of snow, it wasn't the cold and blowing kind either.  It was just kind of there when we woke up.  It wasn't enough to make it pretty, but we did get some sunshine today about the time I took this picture the clouds broke.  :)

Travels

Landscape South of Gering

Landscape by Bridgeport

Beans

The Guys moving totes to the North Warehouse.

Beautiful Day in Western Nebraska

Action Shot of Movin' Beans

Fun at work!  The Guys were making me laugh!  :)

~Weekend~

What a wonderful weekend!  I hope everyone was able to spend time with family and friends.  I just have to share a couple of pictures with you that pretty much wrap up my weekend!  These friendly fellows reminded me how much I want to strive to 'live simply.'  They were so happy just grazing the meadow with the beautiful majestic mountains in the background, not a care in the world. Occasionally, they would come up to the barn to visit with us and see what was going on.  They were very settled and content.

R & R

I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL day with family yesterday and a great RELAXING weekend to follow!  Take a backseat and just rest and ENJOY!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'd like to thank our growers, staff, truck drivers, and everyone else who helped make it a great and successful harvest!  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Many Hands

Many Hands Make Light Work!

I just love these pictures!  Thank you for all

of your help guys!  I am so thankful to work

with such a great staff!

Movin' Beans

Oh BEAUTIFUL day in November!  Over 50 degrees  almost on Thanksgiving!

Today, we are starting to move our Great Northern beans from our facility in Gering over to our Bridgeport facility.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  Did anyone get corn all finished up?  I sure hope so.  With the little bit of snow we had on Saturday, it feels more like Christmas than Thanksgiving.  It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already coming...this Thursday!  Time goes by so fast!  I have been working at Stateline for almost six months now.  I came in during seed, got to go through the growing season and then harvest.  Now, with our Annual Meeting behind us, we are on to our next season.  We will begin small grower meetings as winter progresses. I really look forward to holding these meetings for our current growers as well as potential members.  If you all have any ideas for topics, please let us know.  Don't forget about our seed booking days December 14th and 15th.

I just want to take a quick moment to thank our growers and staff for welcoming me onto the crew.  I have enjoyed getting to know everyone this summer and fall.  Thank you for your patience, as well, as I was learning the truck dispatcher stuff.  With harvest all wrapped up, I can look back and realize how much I have learned since I began just six months ago.

Congratulations!

There were three nominees for the "JOE FRANKS AWARD." This year it was awarded to Mr. Larry Birdsall (pictured above) for his dedication and excellence in leadership for the bean industry.

Another congratulations goes out to our growers who won our "CLEAN BEAN AWARD!" This award is calculated by adding the F.M. and dirt on the total tare per load.

Pintos

1st Place – Don Rein Farms
2nd Place – M Gompert Farms
3rd Place – Tie - Rein Family Ag & Jeremy Rein

Great Northerns

1st Place – Groskopf Farms
2nd Place – Kerry Birdsall
3rd Place – Mickey Ryan

Congratulations everyone!

Annual Meeting Tonight

Getting ready for our meeting tonight.  I am really looking forward to meeting everyone's other half!

**Snow**

I just love those mornings when I wake up and open the curtains to a fresh snow covering ground and beautiful flakes gently falling.  It was a TOTAL surprise this morning!  When I checked the weather last night, I didn't even see any snow in the forecast.  It sure did feel like snow last night though...the humidity seemed to kick up after dark.  Anyway, I was super excited this morning!

Congratulations

We would like to congratulate Carlos Urrea for his service and dedication to the dry bean industry.  Thank you for all of your hard work!  We really enjoy working with you and your team.

http://kneb.com/news/agricultural/index.php?more=pt4r8hh3

Annual Meeting

* Just a reminder that our Annual Meeting is this Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. at the Gering Civic Center.  Please R.S.V.P. at (308) 436.2186 so that we can get you down.  I look forward to seeing everyone! *  

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend!  Hopefully alot of corn came out!  Today, it is extremely windy, but around 60 degrees and sun shinning!