PRESS RELEASE

Information Contact:
ALCIVIA Marketing Team
marketing@ALCIVIA.com

Matt Olson
C.O.nxt
920.493.3714
molson@co-nxt.com

For Immediate Release: July 23, 2024

ALCIVIA Now Supporting Farmers in Truterra’s Sustainability Programs

Enrollment period for 2025 now open

COTTAGE GROVE, WI  – ALCIVIA, a member-owned cooperative, has signed an agreement with Land O’ Lakes, Inc. to join the Truterra, LLC retailers network. The partnership opens financial pathways for eligible farmers to transition to agricultural conservation practices while participating in the Truterra® financial assistance – a USDA-supported program.

“Transitioning to new conservation agriculture practices can feel like a major undertaking,” says Nick Christen, VP of Agronomy for ALCIVIA. “With this opportunity for financial assistance offered by Truterra, we’re working to streamline and support the transition so our members and customers can embrace regenerative practices with confidence.”

Eligible farmers who enroll in the 2025 Truterra® financial assistance – a USDA-supported program through ALCIVIA between August 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025, can earn up to $100 per acre for 500 acres when converting to strip/no-till planting and adopting cover crops for the 2025 crop year.

“Our members and customers will benefit significantly from this partnership,” says Jim Dell, CEO and President of ALCIVIA. “We are excited about this opportunity to help our members as they work to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture.”

Truterra offers sustainability programs designed to help reduce the environmental impact of agricultural production through the consultation, tools, and solutions that it provides. Eligible farmers may experience enhanced agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits by implementing conservation agronomy practices in their fields.

“Farmers are quickly realizing that Truterra’s farmer-friendly approach provides a strong connection between sustainability and profitability,” says Jamie Leifker, President of Truterra. “Farmers work with a trusted advisor who helps plot the course, adopt the practices, and achieve success.”

In 2024, Truterra announced that its carbon program paid farmers more than $21 million for more than 1.1 million metric tons of carbon during the first three years of the program.

To learn more about the details and enroll in this program through ALCIVIA, visit www.TruterraAg.com/Enroll.

About ALCIVIA
ALCIVIA is a leading, member-owned agricultural and energy cooperative driven by a passion for excellence and a future without boundaries. Located in Wisconsin and serving farm, business, and retail customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa, ALCIVIA’s engaged employees provide innovative, responsible solutions to help drive the immediate and long-term success of their customers, including competitive input financing, and best-in-class products and services in agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and grain. Learn more about ALCIVIA at www.ALCIVIA.com.

About Truterra
Truterra is a leading sustainability solutions provider, advancing and connecting sustainability efforts throughout the food system at scale – from farmers to ag retailers to value chain collaborators including food and fiber companies. Truterra positions farmers for success by providing them tools and resources to establish a stewardship baseline, track progress on every field they farm, access conservation resources, and prepare for ecosystem services market opportunities. The Truterra network brings together the best in agricultural technology and precision conservation to drive sustainability across the food system, feeding people, safeguarding the planet, and supporting farmer livelihoods. Truterra was launched in 2016 by Land O’Lakes, Inc., a member-owned cooperative that spans the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. To learn more, visit www.TruterraAg.com.

PRESS RELEASE

Information Contact:

ALCIVIA Marketing Team
marketing@ALCIVIA.com

For Immediate Release: May 9, 2024

ALCIVIA Awards 25 Scholarships to Local Youth Pursuing Secondary Education

COTTAGE GROVE, WI – ALCIVIA is pleased to announce the winners of our annual scholarships. The cooperative recently presented 25 scholarships of $1,000 each to a group of local high school seniors and collegiate students pursuing post-secondary education. Scholarships were awarded during ALCIVIA’s annual scholarship reception, which was held virtually to bring students together from across the state of Wisconsin. Recipients were able to discuss future goals and aspirations with ALCIVIA leadership during the reception.

“Here at ALCIVIA, we focus on giving back to our communities in the areas of safety, hunger, and youth development. It’s great to see that go to work with these scholarships and getting to watch the students grow to their next level,” said Jim Dell, CEO and President. 

The ALCIVIA scholarship program encourages academic, professional, and leadership development. ALCIVIA is delighted to announce the 2023-24 winners:
 
High School Recipients            
Alana Durtschi – Albany High School, attending UW-La Crosse 
Alicia Hill – Arise Virtual High School, attending Carroll University  
Alyssa Nowak – East Troy High School, attending Gateway Technical College
Brian Styer – Menomonie High School, attending UW-Madison
Camryn Kirkham – Augusta High School, attending Chippewa Valley Technical College
Chance Austin – Milton High School, attending Iowa State University 
Charlotte Tompkins – Rio High School, attending UW-La Crosse
Cole Weisenbeck – Durand-Arkansaw High School, attending UW-Platteville 
Dani Graff – Markesan High School, attending UW-Platteville 
Elena Weber – Durand-Arkansaw High School, undecided
Gabrielle Neumann – Osceola High School, attending Iowa State University 
Hillary Klubertanz – Columbus High School, attending Kansas State University 
Luke Fischer – Lincoln High School, attending UW-Madison
Luke Hying – Waterford Union High School, attending Southwest Technical College 
Lundyn Carlson – Pepin High School, attending University of Minnesota Twin Cities  
Megan Glover – Markesan High School, Fox Valley Technical College
Olivia Saxe – Mondovi High School, undecided
Payton Calvert – Cuba City High School, Southwest Technical College 
Sarah Jensen – Amery High School, attending Minnesota State University 
Tyce Bettenhausen – Cambridge High School, attending UW-Platteville 
Valery Vayserberg – McFarland High School, undecided 
                       
