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Mercer Landmark in Rockford Brings Seed Treatment Plant to the Village

by Sheila Baltzell
Mercer Landmark, Inc. has another new venture going on in the village of Rockford. After the success of the soybean extrusion plant started three years ago, the locally farmer owned co-op has expanded into the seed treatment industry and built a state-of the art facility. Completely automated, it is the only one of its kind in the State of Ohio. Director of Agronomy, Dan Dowling said, “Mercer Landmark sells the end product of seed for other companies. In that way we are retailers of seed. And, now we have the unique ability to condition the seed ourselves, handle the marketing and logistics, purchase (contract) the crop back to the Rockford extrusion plant, and market the end product of soy meal and soybean oil. It is a vertically integrated, go-to market strategy for our locally owned cooperative.

Dan Dowling, the new Director of Agronomy, explained that the new plant is centralized to Landmark’s 10 agronomy retail locations for purchasing seed to plant in fields. The northern most location is Payne, Ohio with New Weston as the furthest south.

The seed treatment revolution has become popular and more scientific in the last 5 years, although farmers have been treating their fields for better yields for many years.

The new machine uses an atomizing process that tumbles the soybean seeds while misting on three biological products at once: 1) inoculants help grow more nodules on the plant root which in turn makes more of its own naturally occurring nitrogen for quick starts and long term healthier plants; 2) fungicides (prevent soil born diseases); and 3) insecticides. Dan said, “Farming is now more efficient because, through research, we understand how to grow healthier, higher yielding crops at a more efficient pace.” He continued, “The seeds are genetically enhanced, but it is necessary to feed the world. It is predicted that the world’s population will double by the year 2050. Market trends indicate that to produce enough food, plants that are yielding 150 bushels of corn per acre will have to produce 300 bushels by then.

Currently the operation is preparing soybeans for spring planting for the growing area in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan. They also condition and treat wheat seed for fall planting in these same market areas as well.

Pictures Below are of the seed treatment plant.
The seed tumbler	An old scale but still used occasionally	The system for sending seed to the seed treatment machine	A computer runs it all	Seed waiting for spring planting

Restocking a Winterkill Pond

Bill Lynch, OSU Extension Pond Management Specialists

This was one of those winters across Ohio that caused a significant number of winter fish kills. This was particularly true across central Ohio where thick ice developed prior to the three major snowstorms in early February. All that snow on top of the ice reduced sunlight penetration to zero and oxygen levels declined steadily. In Union county where I live, most ponds did not become ice free until mid-March. In some ponds, owners found their fish floating or lying dead along the bottom. For those pond owners who experienced a kill, they now need to develop a strategy to restock their pond. 

The first activity is to determine whether it was a total fish kill or just a partial kill. How to tell? The pond owner (and friends) should try and catch some fish, particularly bluegills. If hours of fishing in April do not yield a fish, then a total kill was more likely and the pond will need a complete restocking. If only a few bluegills are caught and no bass are caught or seen, then a partial kill occurred. Also, try and remember the species and sizes that you saw dead. If all species and sizes were evident, then a total kill is the likely scenario. If only one species is dead or only larger fish were evident, a partial kill may have occurred. Why is this important? If some bluegills survived, the pond owner probably need not stock them. They produce large numbers of fry in just a few years and bluegills will easily rebound. A partial kill often only needs to have bass, catfish, and grass carp (if used) restocked. Thus, it is important to have some insight into the magnitude of the winter fish kill. 

For any stocking that may be needed, be sure to obtain OSU Extension’s factsheet Fish Species Selection for Pond Stocking which can be obtained at ohioline.osu.edu. The factsheet provides considerable detail on which fish species work best in ponds, how many to stock, and when to stock them. A short summary is in order. Only four recreational species work well in ponds and small lakes: largemouth bass, bluegill sunfish, redear sunfish, and channel catfish. Other fish species could cause considerable fish community problems if stocked. When to restock is a very important consideration. When fish are transported in oxygenated bags or large tanks, they experience stress. The amount of stress is far less in colder water than in warm water, and thus, optimum times to stock is when water temperatures are less than 60 F and preferably around 50 F. That means spring or fall stocking, not summer! Also, stress is quickly increased if the temperature differential between the pond and transport water differs by more than 5 F. The more equal the water temperatures, the less stress the fish will experience. 

