It’s a great week for the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives to be holding its annual Washington Conference with all that is going on in the nation’s capitol impacting the agriculture industry. GROWMARK Executive Director of Corporate and Government Relations Chuck Spencer called me from DC this morning to talk about what they are discussing on the Hill and of …
Coalition Pleased With Immigration Bill
Representatives from both agricultural employers and farm labor are pleased with guest worker provisions included in the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act introduced in the Senate yesterday. Leaders from the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) held a press conference yesterday to highlight the stake American agriculture has in immigration reform. Late last week, a landmark agreement on immigration …
FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative Has New Logo
FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative board of directors recently unveiled its new logo. The identity symbolizes the newly formed cooperative’s vision and commitment to its members. The logo and brand identity were approved by the FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative’s board of directors and will be integrated throughout membership and marketing efforts as the new cooperative establishes its presence in the industry.
GROWMARK Cookbook Helps Feed the World
GROWMARK cooked up a great way to help farmers feed the world this year by compiling a cookbook filled with recipes contributed by GROWMARK employees and selling it to raise money for the an important charity. “We wanted to do something special this year to promote the International Year of Cooperatives and GROWMARK’s 85th anniversary,” said Karen Jones, GROWMARK’s Publications …
GROWMARK Marks Record Sales
GROWMARK has officially reported record sales for the last fiscal year, according to recently released complete financial results. Higher commodity prices and solid volume growth in most GROWMARK business units produced record sales for GROWMARK, as officials reported audited financial results for the fiscal year which ended August 31, 2012. Marshall Bohbrink, vice president, finance, risk management, and chief financial …
The Advantage of AgVantage FS
The first stop on the GROWMARK media tour through Iowa last week was in the little town of Chapin, just south of Mason City, where the main work horse grain facility of AgVantage FS is located. The facility handles 10-12 million bushels a year – about 40% of the co-op’s total. “We’re an operating division of GROWMARK,” explained Grain Marketing …
GROWMARK Media Tour in Iowa
Just returned from a great media tour of GROWMARK and FS Cooperative facilities in Iowa. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the last stop due to flight scheduling, but I did get to attend the majority of the tour and it was fantastic! Congrats to Karen Jones, GROWMARK Publications and News Specialist, for putting together a very interesting and organized …
Co-ops Announce Proposed Merger
The board of directors for Family Dairies USA, Manitowoc Milk Producers Cooperative and Milwaukee Cooperative Milk Producers have unanimously voted to recommend a unified merger for their membership. Combined, these three cooperatives could soon become the largest Midwest dairy marketing cooperative under the new name of FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative. “We are extremely excited about the future this effort will offer …
Importance of Cooperatives in Feeding the World
“Co-operatives are a reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility.” Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General That is a quote on the official United Nations 2012 International Year of Cooperatives web page and the UN Secretary General’s visit to the 2012 World Food Prize last week indicated the importance that they …
Celebrating National Co-op Month
Each October, cooperatives across the United States celebrate the cooperative difference, business model and the contributions of cooperatives to their communities during National Co-op Month and this year continues the celebration of 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives with the slogan “Cooperative enterprises build a better world.” As one of the nation’s largest cooperatives, GROWMARK has been celebrating all …