Illini FS Participates in Tie One on for Safety Campaign

The employees of Illini FS will be “Tying One On For Safety” this holiday season by participating in the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) public awareness campaign.

“The vehicles throughout our five county area will be sporting the bright red ribbons in support and as a reminder to “Drive Safe, Sober, And Buckled Up”, said Roger Read, Illini FS general manager. “Our vehicles travel all over. We want to be sure to keep not only our own employees safe but also the people who live in the communities and rural areas we serve,” he said.

Last year, nearly 13,000 people were killed in an alcohol-related crash. The accidents cost the American public an estimated $114.3 billion and people other than the drunk driver paid $71.6 billion of that amount (Taylor, Miller and Cox, 2002).

“I can remember as a young child coming up on a hit-and-run where a man who had too much to drink was walking alongside the road,” said Illini FS Safety and Regulatory administrator Pat Titus. “It was a foggy, winter night and our family’s car was the next one on the accident scene. My father thought the driver of the car surely had been drinking too as they did not stop to help,” she said.
MADD created Tie One On For Safety. It was originally named as the “Project Red Ribbon” campaign in 1986 to heighten the awareness about drinking and driving and its deadly consequences. This campaign encourages the public to take action against drunk driving by tying a MADD ribbon to their vehicle’s antenna or side mirror.


“We are pleased to have Illini FS helping promote the Tie One on for Safety campaign to keep our roadways safer,” said Trisha Clegg, an employee of the Illinois MADD office in Springfield, IL. The campaign runs Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day—the period when road travel increases and the threat of drunk driving is most likely.








Illini FS General Manager, Roger Read, places a magnetic ribbon on his car in support of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving campaign, Tie One On For Safety. Illini FS vehicles will be supporting this campaign during the holiday season.

Bramlets Named Illinois Farm Family of the Year

This article was adapted from one written by James Henry of the Illinois AgriNews.

Joe Bramlet, director of Southern FS, Inc., and his family have been named the Illinois Farm Family of the Year. They were honored during the Salute to Agriculture Day at the University of Illinois this fall. Receiving the award with Bramlet were his father, Henry, and mother, Rita; his fiancée, Rona; and children Jarrett and Jaden.

The annual award has been presented by Burrus Hybrids and Illinois AgriNews for 10 years. It honors an outstanding Illinois family for contributions on and off the farm and is aimed at increasing awareness of the important contributions farm families make to everyone’s daily life.

“Any successful situation is not because of just one person,” Bramlet said after receiving the award onstage before more than 900 people at the recent U of I event. “It takes a group effort, a team effort — a family effort.”

The Bramlet family members are devoted to each other, as well as the day-to-day operations of running a successful farm in far southern Illinois. That includes raising about 2,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat, as well as a few show pigs for 4-H and selling seed.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Joe Bramlet is a board member of the Saline County Farm Bureau, the Saline County Soil and Water Conservation District, as well as Southern FS.


Pictured (from left) are: Illinois AgriNews Executive Editor James Henry, Rona Littlefield, Jaden Littlefield, Rita Bramlet, Henry Bramlet, Jarrett Littlefield, Joe Bramlet and Burrus Hybrids sales agronomist Craig Kilby. Photo courtesy of Illinois AgriNews.

Goals for Gas

Evergreen FS, Inc. is sponsoring
"Goals for Gas" at six FS FAST STOP locations in Bloomington, Danvers, and Towanda, Ill. Bloomington PrairieThunder hockey fans can present their ticket stubs to receive two cents off per gallon of gasoline for each goal scored by the PrairieThunder, regardless of whether the team wins or loses.


There is no limit on the amount of discount available; however, the discount is only good on the first ten gallons purchased within 24 hours of the game. On November 15, the PrairieThunder scored six goals, resulting in a 12-cent discount and the largest number of tickets redeemed. The promotion will continue after each home game through April 10, 2009.


Each ticket redeemed is also entered into a drawing for a $500 FS FAST STOP gift card, to be presented at the final home game of the season.

SIGMA Scholarships Awarded

The Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) recently awarded 13 scholarships in varying amounts to assist in the education of marketers’ employees, their children, and dependents of employees. Five of the winners are from the GROWMARK System.

