Measuring up with WL Alfalfa

If you were a dairy producer visiting the FS booth at the Canadian Dairy XPO show earlier this month, you not only had the advantage of learning more about how WLAlfalfa can help produce high quality forages for your dairy herd, but you also had the opportunity to pick up a 25’ heavy-duty measuring tape to take back to your farm.

For the first time, FS Co-operatives took part at the Canadian Dairy XPO show in Stratford. With participation from Huron Bay Co-operative, Lucknow District Co-operative, FS PARTNERS and North WellingtonCo-operative, the FS booth was well represented. The two day show saw  approximately 11,000 in attendance.

Bill Brown, GROWMARK Ontario field sales agronomist and organizer of the event for the FS System, said that he was pleased with the overall energy at the show, especially with one of the largest snow storms to hit, dairy farmers still made their way to the show. “The WL brand is not widely recognized, but we don’t think it will take long for farmers to realize its high yield potential and excellent quality giving the producer more milk in the pail,” says Brown. 

Brent Lamont, FS crop specialist with
Huron Bay Co-operative at FS booth at Dairy XPO, Feb 4th. 

The WL Alfalfa  brand has been in existence for more than 50 years, providing top quality alfalfa forage seed varieties to farmers across North America. FS Co-operatives are exclusive suppliers of the WL brand.

CleanFARMS cleans up!

An excerpt from recent CleanFARMS News Release..........................


Ontario farmers returned more than 114,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides and over 4,400 kilograms of animal health medications for safe disposal in 2013. The combined collection program was made possible through a unique partnership between CleanFARMS - a national industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization - and the Canadian Animal Health Institute(CAHI).

"It's always a good thing when we can offer expanded programs to help farmers responsibly manage waste on their farms," says Barry Friesen, general manager of CleanFARMS. "Partnering with the Canadian Animal Health Institute on this initiative proved to be a win-win for everyone involved."

Ontario farmers were invited to participate at no charge, by dropping off their obsolete or unwanted agricultural pesticides and animal health medications to 31 ag-retail collection sites throughout the province in October for safe and environmentally responsible disposal.

Since the program launched in 1998, more than 1.9 million kilograms of obsolete pesticide has been collected across Canada and safely destroyed. The first animal health medication collection was piloted in 2009 and returned in 2013. After collection, all products are taken to a licensed waste management facility where they are safely disposed of through high-temperature incineration.

The obsolete collection program generally comes to the province every three years. In between collections, farmers are encouraged to safely store their unwanted pesticides and animal health medications until they can properly dispose of them through the program.

Thank you to the FS System for its part in this important program:

Sunderland Co-operative -- Oakwood Ag Centre
Lucknow District Co-operative
AGRIS Co-operative -- Leamington & Tupperville
Co-operative Regionale de Nipissing Sudbury -- Verner & Thornloe Ag Centres
North Wellington Co-operative -- Harriston
Huron Bay Co-operative -- Walkerton
Bradford Co-operative Storage
County Farm Centre -- Picton
GROWMARK, Inc. -- Kitchener

Calling 4-H Ontario High School students...2014 GROWMARK Essay Contest is now open!

Promoting Sustainability and Conservation of Natural Resources is this year's theme for the GROWMARK annual essay contest. It is open to all high school students who are members of  4-H in Ontario. 

Essays should be approximately 500 words, typed and double-spaced. The postmarked entry deadline for Ontario 4-H members is May 15. The Ontario provincial winner earns a $500 award and the winner’s 4-H Association receives a $300 award. Four runners-up each win $125.

Congratulations to Nicole Lauzon
2013 Provincial winner
4-H Hastings County

The essay contest has been in place in the United States for 21 years, sponsored by the GROWMARK System and FS member co-operatives to help young people develop their writing skills, learn about current issues affecting agriculture, and understand the unique role of co-operatives. This year, students will focus on four questions:  What does sustainability mean? Why should farmers be concerned with conservation and sustainable practices? What role do co-operative play in this effort?

Additional program details can be viewed at GROWMARK  or 4-H Ontario.

On the road with two more Dieselex® Gold rolling billboards!

Latest customized  Dieselex Gold
fuel truck delivered to North
Wellington Co-op just last month.

With Dieselex Gold growing in popularity for Ontario FS members and customers, AGRIS Co-operative and North Wellington Co-operative Services together with UPI Energy LP have just introduced two more Dieselex Gold branded fuel trucks in Ontario.

UPI Energy, the creator of the design, had its first truck painted in 2012 and now with increased demand for the product, there are now four new trucks sporting the gold and burgundy Dieselex Gold colour palette.

AGRIS Co-operative general manager Jim Campbell says that his staff was very enthusiastic about the new addition to its fleet.”It is a great looking vehicle that will certainly create a big impact at local farm shows with our farmer-owners as well as drum up more interest in our local area,” says Campbell.

With now, over 30 fuel trucks equipped with Dieselex Gold fuel injectors (including UPI Energy, UPI/FS member co-op joint ventures and FSPARTNERS, a retail division of GROWMARK), the product has earned a good reputation in Ontario for restoring lost horsepower, improving fuel efficiency and protecting today's sophisticated fuel systems. To learn more about Dieselex Gold visit any of the website links in this blog post.

AGRIS Co-operative’s energy team here with new Dieselex Gold branded fuel truck. (L-R) driver/salesmen Pete Caza, Pat Coggans, Dean Gyori, Rick VanRycheghm and  Jeff Walters, customer service representative  Debbie Plourde, energy manager Charlie Mailloux, customer service rep. Sherry Newman, driver & fuel specialist Mike Dotterman, driver salesman Terry McClarty, driver & equipment installer specialist Rob Clark and driver salesman  Darrell Dutry.