One stop on the 2011 CTIC Conservation in Action Tour where I wish we had spent more time was The Andersons.

Al Bensch, vice president of northern operations for The Andersons Plant Nutrient Group, spoke on one of the three tour buses as we drove past much of the company’s Maumee, Ohio operations. “We have 27 locations in the fertilizer business – Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Florida,” Al said. “We handled last year a little over two million tons of fertilizer.”

The diversified company, which was started in the late 1940’s by Harold Anderson, has various business divisions in addition to plant nutrients, including the grain and ethanol, railcar leasing and repair, turf products production, and consumer retailing industries.

Listen to some of Al’s comments here: Al Bensch, The Andersons

We made a very brief stop at the Anderson family compound where we heard from the Plant Nutrient Group president Denny Addis about the Andersons’ commitment to agriculture and the environment. “Production agriculture and care for the environment are not mutually exclusive, they need to work in harmony together,” he told me in an interview. “We’ve got to continue to find more ways to produce more fiber, more food, more energy for the world at the same time make sure we care for the environment.”

Listen to my interview with Denny here: Denny Addis, The Andersons

CTIC 2011 Conservation in Action Tour Photo Album