Receiving $4,000 is Amanda Carls, daughter of Mary Carls, Processor I. She attends the University of Northern Iowa. A $3,000 award was given to Sally Whaley, applications specialist, attending Lincoln College. Taylor Parks, Emily Parks, and Kailey Parks, daughters of Sid Parks, manager, precision farming, each received a $1,000 award. Taylor attends Heartland Community College and Emily and Kailey are students at Illinois State University.

The scholarship recognizes individuals who volunteer in their schools and communities and maintain a 2.5/4.0 grade point average. There were 89 total applications this year.

Waterloo, Iowa GROWMARK Tank and Truck Center Featured

The GROWMARK Tank and Truck Center (GTTC) in Waterloo, Iowa was recently chosen as the Associate Spotlight and featured in an issue of Iowa Oil Spout magazine.

The article focused on the newly acquired facility and the services it provides. GTTC's primary focus is manufacturing and rebuilding liquid fuel trucks and propane bobtail units, as well as building bulk oil delivery units in both conventional fuel tank designs or van body units which utilize oil totes. In addition, they also carry a full line of domestic LP tanks and all the proper fittings, regulators, hoses, nozzles, and repair parts.

Warren Gillett, GTTC Sales and Operations Manager, was quoted in the article saying, "We've been absolutely amazed at the customer following. Larry Treptow, our shop manager, is well-respected and totally committed to doing the right thing for the customer."

Farming the Old-Fashioned Way

The Roanoke-Benson FFA Alumni chapter recently hosted an antique tractor plow day in Roanoke, Ill. The event was a fundraiser to help the alumni provide funds to the local high school FFA chapter in the form of scholarships and assistance with contest fees and convention travel expenses.

Evergreen FS, Inc. donated fuel for all participating tractors. Despite chilly temperatures, 17 tractors plowed an entire 80 acre field. FFA members also ran a food stand during the event.

Garrett Recognized by AgGateway

Gary Garrett, GROWMARK IT project planning manager, received the Ron Storms Memorial Award at the 2008 AgGateway Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The Ron Storms Memorial Award recognizes distinguished individuals in the promotion of electronic standards and protocols in agribusiness. This lifetime achievement award is given annually to a member of AgGateway who exemplifies characteristics including volunteerism, integrity, reliability, selflessness, character, courage, and sincerity.

Garrett is actively involved with AgGateway, serving as a member of the AgGateway Management Team, Seed Council liaison, Seed Council representative on the Directory Oversight Committee, Crop Nutrient Connectivity product board of directors and business and technical team, and Seed Connectivity product business and technical team. He also worked with GROWMARK’s Agronomy and Seed Divisions to initiate and fund the Crop Nutrient Connectivity and Seed Connectivity projects.

The annual AgGateway conference attracts IT and business executives from throughout the agricultural industry across North America. AgGateway is a non-profit consortium of businesses serving the agriculture industry, which helps member companies improve their profitability and productivity by educating, promoting, and expanding participation in eBusiness in agriculture and agriculture-related businesses.

Reaching a Goal of Giving

The GROWMARK Employee Relations Committee and Volunteer Network teamed up to sponsor a food drive at the Bloomington home office. All donations went to the Clare House, a local food pantry and soup kitchen.

A goal of 2,000 items was set for the two week drive. That goal was not only met, but exceeded with the grand total of items nearing 2.400.

Committee members counted, sorted, and delivered all items. Thank you to all employees who donated items or money. Your generosity helped make life a little easier for the people served by the Clare House.

Helping Teach Children About Agriculture

GROWMARK’s FS Seed Division recently renewed its commitment to Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom programs with a check for $55,000. The check was presented to IAA Foundation chairman Philip Nelson at a ceremony held November 20, 2008 in Bloomington.

“Years ago, most children, even those living in a city, still had someone in their family who lived on a farm,” said Bill Davisson, CEO of GROWMARK, the regional agricultural supply and grain marketing cooperative comprised of FS member cooperatives. “Now, many children have lost that connection. Some aren’t even aware that real people are working to grow the corn, soybeans, and other commodities that fill the supermarket shelves, department store racks, and gas tanks of their parents’ vehicles.”