In a pond that experienced a total fish kill, an alternative stocking strategy might be considered. Fathead minnows can be stocked in the spring and be allowed to spawn naturally. This will build up huge numbers of small fathead minnows. Game fish stocking then occurs in the following fall. The large amount of minnow prey greatly enhances survival and growth of the stocked bass, bluegills, and catfish. As the minnows decline, bluegill spawning increases and small bluegill then become the predominate prey for the bass.

To whom it may concern,

I am writing to reiterate the points others have brought forth regarding the importance of 4-H and O.S.U. Extension in Van Wert County. These programs are not only important to those directly involved, but many members of our community benefit from the accomplishments of 4-H members and the Van Wert County Extension program as a whole.

Any former 4-H member will tell you of the various skills, knowledge and ability gained from their involvement. They may tell you of role models they interacted with and experiences they had. An employer who has interviewed a 4-H member will likely tell you that 4-H alumni are set apart from the rest because of the exposure they’ve had to leadership opportunities and the confidence they have as they explain their credentials. As we look to prepare the young people of Van Wert County for the future we must consider including 4-H as a way of development and training.

In Van Wert County we are lucky to have a an array of unique and successful  4-H programs. One program we are fortunate to have is the 4-H Interstate Exchange which consists of Van Wert 4-Her’s hosting a group of members from another state for a week and vice versa. This program allows the participants to learn about money management, event planning, and about the distinctive qualities of our area and the areas they visit. A large percentage of our community benefits from the county fair. Many 4-H members and extension employees support the various activities conducted at the fair. From the livestock shows to the Junior Fair Building to the King and Queen contest, much of this would be sorely diminished without a 4-H program in Van Wert County. One could write in great detail about the many other quality programs we have associated with 4-H including, but not limited to: 4-H Camp which is open to non- 4-H members, various special interest clubs like rocketry or fashion, and service groups. Again, all of the aforementioned programs not only benefit those directly involved, but the community gains well skilled people and the opportunity to enjoy and participate in these events.

The Van Wert County Extension office offers support for the 4-H program along with agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, and community development.  In today’s economy it is crucial to keep our local agriculturalists, consumers, and community members abreast of opportunities they have. Agriculture is Ohio’s #1 industry and the agricultural industry employs the most people. As we look to sustain the economic development of our area, it is important to keep those involved in agriculture supported by the knowledge base and programs that the extension office offers such as applicator recertification,  expert advice and connections, and test plot studies and reviews. The Van Wert County Extension program does this and so much more. Without the passage of the, “Extension to the Future,” levy, these offerings will be non-existent or diminish greatly. Please consider voting for the passage of this levy.

Sincerely,

Amanda (Gamble) Kohnen
Mendon, OH 45862

On Saturday April 17^th, 2010 Van Wert County and Paulding County 4-H will be at Tractor Supply Company in Van Wert, OH for 4-H Appreciation Day! The event is free and open to the public! The event is from 10:00am-3:00pm and includes a Kiddie Tractor Pull, Livestock, Bake Sales, and Hot Dogs and Hamburgers for donation! All proceeds benefit the 4-H Programs! Come visit and support the 4-H program!  

Shoppers at the Van Wert Tractor Supply Company will have the opportunity to support 4-H in Van Wert & Paulding Counties by purchasing paper clovers for just $1 at checkout.  All funds raised through this local TSC Paper Clover Campaign will be donated to 4-H, and will support local camps, after-school programs and other 4-H youth development program activities in each of the counties!

Mercer Landmark Soybean Extrusion Plant Going International
by Sheila Baltzell

After 2 years in production at the Rockford plant, Mercer Soy is perking right along, extruding locally grown soybeans into oil and meal.  The oil is being sold in the human market, and the soy meal is a feed supplement for livestock – meaning it is part of a combination of grains, vitamins, minerals, etc to provide food for livestock grown locally. But that is not all.

