GROWMARK FS, LLC Announces "Stack Up and Order Up" Seed Sweepstakes Winners

This post and photos were provided by Marty Dunton, GROWMARK FS seed business manager.

GROWMARK FS, LLC has announced the winners of this year’s Stack Up and Order Up Seed Sweepstakes. The contest, open to all commercial farmers in the GROWMARK FS territory, recently concluded with the awarding of the grand prize, a 2009 Chevy Silverado ¾ ton 4x4 pickup truck, to Brian Bahnck of Ottsville, Penn. Bahnck is a customer of GROWMARK FS in Bloomsbury, N. J. and was presented the keys to his pickup at ceremonies held at the GROWMARK FS headquarters in Milford, Del. Steve Buckalew, GROWMARK vice president, Eastern retail operations, presented the keys to Bahnck along with Esmond Crooke, GROWMARK FS Salesperson from Bloomsbury, N.J. Bahnck was also recognized at a recent grower meeting in the Broadway, N.J. area, where he was introduced as the contest winner. Bahnck was all smiles and very grateful to have won the contest. “ I can’t believe I won. I am really happy that my name was chosen. This is a really nice truck! Thank you to everyone at GROWMARK FS.”

Pictured above is the Chevy Silverado truck awarded to Brian Bahnck, GROWMARK FS customer. (Left to right): Duane Orr, GROWMARK FS territory seed manager; Esmond Crooke, GROWMARK FS salesperson; Nicole Bishop; Bahnck; Steve Buckalew, GROWMARK vice president, Eastern retail operations; and Larry Milton, Chevrolet sales rep.

In addition to the Grand Prize, the contest also featured two first place prizes of a 20/20 Seed Sense Planting Monitor system. These award winners were recently presented with their prizes at an awards day at the Curryville GROWMARK FS facility near Martinsburg, Penn. Richard Howells of Roaring Springs, Penn. and David Hernley of New Paris, Penn. were the winners of these monitors. The Seed Sense Monitors are designed to give better and more information than the sanitized population monitors in use on most farms today. This monitor lets you actively manage your planter and make adjustments to make your planting better. “We are pleased to give these gentlemen the latest technology in planting monitors,” said Marty Dunton, GROWMARK FS seed business manager. “With the information received from these monitors, they will have the chance to make changes to their planters that will help them establish the best seed placement and stand possible.” Howells and Hernley were both excited to receive the monitors which were presented by GROWMARK FS salesmen Ed Kreider and Dave Stolz; Bill Brown, manager of GROWMARK FS in Curryville; and Ralph Horchler, GROWMARK FS Seed Division territory sales manager.

Pictured at right are the winners of the 20/20 Seed Sense planting monitors. (Left to right): Gerald Clark; Bill Brown, GROWMARK FS Curryville, Penn. manager; Richard Howells, prize winner; David Hernley, prize winner; Ralph Horchler, GROWMARK FS territory sales manager; Dave Stolz, GROWMARK FS salesperson; and Ed Kreider, GROWMARK FS salesperson.

The final prize of the GROWMARK FS Stack Up and Order Up Seed Sweepstakes was awarded to David Kerschner of New Tripoli, Penn. Kerschner received 12 free units of FS Brand VT Triple™ Corn and 12 free units of Dekalb Brand VT Triple™ Corn from GROWMARK FS. Like the other winners, Kerschner, a customer of GROWMARK FS in Leesport, Penn., was thankful to be chosen as a seed sweepstakes winner. “It is really an honor to be chosen. I did not know if I should believe it when I was first contacted,” Kerschner said. “I called Gary Snyder (GROWMARK FS salesperson) to find out if it was true.”

At left is the winner of 24 units of FS and Dekalb brand seed corn. (Left to right): Randy Weyer, GROWMARK FS manager; Tim Kleinsmith, GROWMARK FS facility manager; Chris Young, GROWMARK FS territory sales manager; Lisa Rice, GROWMARK FS Leesport facility; Eugene Pieja; David Kerschner, prize winner; Gary Snyder, GROWMARK FS salesperson; and Eric Turner (kneeling).

Snyder said, “David has been a very good customer of GROWMARK FS and me for years. I am very happy he won this prize. It is nice to have one of my customers chosen as a winner.”

The GROWMARK FS Stack Up and Order Up Seed Sweepstakes contest was designed to promote the technology available from GROWMARK FS in its FS brand corn and HiSOY soybeans as well as the Monsanto brands – Dekalb and Asgrow – which FS markets as well as the planting technology of the Precision 20/20 Seed Sense Monitor which FS distributes throughout its territory. “This contest gives us a chance to showcase the ever advancing technology in seed as well as important agronomically related technology that will help our customers grow better crops,” said Dunton. “We want to be the best supply partner with each of our customers, and these are tools that can help us achieve that goal.”