Additional grain storage at Peetz Farmers Co-op, 40 years of service from a Lemanco installation, and new manufacturing investments lead this month’s Chief Agri Insights.
In this issue, you’ll find perspectives from Mark Kjar, an engineering update from Keaton Friesen, and an operations update from Mike Henderson. We’re also sharing Peetz’s Grain Journal cover feature and project video, revisiting a Lemanco project in Sunflower, Mississippi, and looking ahead to FIGAP, October 21–23 in Guadalajara, México.
Thank you for your continued partnership and trust in Chief Agri. We appreciate the opportunity to support your operation and the relationships that keep us connected throughout the industry.
Mark Kjar President/General Manager
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
Mark Kjar, President/General Manager
Keeping Our Priorities Connected to Yours
Leading a manufacturing business means making decisions that will matter well beyond the current season. Where should we invest? What should we improve? Which opportunities deserve our attention?
For me, those decisions need to stay connected to the people using our products. We measure production, capacity, and efficiency within our own operation, but we also need to understand what those improvements mean for a customer or dealer. Are we making their work easier? Are we addressing a real need? Are we following through on our commitments?
The answers should help shape our engineering priorities, manufacturing improvements, and the support we provide. Every part of our business has a role in turning what we learn into something useful.
We also have to balance new opportunities with the responsibility of supporting equipment already in service. Customers invest in systems they may rely on for decades. Our decisions need to account for that long view, whether we’re developing a new product or helping maintain the value of an existing installation.
Harvest brings those responsibilities into focus. Reliability, grain quality, and the ability to keep an operation moving become immediate concerns. The experiences of the people doing that work deserve a place in the decisions we make next.
Everyone who plays a part in agriculture brings a perspective worth hearing. What is changing in your work? What challenges need more attention? And what could equipment manufacturers, including Chief Agri, do better to support you?
I encourage you to share those observations with our team. Our responsibility is to listen, consider what we hear, and follow through with improvements that matter. That is how we keep our priorities connected to yours.
Thank you for the work you do for agriculture and for the trust you place in Chief Agri.
What should our industry be doing better?
Share the challenges, questions, and ideas you
believe grain equipment manufacturers should be
paying attention to. We want to hear your perspective.
Click hereto download the complete Engineering Bulletin.
ENGINEERING UPDATE
Keaton Friesen, Structural Engineering Manager
Introducing the No. 20 Unstructured Roof
Our engineering team is introducing Chief Agri’s new No. 20 Unstructured Roof Design, featuring 80 roof panels and two configurations with different peak load and ground snow load ratings.
The panels connect to a 108-inch-diameter outer peak ring, which is connected by spokes to a 40-inch-diameter inner ring.
The heavier configuration includes “Z” under-rib reinforcements along the bottom portion of each roof sheet.
All peak loads are applied to the outer peak ring. Specially designed peak supports are detailed in the engineering bulletin. Temperature cables are permitted for grain depths of up to 18 rings.
Mike Henderson
Operations Manager
OPERATIONS UPDATE
Mike Henderson, Operations Manager
Strong Production, Continued Investment
September was a busy production month at Chief Agri, with our team manufacturing and shipping more than a million pounds of product per week. Our Operations team is working to maintain that pace throughout October as we meet customers’ schedules during harvest.
Current lead times range from mid-November to early January, depending on the product line. We’re focused on shortening those lead times and improving order turnaround as we look ahead to 2027.
Investing in Manufacturing Capabilities
Over the next few months, we’re adding three pieces of equipment to strengthen our manufacturing capabilities.
CNC Router Table
Expected arrival: Early October
Upgrades production of drag conveyor paddles and material handling shaft seals.
4 Roll Plate Roller
Expected arrival: December
Increases plate rolling capacity and allows tighter manufacturing tolerances on radius-rolled products.
Flanging Machine
Expected arrival: December
Upgrades bin peak ring production and accommodates a wider range of materials and peak ring sizes, giving Engineering more flexibility in future designs.
These investments support the work our team does every day: producing quality equipment and getting orders to customers as efficiently as possible.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
40 Years of Service: The Advantage of a Modular Design
Jesco | Sunflower, Mississippi
After approximately 40 years of service, the Lemanco Modular Bins at this Sunflower, Mississippi, facility were ready for replacement. But replacing the bins didn’t mean replacing the entire system.
One of the advantages of the Lemanco modular design is the ability to repair or replace individual bins in the field. Working with Jesco, the existing bins were removed and replaced while retaining the portions of the system that could continue to serve the operation.
The project demonstrates the long-term serviceability of a modular system and the value of equipment that can be maintained, repaired, and updated as needs change over time.
BEFORE
DURING
AFTER
KEY TAKEAWAY Lemanco Modular Bins can be repaired or replaced in the field, helping extend the useful life of the overall system.
When more grain arrives at harvest, having room to receive it matters. Peetz Farmers Co-op’s expansion in Peetz, Colorado, is featured on the cover of the September/October issue of Grain Journal, highlighting how additional storage helped the cooperative meet growing demand.
Working with Chief Agri dealer M & N Millwright, Peetz added more than 800,000 bushels of storage with a Chief CB40-19 bin, along with grain handling equipment to connect the new capacity to its existing operation.
During its first harvest with the expansion in service, the cooperative handled a record volume across its Peetz and Iliff locations. The added storage gave Peetz more flexibility to receive grain, manage inventories, and continue serving farmers during the busiest weeks of the year.
Read the full story to hear from Peetz President and CEO Chris Roberts and M & N Millwright’s Neil Benson about the project and its impact.
See Peetz Farmers Co-op’s grain storage expansion in Peetz, Colorado, completed by Chief Agri dealer M&N Millwright LLC.
Visit Chief Agri at FIGAP 2026
Chief Agri is heading to Guadalajara! Join us at FIGAP 2026
to connect with our team and talk about the grain storage
and handling needs shaping your operation.
October 21–23, 2026
Expo Guadalajara | Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
BOOTH 519
Bring your questions, project plans, and ideas.
We look forward to hearing what you're working on
and discussing how we can support your next steps.
Are you sharing your Chief Agri projects online? Tag@ChiefAgri so we can celebrate your hard work and share it with our followers!
We’re proud to highlight the craftsmanship across our
dealer network—your success is our story.
We Want to Hear from You
Have a project worth highlighting, a great photo, or a training topic you'd love to see covered? Let us know! We’re building this newsletter with you in mind.
