GROWMARK, Inc. has named Jim Spradlin of Morton, Illinois as new chief executive officer effective September 16, 2014, replacing Jeff Solberg who will retire in September. “Jim has the skills, knowledge, experience, and support to successfully lead GROWMARK into the future,” said GROWMARK Chairman of the Board and President, John Reifsteck. “The Board has great confidence in him and his …
Generate Event for Next Generation of Co-op Leaders
Generate is a new Wheat Growers program dedicated to “growing the most important crop of all, our next generation of cooperative farm leaders.” Those words from Wheat Growers CEO Dale Locken summed up the first Generate event, held in Aberdeen on Friday, March 14. Wheat Growers hosted the event in cooperation with Mitchell Technical Institute and the South Dakota Center …
Miss Missouri at MFA Annual Mtg.
Welcoming us to the start of the MFA, Inc. annual meeting is Don Mills, Chairman of the Board. He’s pictured here with Shelby Ringdahl, current Miss Missouri. Shelby will be signing the National Anthem for us. I spoke to both of them prior to the start of today’s activities. Shelby says she’s seen a lot of local companies come and …
GROWMARK Supports Kleckner Fellowship
One of the many ways that GROWMARK participates in the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue is through support of the Truth About Trade and Technology (TATT)Kleckner Fellowship. GROWMARK Corporate Relations Specialist Karen Jones attended the World Food Prize events for the first time this year, the first time they have helped sponsor the fellowship, which was created last year in …
GROWMARK Highlights National Co-op Month
Our friends at GROWMARK are joining cooperatives throughout the country in celebrating the contributions co-ops make to the social and economic development of rural America during National Co-op Month in October. This year’s theme is “Collaborate, Communicate, Cooperate,” reflecting the benefits that arise from collaboration – the sharing of ideas, resources and capital which helps individuals accomplish more together than …
Results from GROWMARK Annual Meeting
Last week GROWMARK held their Annual Meeting to discuss the year-end financial results and carry out other business for the cooperative. Business units produced record sales for the 2013 fiscal year, which ended August 31. I spoke with CEO of GROWMARK, Jeff Solberg, and he reported estimated sales of $10.3 billion for fiscal year 2013. Pretax income is estimated at …
An On The Farm Full Service Provider
GROWMARK, along with FS had a strong presence at the recent Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL. No matter where you went it was hard to escape the view of an FS flag waving high in the sky. Not only were they again sponsors of fuel used throughout the grounds, but they also gave a hands-on view of all the …
Fueling the Farm Progress Show
You can only imagine the fuel consumption during the Farm Progress Show. GROWMARK and FS have sponsored the fuel for the largest outdoor farm show for the last 30 years and expect to go through about 2,500 gallons this year. That amount is down from previous years because the field demonstrations had to be cancelled. Gerald Doty retired from the …
GROWMARK FS Websites Get Updates
The 35 FS member cooperatives of the GROWMARK system are getting updated websites to better serve their customers and farmer-owners. “Technology’s changed so much we really wanted to be able to give our members as much of an advantage with their websites as possible,” said Jana Kiefer, GROWMARK Electronic Communications Coordinator, who noted that they have been in the website …
iPad-Conrolled Drones at Landmark
Taking your iPad out in the field to fly a drone sounds like a lot of fun. It definitely is for an agnerd! This “fun” activity is becoming a business task more and more. The agronomists at Landmark Services Cooperative are getting in on the fun by using tablet-controlled drones for field scouting. One of the advantages this provides is …