GROWMARK’s FS Seed Division has provided annual contributions to the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom program since 2003. One-half of the donation is used for direct grants administered by FS member cooperatives at the local level. This year’s contribution brings the five-year total to nearly $290,000.

The IAA Foundation was established in 1987 to support educational, research and charitable activities which benefit agriculture, Illinois farm families, and county Farm Bureaus. Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom provides agriculture-based curricula for K-8 students and teacher training. The IAA Foundation supports Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom programs through a variety of annual fundraising and donations such as this one.

Blue Ribbon Baleage

Kendall Guither, customer of Ag View FS, Inc. in Walnut, Ill., was recently named the winner in the Commercial Baleage category for the second year in a row at the World’s Forage Analysis Superbowl, held in Madison, Wis. in conjunction with the World Dairy Expo.

Baleage is a feed product similar to silage, but made with hay instead of corn. Guither bales while his hay is wet and wraps the bales in plastic to keep oxygen out and allow fermentation to occur. Fermentation makes the baleage easier for cattle to digest and causes them to eat more, which in turn boosts milk production.

“It’s like at Thanksgiving, when you smell all that good food cooking for lunch and you eat until you’re stuffed, then at suppertime you aren’t really hungry but you still eat more because it tastes so good,” Guither said. “Cows keep eating baleage not because they’re hungry, but because they’re not full, and the more they eat the more milk they produce.”

He relates a story from one of his customers who ran out of baleage and had to feed his cows regular hay. The customer noticed a 250-pound milk loss among his 15 cows over just a three-day period, and reported production went back up after bringing the baleage back to his feeding program.

Guither believes in cutting hay more aggressively than most, often making 5 or more cuttings a year. This year, he just completed his sixth cutting after the alfalfa went dormant for the winter. He has samples analyzed and notes the quality of the baleage tends to improve with each cutting.

“It’s not how many tons you can produce, it’s really about how much good the livestock can get out of what you produce,” he said. “The first thing I look for on my lab reports is the IVDMD (in vitro dry matter digestibility) percentage. This tells me what percent will be digested – the higher the number, the more benefit the cows are getting out of the baleage.”

Guither’s winning entry was grown with alfalfa seed variety WL 363 HQ. He was the only entrant from Illinois in the Commercial Baleage category, besting 14 other entries from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. He works with Crop Specialist Malcolm Stambaugh, and both men received a cash prize for the first-place finish. Guither will also receive other prizes from the contest’s sponsors.

The World's Forage Analysis Superbowl provides growers from across the United States and Canada an opportunity to vie for forage awards by entering their high quality samples in a dairy or commercial division.

Energy Marketing Managers Meet

A System-wide Energy Marketing Managers conference was held November 12-13 at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, Ill. Nearly 60 GROWMARK System employees enjoyed presentations on a variety of topics, ranging from lubricant and refined/renewable fuels marketing to the propane policy manual to electronic payment systems. They also received a preview of the new FS brand media campaign.

Keynote presenter was W. Scott Downey, assistant professor, Agricultural Economics and Consumer Sciences and Retailing at Purdue University. He is also associate director for the Center for Food and Agricultural Business and is a frequent speaker and consultant for agribusiness sales teams on professional development topics. Downey led a group session on “Leading High Performance Salespeople.”

“We appreciated the member cooperative energy sales managers taking time to attend this meeting,” said Larry Cristy, GROWMARK Southern Region energy marketing director. “We all enjoyed Scott Downey’s presentation on energy sales leadership and the various presentations from key energy division personnel.”

Honoring Those Who Serve

On Veteran's Day, GROWMARK home office employees participated in a building-wide ceremony honoring employees from the Illinois Farm Bureau family of companies who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces.

Gary Clark, a COUNTRY employee who completed a tour of duty in Iraq, addressed the crowd. He expressed his gratitude for the support he received from co-workers and family at home while he was deployed, and reminded all listeners to not take their freedom for granted.

