Celebrating both agriculture and co-ops in October!

We are very early into the fall harvest season, but the month of October is already brimming with activities to help us celebrate our co-operative heritage and our agricultural roots.

This week is Agriculture Week in Ontario which leads in nicely to Thanksgiving this weekend. During agriculture week, people are encouraged to visit local farmer markets in their communities. 

The agri-food industry is a significant driver of the province's economy, contributing $34 billion annually, including $12.5 billion in exports, and employing more than 780,000 individuals.

Next week is Co-op week in Canada where more than seven million members of co-operatives throughout Canada will hopefully take part in celebrating and educating others on the significant contributions co-ops bring to the economy and communities in which they thrive. Just this fall, new findings were announced through research done by Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network that shows co-ops in Canada contribute more than $50 billion to the Canadian economy and support over 600,000 jobs. 

In the  United States, our colleagues are enjoying the full month of October to celebrate co-op history during Co-op month.

Next week, Ontario GROWMARK employees will take part in a number of fundraising events to provide support for the Co-operative Development Foundation. CDF is a registered charity organization that works with the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and other partners to undertake co-operative development projects in Canada and around the world.

Employees will have the opportunity to attend a lunch-and-learn session to hear from a CDF volunteer who recently traveled to a developing country to see first-hand the positive impact the Co-operative Development Foundation has made for so many people. 

October is a great time to enjoy the blessings that come with living in this great country, our passion for agriculture and our co-operative heritage. Let's take it all in!

Pride-of-ownership is what counts for farmers-owners of AGRIS Co-op

The phrase “Proudly farmer-owned” was the clear-cut message delivered at last week’s grand opening of AGRIS Co-operative’s newest fertilizer facility in Cottam, ON.

I attended along with approximately 100 farmers, employees, media journalists and directors, all who came out to support the co-operative’s new initiative.

“This new state-of-the art equipment will improve efficiencies tremendously for our farmer-owners, says Larry Pajot, AGRIS Co-operative president.

“Farming has really changed over the years,” says Pajot. He recalls when he started out, most farmers had a four-row planter or maybe six-row if they were modern, and if they did 30 acres a day they were happy, but now farmers have 12 or even 16-row planters and require a lot of crop nutrients and at record speeds.

“Well, this new system is designed for you guys, says Pajot. And even better yet, this is your equipment, owned by you, our farmer-owners.”

The new facility offers increased blending capability to 200 MT per hour, eight times faster than before and the storage capacity to 4500 MT, nine times the previous capacity. This new investment is the largest element of an overall strategy to increase capacity throughout the co-operative’s full trade territory.

GROWMARK, Inc.CEO Jim Spradlin takes time to talk to
 agricultural journalist Simon Crouch of Blackburn News.

The co-operative’s special guest speaker, chief executive officer of GROWMARK, Inc., Jim Spradlin commended AGRIS Co-operative’s board and management teams on their vision, forward-thinking leadership and dedication to their farmer-owners. “In our view, AGRIS Co-operative truly embodies a system initiative that we launched a couple of years ago that we call, “Bringing You What’s Next.”

Spradlin goes on to say, that this new facility is an investment in the future. “It is all about speed, flexibility and quality, but also very much about good stewardship practices in which the GROWMARK System strongly supports.”

Jim Campbell, the co-operative’s general manager said he is very proud of this accomplishment. “When we invest in new initiatives, we know we are investing our farmer-owners’ money and we are cautious about how we spend it. We want to be awfully sure it is invested in their best interests and this new facility ticks all the boxes,” says Campbell.

Ribbon cutting ceremony at new fertilizer facility at AGRIS Co-operative's Cottam site on Sept. 29. From (L-R) back: AGRIS director David Sherman, AGRIS general manager Jim Campbell. FRONT: AGRIS operations manager Adrian VanDyk, AGRIS director and GROWMARK director Kim Fysh, AGRIS directors Paul Repko and John Nooyen, AGRIS Essex area manager Alex Michinski, AGRIS board president Larry Pajot, GROWMARK chief executive officer Jim Spradlin, AGRIS director Pat Vanheule and AGRIS board vice president Jim Anderson.

Congratulations to the employees and farmer-owners of AGRIS Co-operative!