By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

For one member of Mid-Kansas Cooperative at Florence, the recently announced switch to seasonal hours did not come as a surprise.

“I’ve known about the impending change for two or three months,” Chuck DeForest said. “We’ll have to get cattle supplies somewhere else, Peabody, Burns, or Marion.”

Some of his supplies already are accessed from other locations. Chemicals and fertilizer come from Walton, and mineral is purchased from Countryside Feed.

“We’ll miss some stuff, but we’ll work it out somehow,” DeForest said.

He also is a member of Cooperative Grain and Supply and sometimes has hauled grain to Marion. His farming operation is spread across a wide area, and he uses grain facilities closest to his harvest fields, whether it be Florence, Burns, Peabody, or Marion.

The Florence MKC elevator will become a seasonal location effective March 1.

“Every year, we look at the status of multiple facilities and make our determinations from that,” COO Erik Lange said.

Age of the facility, cost of operation, distance to other MKC facilities, and use of the facility all factored into the decision to go seasonal, he explained in a letter to Florence members.

The elevator will continue to take wheat, corn, and soybeans during summer and fall harvests and will have operating hours to benefit owners during harvest periods.

Chuck Knight has been managing Florence and Peabody locations for several years. He will oversee the Florence location for grain receiving and shipping.

Peabody and Burns MKC elevators will process feed, local sales, or returns on farm transactions, as needed.

Grain sales can be handled at Peabody, at any other Team Marketing Alliance location, or by direct deposit.

Cooperative Grain and Supply at Marion may see increased business because of the changes at Florence.

“We’re hoping to see a little bit of that traffic come this way,” manager John Ottensmeier said.

Mid-Kansas Cooperative has headquarters in Moundridge and operates grain elevators throughout central Kansas.