Sept. 20, 2022
Dean and Dave Pilling, together with their sons, Dan, Kelly and Rocky, and grandsons Chaz and Cade, have started the 2022 fall harvest on their multi-generational family farm in Iowa.
Situated in southwest Iowa’s rolling hills, the farm started 50 years ago when Dave and Dean’s father sold his retail propane sales business and dedicated his family’s energies to building a farming operation.
Today, three generations work together to manage several thousand acres rotated between corn and soybeans and a sizable swine operation. The main location in Carson is the center of activity, housing 1.7 million bushels of storage space and a massive shop filled with tools and machinery. The family maintains equipment to store and apply their own inputs and will run multiple semi-trailer trucks and combines during harvest.
As the Pillings look to keep their farm thriving for another five decades, they point to the critical nature of strong business relationships with area ag partners, including long standing relationships with seed dealers, agronomists, fertilizer providers, implement dealers, insurance agents, bankers and more.
One of those key relationships is with Scoular.
Just an 18-minute drive from the Pilling’s main bin site, the Scoular facility in Hancock, Iowa, provides time and cost efficiencies for Pilling corn and soybean delivery. Committed to providing top-notch customer service, Scoular has gained the trust of area producers like the Pillings. Paige Beem, a grain merchant based in Hancock, and Marie Thompson, logistics manager at Hancock, are among Scoular team members serving the Pillings.
With regular investments to improve facilities and support the community, Scoular works to understand the unique needs of their customers. “They always take good care of us,” Dean said. “We choose to work with Scoular for the personal service and honest dealings we get from Marie and Paige and the rest of the team over there,” he continued, referring to the market intelligence regularly shared by Scoular.
Paige said she is proud to offer area farmers personal service to fit their needs, including useful technology like ScoularView, an online portal and mobile app offering access to bids, futures, contracts, settlements and market information 24 hours a day.
“We have a terrific relationship with the Pillings,” Paige said. “We’re fortunate that they trust us with their business, and we strive to continue providing the best service we can for them.”
Technology like ScoularView supplements the company’s in-person offering. Combined with regular conversation with Scoular personnel, ScoularView provides the Pillings with timely and accurate information to run their business.
Active users of ScoularView, Kelly pulls up the mobile app every morning to check his deferred payments and contract balances while Dean uses the online portal from his home computer to reconcile scale tickets and settlements. “It’s pretty hard to beat it,” they agreed.
When asked what it takes to run an operation of their size, the Pillings didn’t hesitate:
“It takes a team – each of us has a different strength to bring to the business” Kelly said. “One of us is better with technology, others manage soil fertility, fertilizer and chemical applications, yet another is our main shop mechanic. We all work together to keep things running smoothly.”
Rocky added, “We’re blessed to be doing this work. We’re grateful to do our part in the food supply chain.”
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