Planting the Seed of Hope
SOURCE | Fall 2021 13
Chris Grogan , Publications and Media Relations Manager cgrogan @ growmark . com
When you think of soybeans , it ’ s likely you don ’ t think of colorful images . But for one FS company , the goal over the last year was to get growers thinking of the color pink when it came to some of their soybean crop .
“ We called it the Pink Crop Team to really reiterate our mission ,” said Three Rivers FS Marketing and Communications Coordinator Lauren Monaghan .
Three Rivers FS started planning for this project back in the summer of 2020 and by September had mailers out to its growers across Northeast Iowa promoting the program . The concept was simple : for every unit of seed booked by October 31st , Three Rivers FS and GROWMARK would each donate $ 1 in the grower ’ s name to either the National Breast Cancer Foundation , Wendt Regional Cancer Center in Dubuque , or Mercy Medical Center Foundation in Cedar Rapids .
25 growers ended up signing up for the inaugural year of the program with more than 7,500 units of soybeans booked .
“ It honestly exceeded our expectations , and we were really happy with the how it came together in such a short time period ,” added Monaghan .
This past August , checks were presented to each of the three recipient organizations . Three Rivers FS also made signs honoring each of the 25 growers , along with shirts for them and their wives .
“ We ’ d like to double the number of growers this year , but we ’ d be happy with even 25 percent more ,” added Monaghan . “ Every bit helps and we ’ re really grateful for the support our team and growers have committed to this important cause .”
To the western part of the state , GROWMARK FS Midwest saw the success of the Three Rivers FS initiative and started their own program this year called Treat It to Beat It .
The GFS Midwest sales team made a big push in its region , and every unit of seed booked will be matched , with the proceeds going to the Iowa Army of Pink , a regional breast cancer awareness group , and other local cancer foundation groups .
“ We ’ re making a big effort here in this area of Iowa and South Dakota , because it ’ s such an important cause for our growers and GROWMARK FS Midwest team ,” added GROWMARK FS Midwest Agronomy Manager Tim Berkland .
The plan is to treat all of the beans pink in 2022 to honor the effort at both GROWMARK FS Midwest and Three Rivers FS .
“ It ’ ll be quite the sight to see ,” added Berkland . “ This may be the one time we want to see a change of color in the soybean crop !”
“ When we were out recognizing some of these growers with the signs and shirts , some became emotional because they had known family or friends impacted by breast cancer ,” added Monaghan .
The program made such an impact that Three Rivers FS is now planning for its second year . Monaghan says the sales team is excited and got out even earlier this year , and already have seen a lot of success due to the impact of the first year of the Pink Crop Team .