Scott Boulis, general manager of Mercer Landmark in Rockford, John Wenning, Landmark’s feed salesman and nutritionist, and consultant, Ed Burtch of Burtch Seed, Rockford, recently returned from a 10 day trip to Seoul South Korea and Manila, Philippines where they met with Mayette Ramos, Philippino president of FFF Nutrition, a sales agent for various livestock feed mills in the Philippines. Her company represents Mercer Soy.  In Seoul, South Korea, the group met with Mr. Cho (Aaron) with the ILJU Trading Company, LTD, who is the sales agent for several livestock feed mills in that country. Scott Boulis mentioned that Mercer Landmark has never directly exported before, but, they expect their export volume to make up 20% of total production when finalized. Click Here for the Rest of the Story and Great Pictures on the trip

Rockford Resident Katie King Visits Chile on Agriculture Tour

2006 Parkway graduate, Katie King spent 10 days of her Christmas break from Ohio State University touring the country of Chile in South America.  She is a junior in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University in Columbus, and the trip was planned through the college.
 

This is not her first trip abroad. Last winter she spent 6 weeks traveling in Brazil and studying at ESALQ, a branch of the University of Sao Paulo, located in Piracicaba, Brazil.

She loved it, and decided on Chile for December. 

Katie traveled by air to Chile on December 10 and flew home on December 22. While in Chile the 12 OSU students, one advisor and his son, as well as three other professors traveled by bus all up and down the temperate western coastline bordered to the east by the majestic Andes Mountains. The climate is varied throughout Chile due to the great length of the country.

From the dry desert of the north, to the cooler regions of the south, Katie’s group visited operations that were irrigated in the desert for vegetables, vineyards in all regions, and kiwi groves that grew on arbors and terraced mountainsides. One farm was 150 hectares (approximately 370 acres) and was entirely irrigated to grow vegetables in the sand. She visited a dairy and also learned about the popular Alpaca wool industry of the country. These are just a few of the places encountered on the trip. It focused on the many different aspects of Chilean agriculture and to experience all of this they traveled the entire length of the country in 10 days there.  

Chile, with the beautiful capital city in Santiago, is a long and narrow country running along the west side of South America. The Pacific Ocean is on the west and the Andes Mountains are on the East.  Since they are below the Equator, the seasons are reversed, and Katie visited during their springtime. She described the hills on the sides of the mountains and the flat areas known as “terraces” for growing. Grapes hang and grow on arbors and all vegetables are hand-picked.

Chile is a Spanish speaking country. She took Spanish in high school so had a little bit of background knowledge of the language. For the most part, she did not have a lot of difficulties communicating and spoke enough Spanish to get by. Katie also spent two years as a summer employee at Burtch Seed, and claimed that communicating with their Japanese customers is comparable to dealing with the language barrier in Chile and Brazil.

So, what did she do for fun in Chile?  She hiked through an old lava chute of an active volcano. It had erupted within the last 20 years, and they got to go into the chute to see the rock formations that molten lava melted on the sheer rock face.  She compared it to an Ohio Caverns type of experience. She also visited a hot springs and hung out with some of the local Chilean students several times.

They went to some very good restaurants and tried native food. Seafood is very popular in many Chilean dishes as the entire country is mostly coastline. One interesting dining experience was ordering Pernil de Cerdo which turned out to be the entire shoulder of a hog. They traveled into the mountains several times where people ski and snowboard during their winter months. In one such trip up the mountains, she went to an observatory on a mountain top to star gaze. “Constellations are so clear! On average only 25 nights of the year are cloudy, so Chile is the perfect place to star gaze, and many people world-wide go to Chile for this activity. All constellations are upside down to how we would see them in our skies here in the U.S.”

 “Chile is much more developed than Brazil,” said Katie. “Most of the population lives in metro areas. There are some undeveloped portions in the countryside but not near what I saw in Brazil. While in Brazil, I did community service to help the poor with housing projects like painting and repairing. Brazil has a rocky past and is comparable to the United States during its development 100 years ago. People still carry their live chickens on old school busses for transportation in some places. It’s amazing to see the different stages of development.”

