CALF_News_Feb_March_2019

42 CALF News • February | March 2019 • www.calfnews.net By Blaine Davis Contributing Editor Beyond the Ranch Gate Where From Here? A s the New Year unfolds, new challenges and opportunities are sure to unfold. Thinking of the upcoming farming season and the next 12 months of my architectural practice, it seems more like déjà vu. After nearly 40 years of such, it has become more like a routine. January 1 brought a break to this routine with a new personal milestone, as safely stashed next to the permit in my wallet that allows me the freedom of the open road beyond the ranch gate is a “red, white and blue card.” Yes, it's official, I’m now one of the Medicare generation. My peers, both younger and those carrying the same card, tell me all will be good, the government will take care of me and there's nothing to worry about. But my first encounter with a new drug plan has me asking,“Where from here?” While my physician commends me on my relatively good health and lifestyle, it’s a couple of little pills that suddenly have things going awry. The need for a daily supplement for blood pressure and cholesterol control, simple in the past, now has become cumbersome. My local pharmacy, part of the new plan’s network, only allows both my wife and me a total of two covered refills of all of our prescriptions. Having no local source for our needs, between our physician and our own resourcefulness, a Wichita pharmacy within the network can provide 90-day supplies, thus limiting our road trips to the east. With the miracles of modern medicine and the government’s watchful eye being heralded as a “cure-all” for my generation, it actually seems the contrary, with less assis- tance and more “self-help.” But with this seemingly solved for now, my attention is to the farm. The past six years, I have had the privilege of serv- ing on the Farmer’s Gas LLC Board of Directors. Utilizing “self-help” provisions in Kansas Statute 66-2104, a rather large group of northern Haskell and southern Finney County farmers formed a Non-Profit Public Utility (NPU) to provide natural gas for irrigation purposes to more than 270 quarter- sections of agricultural ground, plus a large cattle feedyard and a rural grain elevator. Having a family farm within the boundaries of this service area, I attended a meeting with the intention of reporting back to the family about what this entailed. Reporting back with that plus an unexpected wrinkle – there was a need for one more board member, and the privilege of such now rests with me. Our group of rural gas users, defined by the state as any person currently using natural gas from a wellhead or gathering facility for agricultural purposes on property they own, lease or operate that is located outside city limits and not presently receiving gas service from an existing gas service utility, had iden- tified a need for a reliable source for quality natural gas. Armed with the provisions of state statutes and a common goal, this group pulled off what many scoffed at – the con- struction of a $3.2 million pipeline distribution network. With an operational partnership with Midwest Energy, Inc., Farmer’s Gas LLC saves its members $300,000 or more in gas transportation costs annually. Closer to home, our farm being one those utilizing wellhead gas having questionable quality and pressure, we were able to discontinue the wallet-flattening practice of powering one of our irrigation wells with diesel fuel. Charged with overseeing and operating our own NPU, I often think of the board of directors as more like a think tank. Analyzing energy markets much like day traders, we have purchased natural gas via hedge contracts, often as far ahead as crop year 2022. Not only have we assured gas flow through the critical months of the crop growing seasons, but favorable pricing offsets some input costs during these times of down commodity market pricing. Many board meeting discussions have turned toward the larger picture of groundwater management, future of reserves, foreseen shortages and “Where from here?” A couple of years earlier, one member brought about a discussion of transferring water through a system of canals and lift stations to the drier high plains from the often flooded basins of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. While this monstrous civil-engineering endeavor may seem far-fetched and prohibitively expensive, many thought the same of our farmer-owned natural gas distribution system. At the most recent meeting, this same board member posed, “What has happened to the correlation between anhydrous ammonia prices and that of natural gas and corn?” Nitrogen fertilizers are the major input in corn production and anhy- drous ammonia is the widely used nitrogen fertilizer. Conse- quently, the major input in ammonia production is natural gas. Where from here? The “here” is this rather oblivious natural gas tap to Southern Star Central Pipeline in Haskell County, Kansas. The “where” is the start of Farmer’s Gas, LLC’s distribution to over 270 quarter- sections of crop land. Continued on page 43 