Using YouTube

This summer, I had the oppotunity to travel to Delaware to meet with some employees and customers of GROWMARK FS, LLC (GFS). It was an interesting trip for me as I'd never been to that part of the country before, and I learned quite a bit about their business.

While there, I watched a field of peas being planted and fertilized. That's not a crop we grow on a large scale in Illinois, but vegetable crops are big business in the GFS territory. Seeing the different equipment used and comparing the sandy soil to what I'm used to was a learning experience.

I also met Rick Lee, TURF SERVICES sales representative, who works primarily with golf courses. He and his team have developed a process to apply nutrients without damaging fragile grasses or violating strict environmental regulations due to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean and its numerous bays. You may recall the story about the specialized truck SHOPWORKS built in the July/August 2008 issue of the Spirit.

Lee is also embracing social media by creating YouTube videos of various GFS products and services to use as marketing tools. He believes that "a picture paints a thousand words, but an edited video tells the whole story" and has received positive feedback from current and potential customers alike. Follow the links below to see some of his videos currently available on YouTube.

www.youtube.com/agronomicservice

www.youtube.com/growmarkfsturf

Wabash Valley Provides Hydraulic Oil for 45-foot Press

This article was written by Tom Stahl, precision farming coordinator at Wabash Valley Service Company in Grayville, Ill. It first appeared in their company newsletter.

Several men are scurrying about as they load and secure a new 2,000 ton press, in pieces, on seven to eight trucks, for the trip from Pacific Press Technologies in Mt. Carmel, Ill. to Lexington, Ky. This one is custom designed to form large steel tubes for very large cranes to be built in Lexington. Pacific designs, fabricates, and assembles presses on site. It inspects them and then disassembles them for shipping. When the new press arrives at Lexington, a team of Pacific employees will reassemble it and ready it for operation. For the purchaser it is a turnkey job. At 45 feet long, it is the largest (in physical size) press that Pacific has ever built. They have built presses with higher capacities, up to 3,000 tons, but never one this long.

Purchasing Manager Mary Switzer said, “Everything is fabricated on site from blocks of steel and custom castings, which we order from a foundry. From start to finish, including engineering design, the project took most of a year to complete.

“The press we are shipping today will go out on four semi trucks which are oversize loads and three to four trucks with normal loads. The whole press weighs approximately 800,000 pounds,” she said. Everything that Pacific Press makes is custom designed.

The press has two hydraulic cylinders, each of which has a 36 inch diameter and an 18 inch stroke. They weigh 2,100 pounds each. The throat height of this press is 56 inches. It holds 800 gallons of hydraulic oil and this is where Wabash Valley Service Co. comes in. David Coles, Energy Management Specialist for Wabash Valley, has provided oil for Pacific since 2000 when a team from Wabash Valley and GROWMARK convinced them to switch from Shell products to FS. Wabash had been selling them Shell but thought that FS Industrial Oils would serve them better. After Petroleum Manager Roger Winter made the initial approach on switching brands, he teamed up with Coles, Craig Stout, (Lubricant Products Manager for GROWMARK), and Mike Boles, who was then the Industrial Oil Salesman for the GROWMARK Southern Region. They convinced Switzer that FS Industrial Oils were a better choice and Pacific has used FS products ever since.

Coles delivers over 6,000 gallons of oil to Pacific Press annually. Winter said, “Dealing with Pacific Press and Mary Switzer has been a delightful experience.”

A Visit to the Windy (and Cold, and Snowy) City

Last week I had the opportunity to spend several days in Chicago. The main reason for the trip was to attend the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting, which I did on Saturday and Sunday. I served as a judge in one round of the discussion meet contest on Saturday, then sat in on the Young Leader awards presentation Sunday morning. I was impressed by the talent these young people possess - the future of agriculture is bright!

On Thursday I attended a day-long class on social media. You may have heard that term used different places. Social media -- also known as new media -- uses the Internet to express and share ideas and information, through outlets like YouTube, Facebook, or even the blog you're reading right now. It was a very interesting and informative class that only scratched the surface in our allotted time. I'm excited about the potential and have several ideas of ways we can use some of these new tools in the GROWMARK System.

But the highlight of the trip for me was a visit to a special class of 4th graders. My husband and I have participated for the last four years in the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom's Adopt-a-Classroom program. The concept is simple: teachers in Chicago sign up at the beginning of the school year and are matched with a farm family. They exchange letters, pictures, and other items and learn about where their food, fiber, and fuel come from. Personal visits are encouraged, but not required, but for the first time I was able to meet our class in person. It was so much fun to talk to the students and their teacher and answer their questions about farming. I hope they learned a little more about the importance of agriculture and will remember some of the things we are sharing through our letters as they get older.

Teaching the Hunters and Fishermen of Tomorrow

This entry was provided by Terry Stevenson, communications manager at Southern Co-operative Services in Ontario.


Chris Snip spends most of his week working closely with farmers as a crop sales specialist for AGRIS Co-operative in Cottam, Ontario; but when he is not in the field he devotes his time to his second loves of hunting and fishing. Snip currently serves as vice president of the local Delta Waterfowl chapter in Kingsville, Ontario.

Besides enjoying his hobby with fellow hunters and anglers, Snip also volunteers as a mentor to youth members of the chapter, teaching them about fish and wildlife and the importance of conservation. Delta Waterfowl works through its chapters to provide waterfowl hunting opportunities. The local chapter, called the “Quacker Wackers,” was instrumental in organizing a youth hunt at the Hillman Marsh, operated by the Essex Region Conservation Authority.