“I also realized, on these trips, how inter-connected our world universities are. Our in-country guide, Rodrigo, actually got his degree at Ohio State in the Agriculture College and works regularly with the university for research. Also ESALQ, where I studied in Brazil, and OSU have a strong partnership in research, and it is not at all uncommon to see Brazilian students in my classes in the Ag College because of this connection.”

She is in the honors program at OSU and currently working on her thesis ~ her undergraduate research. Her graduation will be in 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agri-business. 

Katie’s college professor who will be her honors thesis advisor plays an important part in United States’ agricultural policy. He proposed and co-authored the new ACRE Program included in the recently passes Farm bill. She described the ACRE program as an alternative method of payment distribution within the commodity programs. Her honors research relates to trends in farm size and the role small farms play in Ohio and United States agriculture.  

Katie is the daughter of Mike and Ann King, Rockford, both college graduates, her mom from OSU. She is the oldest of their four daughters, and carrying on the tradition.

Her sisters are Rachel 7^th grade, Jackie, an artist and a junior at Parkway, and Sara, a freshman at OSU who is going into Agriculture Communications.  Their family has a long tradition in farming north of Rockford. The family runs a summer produce stand on 118 with lots of great fresh vegetables like sweet corn, melons, and tomatoes.  She took Ag classes at Parkway under Alan Post and was very active in FFA throughout her high school career. She sings the praises of FFA, and credits her confident air to her involvement in the FFA program where she held an office for three years, learned to do extemporaneous speaking, and worked with community projects. She gained confidence as well as communication and leadership skills that she claims will be vital to success in the future.

For the summer of 2009, she has secured an internship with Cargill in Wichita, Kansas as a commodity merchandiser. So, although she would like to do more traveling, she will be working for the summer months. She looks forward to hopefully doing more travel internationally in the future.

Remember to click on smaller thumbnail pictures to enlarge them.

Alpaca and wool clothing at local market	Andes Mountains	Andes Mountains	Carrot Harvest	Carrots going to market
Chilean director for trip with Katie	Chilean seafood dish	Column of beer at a brewery we toured	Common store in Chilean cities	Feeding calves at a dairy
Grape production at winery	Grape production on side of mountain	Grapes at vineyard	Kiwi production	Lettuce
Local market	Many grapes in Walmart and other groceries come from Chile	One of many John Deere Dealers seen	Opening of a lava chute in a volcano	Pernil de Cerdo (shoulder of a hog)
Port city 2	Port city	Katie brought home alpaca wool clothing

Van Wert, Ohio—Advanced Biological Marketing (ABM), an agricultural leader in the Van Wert area and consumers from Thomas Edison Adult Center teamed together to produce marketing materials to promote T-22 for Wheat.

This marketing promotion consists of a printed plastic flower pot, top soil, a small amount of wheat treated with T-22, instructions and promotional literature placed in a box. All items are carefully measured and assembled by Thomas Edison consumers (clients) and will be sent nationwide to Seed Dealers encouraging them to try the T-22 product.

Carla Frank, Production Scheduler for Thomas Edison Adult Center is excited about working with ABM, “We’re always looking for jobs like this for our consumers. This is exactly the type of job we can do and want to do. It’s really a nice fit, assembling the necessary items, and preparing boxes for mailing.”

 “Being able to work with Thomas Edison has my attention. It’s important to be involved with our local community. ABM is pleased to have Thomas Edison working on this project and they’re doing a great job,” said Dan Custis, President of ABM.

 ABM identifies, develops, and markets specialty biological products for agricultural and agricultural related industries. Their T-22 promotion highlights how it is different from traditional fungicides in that it grows season long with the root system.

Thomas Edison Adult Center actively pursues quality programs, services, and supports that will assist adults in achieving their greatest potential. 

Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet
Bagworm And Its Control

We are fast approaching the time that branch death of the most susceptible plants (e.g. arborvitae) can result from bagworm feeding. Fortunately, a foliar application of one of several insecticides may stop them from producing more damage. However, don't wait till late in the growing season to manage the bagworm, because even the traditional insecticides lose their effectiveness against large bagworms. For homeowners, conventional insecticides such as Sevin and malathion provide satisfactory results if used.

One additional note to make at this time is that conifers are not the only plants that these pests feed on. Conifers are just the plants that can be easily killed by the bagworm feeding. Bagworms can feed and thrive on a long list of deciduous trees and shrubs including sycamore, crabapple and honeylocust trees. These trees may not be killed by the bagworm; however, the caterpillars can make them look very bad. The infested trees can also act as a reservoir for bagworms to spread throughout the landscape in future seasons.  Read the OSU Factsheet on bagworms for more detail on this pesky pest: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2149.html
 

Mercer Landmark Soybean Extrusion Plant Opens in Rockford
Open House Held

The long-awaited soybean extrusion plant in Rockford is open and ready for production, according to Scott Boulis, Mercer Landmark manager in Rockford. A well-attended open house on Saturday, September 15 provided the community an opportunity to see the new facility and hear all about Rockford’s newest business venture.

Running from 10 am to 2 pm, the tours were conducted by the employees of the Mercer Landmark plant in Rockford, with Scott Boulis doing 20 minute talks with question and answer times provided.

Scott explained that the Mercer Landmark Soybean Extrusion Plant is a dry extrusion, mechanical oil extraction plant, one of the simplest types to operate and maintain.  Once the plant is in full operation, it will run 5 days per week, 16 hours per day with 293 bushels run through the machine per hour for a total of 1, 218,800 bushels a year.   In terms of pounds, that equates to 17,580 beans per hour for a total of 73,132,800 lbs. per year.

Scott also mentioned that the plant will make 14,575 lbs of expressed soybean meal per hour equaling  30,316 ton per year as well as 9,343,000 lbs of oil per year (1,204,000 gallons).  Scott mentioned that Cargill and Bunge, by comparison, deal in volumes much larger than Rockford. But Mercer Landmark's advantage will be in the ability to switch back and forth from pressing low lin beans to conventional beans as requested.

The horsepower connected to operate the new plant will be 1,483 generated by electricity and propane from Landmark. 

The InstaPro Company out of DesMoines Iowa made this extruder/press, and Scott says that Landmark’s is the largest around and there are no others like it in the state of Ohio. He personally visited ½ dozen of these operations around Indiana, Arkansas and Iowa. Most are small farm operations.

A green hammermill will pulverize the beans before they are loaded into the extruder. The heat generated will be 315 degrees as they are pushed through a hole the size of a pencil.  An explosive-type reaction takes place as the meal is pressed.  There are stainless steel components here.

The temperature of the meal paste must then be reduced to 240 degrees to put it into the next press which Scott explained is like a cider press.  The oil comes out of a slotted area and runs down a chute to be loaded into waiting tankers.

As the temperature reduces, a mild-grade steel auger is then used to create a meal cake @170 degrees of the remaining meal. There is a lump-breaker in this process, too, as fans pulling outside air will be used to cool the meal. There are 10 lbs of oil in a bushel of beans. Seven pounds of oil will be removed, so a meal cake will have 3 lbs. of oil till left in it.

The high protein meal produced is ready to have other nutrients added to it and much of their meal will go into dairy feed. It will be sold locally at Landmark’s Celina, New Weston, Chickasaw and St. Henry branches and direct shipped to the farms.

Special beans called Vistive will be used most of the time. However, Scott mentioned that the beauty of the equipment they bought will allow them to switch to other beans as well. They have a low-lin bean which will be pressed for a health food company in North Carolina once a week.  He pointed out that no chemicals are added, and the first pressing is likened to the first pressing of olive oil.  The beans are sorted from low to high lin and stored in grain bins.  The North Carolina products should soon be available on the market, and Landmark will likely sell those products locally in the future.

