Beautiful Day!

It is once again, a beautiful day in Western Nebraska!  It is hard to believe that it is almost February already and it is going to be 52* today!  We must take full advantage of this beauty as we are given each day to live life to the fullest!

Tip of the Day:  Laughter is the soul's medicine!  Laugh with someone today!  :)

Bridgeport

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  The weather sure was beautiful in the mountains this weekend.  As we are getting ready for spring, we have lots of things going on.  We are loading boxcars, finishing up seed booking, contracting beans, and working on building our new software program.  Courtney has been heading up the new software with conference calls each day for at least 1.5-2 hours minimum.  It is going to be a very efficient and effective system once it is built!

Bins in Bridgeport

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will be in the Bridgeport office on Thursday and Friday of this week.  If you have any questions about seed, contracts, or beans in general, feel free to stop by either of our offices.  We are here to help you!

Have a wonderful day!

New Stateline Bags

I just wanted to introduce our newly designed Stateline Pinto bean bag.  These bags are brightly colored and very eye-catching!  One look at these make you look again!  Hopefully these bags will speak to our end user.

Note:  This design is created to display the color of the pinto bean through the thin clear strip down each side.  The back of the bag is the reddish-orange color to preserve the original bright color of our pinto beans. We initially thought we'd have the back clear but they suggested that the colored back would be more protective for our beans.

Stop by to see the bags today!  The guys are loading boxcars as we speak!

Gering and Bridgeport Tour

Today, I had the honor of touring our facilities with Mr. Les Dale from Michigan.  He is helping us work towards gaining a formalized internationally recognized certification for food safety.  The whole industry is headed that direction and we are trying to be proactive with our actions.

We toured the Gering facility and also the Bridgeport facility to learn of ways to improve our facility.  It is a work in progress and with a team effort from everyone involved we will get our certification.

All three photos are from our Bridgeport facility.

Nebraska Weather

Snow this morning that turned into rain and then sun with a few clouds.  Nebraska weather.  :)

Beautiful Day in Western Nebraska

The growing season is just around the corner!

It is absolutely beautiful outside today!  We had some very heavy winds late Saturday evening into Sunday morning.  We even had a little snow falling down Sunday, but by mid-day, it was sunny again.  Sounds like surrounding areas might have had a little bit more trouble with the blowing snow.  Today feels like Spring!  I hope everyone is inspired by this beautiful weather to accomplish their 2012 goals!

Update from Bridgeport

Good Morning~

Heath just sent me this picture of our new scale for loading rail cars in Bridgeport.

Thank you Heath for this photo!

Tip of The Day:  Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.

Gering Celebrating 125 Years

My logo contest entry.

Hi!  Beautiful day here in the Valley.  Very cold but very sunny also!  I just wanted to kick of the one year celebration of Gering's 125th Anniversary with the logo I entered in their contest back in the fall.  The town of Gering was looking for a logo that they could use on letterhead and on city vehicles to represent the town's 125th year anniversary.  They had tons of good entries in the contest which you can view the winning logo on KNEB's page:  http://kneb.com/news/index.php?more=9y34jwbr.  It looks like they will kick off the festivities on Wednesday March 7th, 2012 at the Gering Civic Center.  Food and entertainment for only $1.25!  Mark your calendars and rally support.

I created my logo to do my best at representing Gering as a farming community with our National Monument in the background, very simple.  This is actually Jerry Mackie in the combine!

Tip of the Day:  No matter how you feel, get up , get dressed, and show up.

Seed Orders

Just a quick reminder to make sure to get your seed booked for 2012.  Also, please call or stop by for our new crop pricing opportunities.

This is a cute little phone booth outside a
British restaurant in downtown Denver.

Tip of the Day:  Each person counts.

Snow and Wind

We had some snow roll in late yesterday afternoon.  It got pretty cold last night with a low of negative degrees when I got up!  The sun in shinning right now and the wind is coming.  Supposed to blow bad tomorrow.

Tip of the Day:  You are in charge of your own happiness!

Blog Feedback

Hi All~I am really excited about sharing the "Daily Happenings" with you all.  As I continue, I would like to get some feedback on what you would like to see more or less of on here.  If you feel so inclined, you can become a "Follower" or "Subscribe By Email."  The "Subscribe By Email" feature will deliver the newest updates to the blog automatically to your email box around 7-8 pm each night that there is a post.

