Wabash Valley Service Company Honored for Environmental Stewardship
Allendale, IL (PRWEB) September 11, 2013 -- Wabash Valley Service Company has been selected as one of five Regional Environmental Respect Award winners for the 2013 ERAs. Winners were selected on April 16 in Willoughby, Ohio.
The Environmental Respect Awards, sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and CropLife® magazine, are the agricultural industry’s highest recognition for environmental stewardship among U.S. agricultural retailers, those who serve farmers and ranchers with the nutrients, pest control and agronomic information and services critical to effective crop production. Each year a panel of industry experts gathers to recognize achievement in environmental stewardship, professional excellence, and community involvement.
Wabash Valley Service Company won the award based on excellence in site design, in-plant storage and handling procedures, proper application and leadership in safety and stewardship among customers and employees. The company has taken many extra steps to ensure the environmental impact of their business is minimal including: 1) utilizing a safety checklist from the point of receiving products to inventory storage and transfer; 2) loading and unloading lines are labeled with the product they are used for; 3) concrete pad between and outside the rails at the unloading point to facilitate cleanup after rail deliveries.
“While it is important to be productive, we also need to be sure to look at the big picture and see what is important – the future,” says Joel Gardner, crop specialist for Wabash Valley Service Company. “We as an industry need to make sure that we advise and practice the best possible ways to maintain our resources. For example, using management practices to reduce soil erosion, pesticide use management, and maintaining fertility levels without excessive applications. If we all take the 'leave it better than you found it' approach, it is a success in my eyes.”
Each regional winner will receive a personalized, distinctive Environmental Respect Award crystal sculpture and a public relations campaign. The U.S. National Winner will also have the opportunity to visit an international winner’s location on an agricultural tour early next year.
“DuPont is pleased to congratulate the winners of the 2013 Environmental Respect Awards and applauds their accomplishment in environmental stewardship,” said Rik Miller, president, DuPont Crop Protection. “These leaders are helping to advance environmental safety as well as the safe use of agricultural products, and we hope they will inspire others who share our passion and commitment to elevate environmental stewardship around the world.”
“It’s through the conscientious efforts of these ag business and the crop producers they serve that this nation is assured of a safe and bountiful food supply,” said Paul Schrimpf, group editor of CropLife magazine. “We’re delighted to be able to gain them some recognition for their environmentalism.”
This winning agribusiness is also competing for the national Environmental Respect Award. The regional winners will receive their trophies and the national winner will be announced in Washington, D.C. during a special ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in July to honor the regional, national, and international winners.
Find more information on the Environmental Respect Awards at http://www.environmentalrespect.com.
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The Environmental Respect Award is the premier award in agricultural stewardship among agricultural retailers and distributors around the world. Since its inception in 1990, more than 5,500 businesses in the U.S. have shared their stories of environmental respect, product safety standards, and customer and community outreach, and more than 300 have earned state awards. In the last seven years, the international extension of the Environmental Respect Awards has seen involvement from more than 250 businesses in 25 countries. The effort is sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and is managed and conducted by CropLife magazine and Farm Chemicals International magazine.
Sue Betteley, Meister Media Worldwide, +1 440-602-9131, [email protected]
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