As we look back on this past 2015 year, Tyree Ag appreciates your continued support and business that has helped us get to where we are today! This newsletter explains some highlights from 2015 that you may not know about.
Tyree Ag is always growing and with that comes new employees! This year, we have added five new members to our team. Sammy Burch returned to Tyree Ag in February and works in our transportation department. Kristine Puthoff also joined the Tyree Ag team in February as our Communications Manager. In May, recent K-State grad Garrett Reiss started as a salesman and our new Seed Sales Manager. Bret Laprarie of Colorado joined in July as a salesman in the Pratt area, and Garrett Klenke began working as a spray rig driver in September. Due to the addition of employees, we have had to add additional office space to our Kinsley location. Our communications manager, IT manager, seed sales manager, and our salesman are now housed in the “north office” building located to the north of the main office and warehouse. Next time you visit us, be sure to check in at our main office, then venture over to the north office to see our latest temporary addition!
Speaking of new additions, last December we broke ground on a new office and warehouse at our Laverne, Oklahoma location. The Inside building containment will have a volume of 8,950 gallons, as well as indoor and outdoor fertilizer containment of 6,902 gallons and 46,902 gallons respectively. The warehouse will have radiant floor heating, as well as loading and unloading bays for more efficient product delivery. These modern facilities (also at our Kinsley location) provide secure and environmentally friendly storage for seed, liquid fertilizer, and bulk and packaged crop protection products. All aerial and ground equipment are loaded inside in contained areas that are protected from the weather of the central plains. Airplanes and ground applicators are loaded with automated equipment to insure the highest level of accuracy and to minimize exposure to employees and the environment. Tyree Ag will be utilizing these facilities in 2016 and a ribbon cutting and open house event will be announced at a later date. For more photos on our construction progress, check out our gallery on the website or our Facebook page.
To stay on the leading edge of application technology and to understand the latest in disease and pest management, our professional applicators attend training and workshop events year round. Besides presentations featuring introductions of new products and their proper placement and usage, ongoing training also enables an understanding of the newest nozzle technologies and the best combinations of superior adjuvants, crop protection and fertility products. Our pilots, IT manager, salesmen, communications manager, and other employees also attend trainings and informational sessions to stay educated and “in the know” about the latest news and issues in the agriculture industry. There are far too many to mention, but here are a few highlights and events that we have attended:
- Flying Tigers Aviation
- AgroLiquid Retail Leadership Development Program
- United Suppliers Owners Summit
- AgroLiquid Research Field Days
- National Agricultural Aviation Association Board Meetings and Convention
- Kansas Association of Independent Crop Consulting Annual Meetings
- Employee, Steve Gonzales, obtained his 1A Application Certification
- Pioneer Launch Meeting
- Oklahoma Ag Retailers Expo
With a new hire for a Communications Manager came some advertising and social media additions this year. Our new website is up and running, as well as new Twitter (@TyreeAgInc) account and YouTube channel. We also still have our Facebook page that is a lot more active this year. Be sure to LIKE our page and you could find some fun contests or educational pieces you can participate in on your farm or operation. One example of a competition we had this year was our Wheat Harvest Photo Contest. This year’s winner was Abbie Heinz of Edwards County. We will do this competition again in 2016.
In April, Tyree Ag attended the Great Bend Farm & Ranch Show as an exhibitor. Since this is a new event for us to advertise at, we learned a lot and are looking forward to our booth this spring (April 6-8). In October, we also had a booth at the 3i Show in Dodge City where we welcomed current and potential customers to stop by our booth to learn more about Tyree Ag and what we offer.
In March, Tyree Ag sponsored The Peterson Brothers as entertainment for the Edwards County NRCS dinner. It was great to hear the boys’ story about how they got started, what inspires them, and what they have in store for the future. If you haven’t already, check out their agriculture parodies (YouTube) about what they do on their farm and livestock operation in Kansas.
In May, Tyree Ag helped sponsor the Edwards County FSA Agricultural Farm Safety Day and in October we participated in Clark County’s similar event where we displayed a spray rig and shared educational information with youth and adult volunteers about chemical safety, what Tyree Ag does, and about the spray rig itself.
In July, Tyree Ag cosponsored a meal and helped serve at the Kiowa County Fair. It was great to meet many of the 4-H’ers and their families in the county and to see some of their projects they worked so hard on throughout the year.
Tyree Ag had the pleasure of hosting twelve members from the AgroLiquid team at our Kinsley location in October. AgroLiquid is our provider and retail partner of all of our fertilizer products. Their employees came from Michigan to tour our facilities, discuss the future of Tyree Ag, learn about new changes regarding branding, and strengthened our business relationship as retail partners. It was great to host them in Kinsley, Kansas!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and with many customers and employees who have been affected by this, Tyree Ag showed their support by wearing pink with a few personal donations made to various related charities.
In November, Tyree Ag celebrated their 15th year anniversary in business. On Saturday, November 7th, approximately 350 individuals gathered at Kinsley’s airport to celebrate the years of success for Tyree Ag. The evening included an open house where customers could speak with vendors who were set up at booths in the company’s warehouse. Dinner, professional speaker and comedian Damian Mason followed along with door prizes and live music provided by the Wes Cossman Band. Although this was a celebration of 15 years in business for Tyree Ag, we know we could not have gotten to where we are today without continued support with our customers and vendors.
If you have visited the Kinsley Airport or our Kinsley office location lately, you may have noticed a new airplane fuel tank installed to the north of our hangar. We have partnered with the city to make this addition happen and we are excited to start advertising our fuel and to encourage pilots traveling by to visit our great community. Look for more information to come!
On the more personal side, we have had a few new additions to our employees’ families! We were happy to welcome Emily Sollock and Taelyn Vigness to our Tyree Ag family. Congrats to Avery & Amy Sollock and Joe & Cassey Vigness!
Of course there are many other events, special occasions, and “happenings” at Tyree Ag in 2015, but hopefully with this recap you have learned a little more about what we as employees throughout the year, outside the sales, application and business areas of Tyree Ag. We look forward to a great 2016 and as always we appreciate your business and continued support. We wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2016!
KP