~My Buddy~

I had some feedback at Bean Day which was very positive.  I really appreciate this as it helps me with topics/pictures that are of interest to our growers.  One suggestion that was made was to incorporate more on our Bridgeport facility.  I will work on that!  Thank you for the suggestions!  Feel free to comment at the bottom of these posts!

Thank you all for your continued support!

Tip of the Day:  Make 3 people smile each day.  :)

U.S. Dry Bean Council

I was really impressed by the U.S. Dry Bean Council Executive Director's presentation at Bean Day 2012.  Ms. Jeane Wharton gave a presentation on the "U.S. Beans in the International Scene" and reported on their activities within the council.  It is so inspiring to see the advocacy for beans.  Watch for the bottom logo on your beans!  Also, for more excellent resources, check out their website at:  http://www.usdrybeans.com/.

Logos from U.S. Dry Bean Council

Tip of the Day:  Enjoy the Ride.

Scholarship Opportunity

We jut got some information from the Nebraska Cooperative Council Education Foundation that we would like to pass along.  This is a 2012-2013 Scholarship Program in honor of Dr. Michael S. Turner.  Eligibility:  "Scholarships will be awarded to sons/daughters of a parent/legal guardian who has been an active member, director, or employee for at least the prior three years of a cooperative which has been a member in good standing of the Council for the past five years.  Scholarships will be awarded without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, or disability."  Please check it out!  This is a great opportunity for students entering University of Nebraska-Lincoln or Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis.  Also, for current students at Chadron State.


Please see http://www.nebr.coop/1213app%20form%20and%20coop%20promo.pdf for the print out of the flyer or http://www.nebr.coop/ to find an electronic version of the application or call (402) 475.6555.   Applications must be completed by April 15th, 2012 for further consideration.

Tip of the Day:  Each day is a special occasion so get out the china, burn the candles, and enjoy life.  Today is Special.

Representation!

I would like to congratulate Courtney Schuler for being elected to the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission on behalf of Stateline Bean Producers Cooperative.  She will take Mr. Don Orr's position as a processor on the board.      http://nebraskadrybean.com/bean-info/

Also, I would like to send a shout out to our representation on the Nebraska Dry Bean Growers Association board.  It is great to see alot of familiar names on the board of an organization striving to support our bean industry.      http://beangrower.com/

Tip of the Day:  Dream while you are awake!

Pinto Bean Pie

So....I just realized that I did not share the wonderful "Pinto Bean Pie" recipe from our Annual Meeting.  I would like to send a quick thank Jamie Meisner for making these pies at our meeting and also for providing us with this excellent recipe.  Enjoy!  It's totally worth it!  

http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/03/pinto-bean-pie-sweet-not-savory.html

P.S.  I have even used mixed Pintos and Great Northerns....all = DELICIOUS!

Tip of the Day:  The BEST is YET to come!

Bean Day 2012

Bean Day 2012 was a huge success!  Congratulations.  Great fellowship with fellow processors and growers.

Tip of the Day:  Communication and Respect can go a LONG way.

Perspective

Living in the west is so different from where I grew up in the midwest.  I am thankful for my experiences here which have opened my eyes to numerous new ways of life outside of what I am familiar with.  Last night, as I was driving back to Nebraska from Colorado, I pulled over to the side of the road just north of Kimball to watch the beautiful sun set behind the windmills.  At first glance, the moon was really big and beautiful too and it got smaller as I continued driving towards home.

Tip of the Day:  When you wake up say, "Today, my purpose is...."

Before the Sunrises....

I got here a little early the past few mornings so the guys could use my truck to load those boxcars sitting out back.  My truck allows them to pull the goose-neck efficiently.  They start loading before sunrise....which is the best part of the day, in my opinion!

60* and Sunny

~Beautiful day here!  January 5th and it's 60* and SuNNy!  Life is GOOD!~

Day in the Life

Busy day at the office!  Lots of great visits with growers.  Stop by to book your seed for next year!

Live Simply.

Happy New Year!

What a great way to start off the New Year!  Lots of warm weather this week!  I'll take it after that crazy blizzard on Saturday!  I'm so glad that I was inside....I hope everyone was off the roads at that time!  Here is a little post card to welcome in our WONDERFUL new year!