As we wrap up our 105th year, we have much to reflect on. 2024 is a year that will be remembered for a long time due to the impacts of the drought. The spring of 2024 started off wet, with a few big rain events, which caused a lot of acres to be replanted or switched to soybeans in our territory.
Throughout the summer, the drought continued stressing the crop up until harvest. While there were pockets that didn’t feel the impact, we also heard many reports of soybean yields being half of what is typically seen on farms. Our elevators felt that impact at harvest as well with our bushel intake being down over 30% compared to the year prior.
Even with the challenging year though, we achieved a net savings of $1,259,471 from $137,473,690 in total sales. These numbers mean we will return to the membership $600,000 in patronage of which 50% will be distributed in cash. This amounts to 4 cents per bushel on local grain sales, 2 cents per bushel on direct grain sales, and 3.0% on fuel purchases.
We have stayed committed to reinvesting in your cooperative. This past year we completed a grain expansion at our Lemoyne facility, added a new chemical storage building at our Berkey agronomy center, and invested heavily in our fleet of equipment. In addition to those capital projects, we also made meaningful investments at our other facilities.
On February 1, 2025, we welcomed the Mid-Wood employees, members, and customers to Luckey Farmers. Full integration is ongoing as we work on delivering the synergies that we identified last year. We now have a team of 197 employees across 20 locations to serve you.
I would like to thank the board of directors, our employees, members, and customers. I value all of you for the positive contributions you have made to Luckey Farmers this past year and look forward to working with you all in the future.