Several members of the Bloomington-based 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion were in attendace with a sample of the gear used in Iraq and Afghanistan and employees were also encouraged to tour a military Humvee.

Farmtown Farm Day

Illini FS Farmtown held a Farmtown Farm Day on Saturday, October 18th. Activities for the family were available throughout the day. The event was attended by over 200 people, 50 of whom were children.

“We wanted to make this a fun day where parents could bring their children to Farmtown and learn about some of the fun things about life on the farm,” said Paula Blakley, Farmtown manager.

A naturalist from the Anita Purvis Nature Center brought live screech owls and corn snakes for two presentations. The local chapter of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids presented a farm animal safety puppet show, and farm animals including baby chicks, miniature donkeys, and rabbits were on exhibit.

Children had the opportunity to paint a face on a free small pumpkin while adults attended a Make and Take fall pumpkin arrangement session. Pets were also welcome for the Loyal Pet Food Costume Social, and they received a special treat for arriving in cosutme.

A Hall of Famer

Charlie LaBelle, GROWMARK senior energy analyst, will be inducted into the Saint Louis Univeristy (SLU) Billiken Hall of Fame at a ceremony in January. The Billiken Hall of Fame inducted its initial class in 1976. Since then, more than 240 student-athletes, teams, and dignitaries have been selected for the Hall of Fame.

LaBelle is honored in the category of Billiken Great-Pioneer for the sport of ice hockey during the years 1971-1975. He was a key member of the early ice hockey squads that established SLU as a national power in the sport under head coach Bill Selman. Throughout his career, LaBelle accumulated 86 goals and 100 assists while helping the Billikens to a pair of Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular-season and tournament championships. A crafty left-winger, he twice scored five goals in one game, a CCHA record that still stands. In addition, he holds the distinction of scoring the first short-handed and game-winning goals in CCHA history.

Frontier FS Pride Program Results

The scores have been tallied and the winners of the 2008 Frontier FS Pride Program are as follows:

First Place: Arlington

Second Place: Rozellville
Third Place: Jefferson Main Office

In total, 15 of the Wisconsin cooperative's 16 facilities earned "Pride Status," meaning they earned at least 90 percent or more of the possible points awarded through the program. All locations earning Pride Status receive a wall plaque and a cash prize. The top-scoring location earns a night on the town for all location employees and their spouses, compliments of the company, and the second and third place locations receive a cash prize to be used for an employee team-building activity.

The Pride Program considers four major categories of a location's appearance - exterior facility and grounds, people, interior, and rolling stock. Within each category are several sub-categories, each of which is ranked on a 10-point scale, with 10 as the highest possible score in any one area. Scoring is done twice a year, in the spring and in the fall, and scores from both inspections are combined to determine the overall rankings.

This year, I was asked to be a judge during the fall Pride Program judging, and I have to say it was a great time! In three days, Sam Skemp, Mike A. Larson, Red Brewer, and I visited all 16 locations, covering hundreds of miles of southeastern Wisconsin countryside. It was neat to see the obvious pride all Frontier employees take in their work and in keeping their workplaces in tip-top condition.

Hot Air Harvest

I received a call from Cindy at GRAINCO FS's Minooka, Ill. facility the other day. She told me a hot air balloon landed in patron Raymond Link's soybean field while he was harvesting. I called Ray and talked to him about the experience.

"The pilot told me she had to land because the balloons can't be up after a half-hour before sunset," he said. "I saw it coming and as it got closer and closer I thought it might land in my field, and sure enough it did."

Link said a second balloon landed in one of his nearby hay fields.

"I couldn't believe how big it was," he added. "When they're up the sky, they don't look that big, but when they land, there's a lot of fabric in that balloon."

Welcome to the GROWMARK System Update blog!

Thank you for taking time to read the latest news about the GROWMARK System! This is where you'll find current stories and updates about people and events in between issues of the Spirit magazine. New entries will be added on a regular basis, so please check back often - or better yet, sign up to receive automatic updates!

If you have ideas, upcoming events, comments, or questions feel free to leave them in the comment section or contact me, Karen Jones, at kjones@growmark.com or 309/557-6184. I would love to hear from you!