The oil will travel to refineries to be further prepared for the consumer. The gums are removed and so is the color.  Scott said that they built the plant with extra square footage so that a refinery could be added at some point if they want to do so. Otherwise, it will serve as warehouse space. There are no local oil sales at this time. Tankers will ship out-of-state mostly.

They new facility will employ 3 people on the day shift. Two will be in the plant and the 3^rd will be cleaning and loading beans. It is a highly-automated process with all controls being right in the equipment itself. All machines face each other to keep better track of temperature and pressures. There are no central controls, and it takes fewer people to run theeverything. 

Scott was asked about noise and smell associated with the plant. The large structure is well-insulated and will absorb the sound, although employees will be required to where protective earplugs. Heat will be generated during this process, too.  The smell is cooked out of the product with virtually no smell after the cool-down. Keeping the area clean will be a priority, too. Said, Scott, “ We want to be a good neighbor.”

The dollar  investment for Landmark was 3 million on this project with grant monies coming from local and federal government sources as well as a loan from the revolving Mercer County Loan Fund. Besides InstaPro, Mercer County Electric from Ft. Recovery and Kraner Construction from Ohio City were the building contractors.

The pictures below show expressed soy meal mechanically extruded and pressed and a decanter of commodity soybean oil. It is not refined and has an orange cast to it.

Over 300 people attend the open house where refreshments were served.  At left are the Landmark team in Rockford - Scott Bowen, Alice Provci, Dennis Schwieterman, Denise Myers, Scott Boulis, Robert Dailey and Wayne Bollenbacher.

Runs on Mercer Landmark Propane	Questions and Answers	Employees gave tours	Extruding Process	Air cooling
Behind the scenes	Tours
	Refreshments in the warehouse	Soybean storage	Extruded soymeal and un-refined soybean oil	While in progress in Winter 2007 . . . .

The family including, sons and daughter, Dustin, Danny, and  Dee-Dee, have raised Suffolk sheep (white bodies; black heads) for over 25 years. The breed is beautiful, and the family has 115 baby lambs (250 total head of sheep) at present count. Suffolks are a breed native to the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge and Essex in southeastern England. The Suffolk breed was formed when Southdowns were crossed with Norfolk. A heartier, meatier breed was created. Flocks produce a high percentage of twins.

Born all with all black wool, at eight days old, each bleating 15-22 lb. bundle begins to turn white except for their legs and faces which remain black as adults.  Knapke's prize-winning sheep are a meat breed (mutton) and prized for their wool. Shearing comes once a year in December. Steve and Deb Knapke are 4-H advisors for the Shepherd's Choice 4-H Club in Mercer County. Their children prepare the yearlings to be shown at county and state fairs and contests, where they regularly win ribbons.

Steve explained that they cannot keep all of the new lambs. They keep the bloodline true through the males. They are always building a group that is uniform.  When they reach market weight of 120-140 lbs, they are sold. The Knapkes keep the best ewes, sell some of their stock to 4-H families for projects or to raise, and they sell the others at market. Some sheep have been sold and shipped overseas to Israel where breeders in that country are trying to create a heartier variety. Steve explained that there is a quarantine of 30 days on the 5-6 month old sheep going out of the country. They ship via airplane to John F. Kennedy Airport and live at the stockyard there for the duration of the 30 days.

Lambs are sometimes bottle fed and later eat pellets. The adult sheep eat corn. The Knapke's grow and bale their own hay, but buy corn and straw.

The Mercer Landmark‘s Vistive Soybean Extrusion plant is in the process of being built by Kraner Excavating of Ohio City. According to Alice Provci at Mercer Landmark, “the steel is at the lot, the footers have been dug, and the goal is to have the foundation poured this week. For December, we have had unseasonably warm weather which allows for outdoor projects to get done." There is no anticipated date of completion of the plant. 

The plant will create 10 new jobs and use Vistive soybeans, a Monsanto trademark, grown locally.

In Honor of Our Great Farming Community:

Mercer Landmark Fertilizer Building in Rockford Coming Down
Recent Silo Razing is Making Way for Grain Extrusion Plant
A New Business for Rockford!