Snip and chapter secretary Jeff Bechard worked with the Essex Region Conservation Authority and a number of Hillman Marsh seasonal blind holders to offer young hunters and their mentors a place to hunt. Snip feels strongly about giving back to his community and teaching young people how to safely enjoy nature and the great outdoors. In addition to teaching about gun and hunting safety, he also stresses the importance of respecting all wildlife and the value of preserving their natural habitat.

Homegrown Cheese and Adventures in Iowa

Another interesting week in the GROWMARK System! On Tuesday I toured the Ropp Jersey Cheese farm with the Heartland chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA). Becky Ropp, GROWMARK manager, career development, was kind enough to lead our group through the cheesmaking operation she and her husband manage, along with his parents. They use 100 percent of the milk from their herd of Jersey cattle to make over 80 artisan cheeses in a Cheese on Wheels factory which is enclosed in a semi-trailer. Of course, I had to bring home several samples of their cheese curds!

Thursday brought a trip to STAR Energy in the northwestern corner of Iowa. Jenny Haycraft, marketing communications specialist, and I are working with Dave Brecher, STAR's general manager, and Shannon Martin, propane operations assistant, on some new company brochures. We had an initial conversation over the phone, but Jenny and I jumped at the chance to tag along on the jet to meet Dave and Shannon in person. All in all, we had a very successful meeting and made great progress.

Kicking Off a New Year

Last Saturday night I was invited to attend an ASP kickoff banquet in Collinsville, Ill. Six member cooperatives - AgriPride FS, Inc., Gateway FS, Inc., Madison Service Company, South Central FS, Inc., St. Clair Service Company, and TriCounty FS, Inc. - came together to honor their salespeople for achieving their ASP and MARC of Excellence goals this past year and to start the new year on a high note.

I was asked to take photos as people arrived at the banquet, and during some brainstorming with Larry Cristy, Southern Region energy marketing director and Dana Weaver, marketing services manager, it was decided that a tropical backdrop would be created. I brought along some fun accessories, including a sombrero, a lei, and two Hawaiian-print shirts. It was a lot of fun to take photos on a cold November evening of people who appeared to be in a warm, sunny vacation spot.

Kudos to all who were involved with the planning of the banquet - it was a very enjoyable night. Best of luck to everyone who is eligible for the ASP and MARC of Excellence on achieving your sales goals this year; after seeing the preview of the trips, I was ready to hop on the next plane south!

Educational Opportunities

If last weekend had a theme, it was education. On Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to visit a 4th grade class in Peoria, Ill. and talk to them about agriculture. GROWMARK is a member of the Mid America CropLife Association (MACA), and one activity that group manages is the CropLife Ambassador program. Teachers can visit the website and request a guest speaker, then MACA volunteers sign up for schools in their area. I try to sign up for one or two presentations a year.




The students I talked to last Friday were wonderful. They asked a lot of questions and seemed to really enjoy the pictures and items I took to share. I used some materials from the Illinois Farm Bureau's Ag in the Classroom group - they are very nicely done and written at a 4th grade level.




Probably the best part came at the end of the presentation. I was just about to walk out the door and a little girl who hadn't said much during the whole time I was there came up and handed me a piece of paper. It said "You Rock Mrs. Jones! Love, Rebeca."





I think that it is so important to talk to young people about the importance of agriculture and teach them where their food, fiber, and fuel comes from. If you ever have a chance to visit schools in your area, I encourage you to take advantage. Your county Farm Bureau can help by providing Ag in the Classroom materials and activities.

Friday evening my family made the drive to Indianapolis to watch my brother, Jason, receive his American FFA Degree on Saturday. It was great to be back among the blue jackets again and add the third member of our family to the list of American Degree recipients. My dad earned his in 1977, and I earned mine in 2001.

I firmly believe in the value of youth organizations like FFA and 4-H, among others, and am proud to work for a company that devotes time and resources to supporting those groups.

Trees Forever

Today I attended a Trees Forever meeting in Lexington, Ill. I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be a very interesting, fun experience.

GROWMARK and our local FS member cooperatives are sponsors of the Trees Forever program by offering half-price seed (grasses, wildflowers, etc...) to participants in the buffer strip program. This year there are 11 landowners participating in the program.

The Wright family was our host today and showed us a great time. We had a fantastic meal, followed by a hayrack ride through their 40 acres of timber. It was a beautiful area, and I even saw a couple deer off in the distance. They also offered rides on their model train.

Probably my favorite part of the day was the tour of the house, or "Castle," built in 1898. The Wrights have painstakingly renovated this three-story home back to its original glory. The details were amazing - painted ceilings, carved woodwork, spiraling stairways - wow! They have also furnished their home with antique furniture wherever possible. I love learning about the history of antique things, hearing the story of where they came from, thinking about who may have used them over the years.

To top it all off, the rain that had been threatening all day held off until about two minutes after I got in my car to head back to the office. Perfect timing!

Karen

Welcome!

Thank you for checking out my new "System Stories" blog! This is where you'll find fun tidbits of information about the people of the GROWMARK System whom I meet during my travels for the Spirit magazine. From time to time I may also include interesting information that relates to what we do as a cooperative system, like facts about agriculture or writing tips.

I hope you will become a regular visitor to this blog. Feel free to leave comments about what you enjoy, and even about things you would change. I look forward to hearing from you!

Karen