Wabash Valley Service Co. Wins National Award

Tom Stahl submitted this article he wrote for the Wabash Valley newsletter.

Wabash Valley’s Browns, Ill. location is the 2009 Environmental Respect Award National Winner. Wabash Valley beat out four other semi-finalists and received the award in Washington, D.C. in July. This is the second win for Wabash Valley; the Hamilton County location was chosen as a regional winner in 2006.

Mike McCurdy, Browns plant manager, said, “We are very pleased to receive this award. All of our employees try to protect the environment with every job we do, but the groundwork for this award was laid by Kent Ochs, as he designed this plant from the ground up to be both productive and environmentally safe.”

Regulatory and Safety Coordinator Kent Ochs, who designed the plant, commented, “I am very proud of each and every WVSC employee for winning the prestigious award. My task was simple: to design, permit, and oversee the construction of the Browns facility. It was a great personal honor to have that opportunity. But in all honesty, even the best design, technology, and equipment, are in fact useless without the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our employees.”

Finalists were selected by a panel of industry experts who looked at excellence in site design, in-plant storage and handling procedures, proper application and leadership in safety and stewardship among customers and employees.

The Environmental Respect Awards, sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection, CropLife magazine, and Farm Chemicals International magazine, are the agricultural industry's highest recognition for environmental stewardship among U.S. agricultural retailers, those who serve farmers and ranchers with the nutrients, pest control, and agronomic information critical to effective crop production. For information on the Environmental Respect Awards, visit www.environmentalrespect.com.

Wabash Valley Service Company employees pose outside the Browns, Ill. facility, named the national winner of the 2009 Environmental Respect Award.

SIGMA Scholarships Awarded

The Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) recently awarded 9 scholarships in varying amounts to assist in the education of marketers’ employees, their children, and dependents of employees. Three of the winners are from the GROWMARK System.

Receiving $2,000 are Amanda Carls, a student at the University of Northern Iowa and daughter of Mary Carls, GROWMARK processor I, and Emily Parks, an Illinois State University student, daughter of Sid Parks, GROWMARK manager, precision farming. Nicole Wright, a student at St. Louis School of Pharmacy and daughter of David Wright, Evergreen FS energy specialist, received a $1,000 award.

The scholarship recognizes individuals who volunteer in their schools and communities and maintain a 2.5/4.0 grade point average. There were 113 total applications this year.

Foundations for Success

The Foundations for Success workshop was held June 22-26 and June 29-July 2 at the Monsanto Training Center in Monmouth, Ill. The event was attended by 60 crop specialists and agronomy advisors, representing 18 member cooperatives and subsidiaries. Participants came from Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, as well as Ontario and GROWMARK FS.

During the week-long training, attendees learned about corn and soybean growth and development, insects, plant diseases, soil fertility, weed identification, herbicides, new technology, and sales techniques. Many sessions were hands-on in the test plots at the training center. Foundations for Success has been held in this format since 2002.

(Left to Right): Blake Wilken, Fred Wilker, and Cory Bebensee, all of AGRILAND FS, INC., examine soybeans to determine what caused their poor growth.

Damon Anderson, AGRILAND FS, INC. (left) and Tony Tennant, FS PARTNERS (right) learn how to use a portable GPS unit from Sid Parks, GROWMARK manager, precision farming (in white hat), John Grandin, Western Region seed agronomist (second from right), and Sandy Boyles, precision farming project coordinator (in green shirt).

Kate Graves, GROWMARK FS, LLC, examines soybean cyst nematodes under a microscope.

Bill Emmert (right) and Richard Halsne (left), both of AgVantage FS, Inc., use a portable GPS unit to mark the location of a soil sample in a field.

Darwin Engelkes, AgVantage FS, Inc. (left) and Bob Konert, FS PARTNERS (right) diagnose possible herbicide damage in a young corn plant.

(Left to right): Jordan Klosterman, Tiffany Ochs, and Andrew Spray, all of Wabash Valley Service Company, assess the growth stage of a stalk of corn and prepare to wash the roots to check for rootworm damage.