GROWMARK Employees Recognized by NCFC

Fourteen GROWMARK employees were recognized at the 2009 National Council of Farmer Cooperatives’ (NCFC) Information Fair, a communications contest that recognizes excellence in the publications, member relations, and marketing products of farmer cooperatives.

Earning first place honors were Jenny Haycraft, marketing communications specialist, for the 2009 Crop Protection Product brochure; Dorothy Ahlenius, corporate communications and marketing services administrative assistant, and Amy Bradford, corporate communications manager, for annual meeting promotional materials; and Karen Jones, publications and news specialist, for Spirit Online.

Second place honors were given to Bev Long, marketing communications manager, Rob Huston, manager, AgriVisor, LLC, and Paula McGowan, assistant market analyst, AgriVisor, LLC, for the AgriVisor, LLC 35th Anniversary and New Product e-mail; Jeff Bunting, weed science technical manager, Kevin Black, insect and plant disease technical manager, Howard Brown, manager, agronomy services, Lance Ruppert, crop protection marketing manager, Mark Thornsbrough, director, crop protection, and Long for the 2008 FS Crop Protection Handbook; Tiffany Loercher, graphic designer, and Jones for Spirit magazine; and Jones for multi-media presentation.

Huston, Long, and McGowan earned third place for the AgriVisor, LLC Major Product Line brochure and Haycraft earned third place for the FS Adjuvant Products 2009 brochure.

Honorable mention in the Annual Report category went to Jane White, creative design manager, Bradford, and Jones.

NCFC is a national association representing America's farmer cooperatives. There are nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives across the U.S. whose members include a majority of our nation's more than 2 million farmers, ranchers and growers.

Spradlin Elected to TFI Board

Jim Spradlin, GROWMARK vice president, agronomy, was recently named to the board of directors of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI). He is one of 24 directors chosen nationwide to serve a one-year term.

TFI represents the nation's fertilizer industry. Producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms which comprise its membership are served by a full-time Washington, D.C. staff in various legislative, educational, and technical areas as well as with information and public relations programs.

America's Heartland

GROWMARK, on behalf of the FS member cooperatives, is a sponsor of the America's Heartland program which airs on RFD-TV as well as local public television stations.

According to its website, the program's reporters and crews have brought in stories from all across America over its first four seasons. In 2005 the show opened with the line "America's heartland is more than a place; it's a state of mind," and more than 300 stories later, it's still proving true. Providing food, fuel, and fiber for America and the world is an act of passion on the part of farmers and ranchers big or small, mainstream or specialized.

Visit http://www.americasheartland.org/ for more information and showtimes in your area.

2009 Winter Outlook

MID-CO COMMODITIES recently held its Winter Outlook meeting for 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, Ill.

Presenters included Bob Trimpe, MID-CO commodity risk consultant, provided the soybean outlook; Chuck Spencer from the Illinois Farm Bureau offered a governmental update; John Cripe, GROWMARK energy risk manager presented an energy update; Aaron Curtis, MID-CO commodity risk consultant, reviewed the wheat outlook; and Tim Abel, MID-CO commodity risk consultant provided the corn outlook.

More than 175 employees from across the GROWMARK System attended the event. MID-CO has hosted the Winter Outlook meeting for more than 20 years. They also hold a summer conference in August.