Green Valley Agricultural Honored for Environmental Stewardship
(PRWEB) June 24, 2015 -- Green Valley Agricultural has been selected as one of four North American Region winners of the 2015 Environmental Respect Award. Green Valley is one of 14 agribusiness companies worldwide to receive recognition for their efforts in promoting environmental stewardship. Winners were selected in early April at the headquarters of Meister Media Worldwide in Willoughby, Ohio.
The Environmental Respect Awards, sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and presented by CropLife® magazine, are the agricultural industry’s highest recognition for environmental stewardship. The Awards are given to North American agricultural retailers, those who serve farmers and ranchers with the nutrients, crop protection 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.
2015 marks the program’s 25th year honoring stewardship, safety and community outreach efforts of the world’s leading agricultural retailers and distributors.
“Sustainability is a mentality that has stewardship, quality of life and profitability at its core,” says John Christian, president of Green Valley Agricultural. “Green Valley works hard to help our clients understand that the proper use of agricultural inputs accomplishes all of those core attributes.”
Christian says one of the company’s challenges is servicing the diverse customer base typical of Western Michigan. Among the numerous row crop growers are also significant acres of fruit and vegetable production, horticultural-centered greenhouses and a diverse animal agriculture.
Green Valley 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) Surface water from all operational areas can be contained in the event of an on-site emergency minimizing impact to surface water to the local area; 2) a heated floor in the dry fertilizer storage protects the quality of the product on-site and minimizes shrink and the amount of product that gets transported out of the building unintentionally; 3) a concrete pad between and outside the rails at the unloading point to facilitate cleanup after rail deliveries.
According to Christian, these and other stewardship-oriented features are part of a bigger community-focused mindset at Green Valley. “Green Valley expects that the way we live, the things we do in our company culture and the places we spend our money all reflect our heart and mind about loving our neighbor as ourselves,” he says.
Each regional winner will receive a personalized, distinctive Environmental Respect Award crystal trophy and a public relations campaign.
“DuPont is pleased to congratulate the winners of the 2015 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 agri-businesses and the crop producers they serve that this nation is assured of a safe and bountiful food supply,” said Paul Schrimpf, executive editor of CropLife® magazine. “We’re delighted to be able to gain them some recognition for their environmentalism.”
Thirteen regional winners will receive their trophies and four of those will be named Ambassador of Respect; one each from North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Europe/Middle East/Africa. A Spirt of Respect Award is also conferred to a past winner who has shown continuous improvement since their last honor.
Find more information on the Environmental Respect Awards at http://www.EnvironmentalRespect.com.
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For 25 years, the Environmental Respect Award has been the premier award in agricultural stewardship among agricultural retailers and distributors around the world. Since its inception in 1990, more than 6,000 businesses in the U.S. and Canada have shared their stories of environmental stewardship, sustainability, product safety standards, and customer and community outreach. More than 600 have earned state/provincial awards. Over the last 10 years, the international extension of the Environmental Respect Awards has seen involvement from more than 550 businesses in 30 countries. ERA 2015 marks the inauguration of a fully integrated and global selection and recognition process. The program is sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and is managed and conducted by CropLife magazine and Farm Chemicals International magazine, Meister Media Worldwide publications.
Michael DeLuca, Meister Media Worldwide, +1 (440) 602-9193, [email protected]
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