College Recipients
Erik Schultz – Blackhawk Technical College
Karyn Duddeck – UW-Stout
Kendra Goplin – South Dakota State University
Kyle Diedrich – UW-Whitewater 

ALCIVIA has awarded more than 900 scholarships totaling more than $490,850 to students since 1989 in support of building a strong future for its members, its communities, and the world.

 “Each year the recipients impress us with their dedication to their academics, extra-curriculars, and community involvement. We are so grateful to get to play a part in their academic and career journeys,” Board Chairman Jim Lange shared. 

ALCIVIA is a leading, member-owned agricultural and energy cooperative driven by our passion for excellence and a future without boundaries. Located in Wisconsin and serving farm, business and retail customers in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa, our engaged employees provide innovative, responsible solutions to help drive the immediate and long-term success of our customers, including competitive operating loans and input financing, as well as best-in-class products and services for the agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and grain needs of our customers.

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ALCIVIA is investing in a John Deere lease program that will replace one-third of our agronomy applicator machines each year with new machines. The team at ALCIVIA is extremely excited for our machines to be consistent, making it easier for our operators to change machines and flex throughout the territory. This new program will enhance ALCIVIA’s existing capabilities and will drive efficiency and greater profitability for our members and customers.

This year, ALCIVIA is adding 24 new machines to the agronomy fleet. Our objective is to be on a three-year rotation so one-third of the machines will be new every year and will be replaced every three years. The machines are backed by John Deere’s robust warranty, and we are looking forward to less downtime, fewer breakdowns, and easier and more cost-efficient troubleshooting. Additionally, the common parts needed to fix the machines will be uniform and on-hand for quicker repairs. With the wide range of machines in ALCIVIA’s current fleet, efficiency and cost of repairs has looked much different in the past.

With the ever-evolving and fast-paced world of technology, ALCIVIA is excited to align with our mission of delivering innovative solutions to our members. The opportunity to cycle machines faster will allow us to offer the most up-to-date technology available. This is equally exciting for current and future ALCIVIA custom application operators, knowing that they will be able to get into newer machines with the highest efficiencies and latest technologies.

The ALCIVIA team is excited for this program to kick off this spring so we can continue to provide innovative and responsible solutions to our members and customers. Keep your eye out for these new machines across the ALCIVIA footprint!

ALCIVIA values the safety of our members, customers, and employees first and foremost. As we enter planting season, we want to take this opportunity to provide a short refresher on planting safety.

The planter has a lot of moving parts and while most of them are small and internal, or hidden behind shielding, there are still dangers that operators should be aware of to ensure a safe spring planting season.

Many of the dangers of a planter are not obvious because they are hidden in potential energy (or stored energy). Potential energy on a planter can be in the form of gravity, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, or other forms. When working with gravity, it is important to remember that the planter could lower down at any moment, posing a risk of harm to you and/or others. Proper installation of safety stops or pins could save a foot, arm, leg, or even a life. Never get under a planter without first making sure that the safety stops are installed.

In a planter, pneumatics are used in several ways, but row unit down force and row cleaners are two of the most common. Draining the air pressure from the system before servicing the machine is important. Hydraulic pressure is also used almost everywhere on the machine. Hydraulics play into several dangerous scenarios. First, if a hydraulic line blows, the planter could have unexpected movement. This sudden and unexpected movement may include the planter lowering, a wing folding/unfolding, a marker lower unexpectedly, and more. There is also the possibility of hydraulic oil injecting into your body. Never check for hydraulic leaks with your hand; always use something other than a body part when feeling around for the leak. With hydraulic pressures on some machines getting above 6000 PSI, the oil has great force when there is a pin hole leak in the system.

Newer planters are using electricity to run meters and other parts of the planter. With the increase in technologies, the voltages powering the new systems are rising to the point that an accidental contact could pose dangerous health risks. Know your planter and know what you are dealing with. If you are unsure about your machine’s electrical system, get the help of a trained professional to help diagnose and repair your machine.

ALCIVIA is taking delivery of 24 new application machines for use this season. Even with a new machine, ALCIVIA applicators are trained to do a walk-around prior to use to make sure all their safety equipment is in order. This includes items like lights, slow moving vehicle signs, mirrors, fire extinguisher, windows, first aid kit, and personal protective equipment. Just because it worked yesterday, doesn’t mean it will work today.

While it is easy to talk about safety, it is challenging to change habits. Safety doesn’t start overnight; it needs to be worked on every day. With the fast-moving pace of today’s world, it is easy to take a chance to keep moving in the field. Efficiency is everyone’s goal, but it is important to slow down and make sure we can accomplish this in a safe manner. ALCIVIA’s value of safety refers to our commitment to the health and well-being of our co-workers, families, customers, environment, and communities. Please incorporate safety into your own every day this season.