2019 A Year In Review
A Year in Review by Steve, The Silologist
Wow, reflecting back on 2019 it has been one big and momentous year for the HE team.
We’ve celebrated a huge milestone of 50 years in business. We have been hit with a crippling drought, we have lost some great staff members and gained new ones. We’ve all had highs and lows but one thing that has kept us going, is building a first class, A-grade product for our customers for preserving grain quality in the hope conquering Food Security for all.
2019 kicked off with the third generation, Stevie-Leigh taking over as senior manager of the HE Silos Forbes team. Stevie has worked closely with the company for over 8 years and has completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 2019. From the HE Team, Congratulations Stevie!In late 2018 saw Steven and Stevie begin conversations with a grain monitoring company iGrain from Denmark. 2019 saw iGrain product hitting the shelfs at the HE Silos store and onto a few silos around the country. iGrain products can monitor your grain through temperature, moisture and Co2 Sniffers sensors. For more information, please contact the office.
In January, Karen attended the drought community session in Parkes. Which took place across drought affected areas of NSW. These sessions provided farmers with the information on dates and locations to find resources available on governments drought hub website.
In February, Karen attended the “Big Community Muster”, a whirl wind drought tour which took place over 6 days in 11 locations across NSW, as part of the 2019 Hope Tour in NSW. Several Keynote speakers, including Dennis Hoiberg (organisational Consultant with Lessons Learnt Consulting) who specialises in working with individuals and teams to achieve personal satisfaction, growth, excellence and high performance and personal resilience, and Gerard O’Brien, Director of RSM Australia Accounting Firm with 25 years’ experience in personal and farming business, and Alister Bennet, NSW State Agri Business manager. This was an opportunity for farmers and families to get together and share experiences and discuss practical ways to build our resilience and receive advice on what current resources are available to them, in what is one of the worst droughts in Australian history. These forums were well supported and many people in agriculture benefited from the knowledge and advice received.
This year, HE Silos had the opportunity to present at a number of seminars across Australia. Stevie-Leigh gave a detailed presentation on the current Agriculture products and practices that can be imitated in the African country of Sudan to benefit their current agricultural standards and increase productivity.At the Grain Trade Australia Conference in Melbourne where Steven Morrison presented proposed changes to the Australian Industry standard for Fumigation based on the collaborative work between HE Silos and Charles Sturt University.
HE Silos was also fortunate to attend a variety of conferences and field days. Steven and Stevie-Leigh attended the Australian Grains and Industry Conference (AGIC) in Melbourne in August. During the course of this conference, it was interesting the listen to a variety of key note speakers on discussions of the inland rail, the current state of the grain industry and what to expect from the season and the future of the Grain Growing Industry. The team at HE Silos had the opportunity to attend both the Henty Machinery Field Days and the Australian National Field Days.
HE Silos also celebrated a huge milestone of turning 50 years in business. To celebrate this achievement, HE Silos hosted a variety of Grain Storage Expos in conjunction with Ag n Vet West Wyalong, Landmark Goulburn and Landmark Hillston, where we had a variety of key note speakers to discuss the industry, the latest grain storage techniques and on-farm concerns and worries. These events were successful.
Furthermore, to celebrate 50 years of storing the nations grains, HE Silos held monthly draws where anyone who purchased a silo had the opportunity to win a gift certificate. All participants went into the major giveaway draw presented at the Henty Machinery Field Days in September. Congratulations to all the winners of the HE Silos 50 Years Celebrations.
Congratulations to our major 50th Prizes winners:
1st prize (Honda XR 190 Motorbike): Chris Morrison – Forbes
2nd prize ($3000 Luxury Escapes voucher): Dale Curtis – Trun
3rd prize (Easyaer Aeration controller unit): Francis Evans – Warren
As a final hurrah to celebrate the past, HE Silos hosted a Silos Seeking Quest where the team was on the search of the oldest in use Silo, Field Bin or Feeders. Now on to celebrate our wonderful HE team. This year we also celebrate the hard work and wonderful contributions the team has performed.
A huge pat-on-the-back to Gabi who is moving through the ranks of the business. Gabi started the year as a Front Desk receptionist completing her Certificate 4 in Business. Gabi has since completed her certificate and is now working towards completely her Diploma in Human Resources (HR) and spends her day working in the HR and Marketing Departments. Another congratulation is granted to Patrick who too is moving through the ranks of the company. Patrick began as a silo roof builder 5 years ago with HE Silos and has working in every aspects of production. This year Patrick completed a Diploma in Management and Leadership and in August, and was promoted to Production Supervisor of the HE Silos production team. Congrats Pat and Gabi, looking forward to seeing great things from you pair. 
Furthermore, to our Employee of the Year winner; Dylan it is very well deserved. Over the course of the year Dylan has shown leadership, dedication and commitment to all aspects of his work. Congratulation to both our runners-up for Employee of the Year; Rick and Pat and all the winners throughout the year. On the last Thursday in November the nation stops to celebrate #AgDay. Celebrating Ag Day and supporting local producers is extremely important for the HE Team. To celebrate, we hosted a team BBQ providing bread from the Forbes Bakehouse and Meat from Forbes Century Butcher. It was a great afternoon to be had by all
As the year comes to a close, a bittersweet feeling can be felt by all the HE team. Our 50th celebration came to a close and we start working towards the next 50 years, and wonder what the next three generations will achieve and how HE Silos will be. We are excited to be releasing some exciting innovative products in the new year, with more giveaways and providing more service for our customers. We are excited and we hope you are too.
Have a safe and wonderful Christmas and see you in the New Year.