Northwest Ohio Crop Production Services Branches Certified In 4R Nutrient Stewardship
July 5, 2016 The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program has announced that Crop Production Services, Inc.’s service groups located in Ottawa and Upper Sandusky, OH, have been added to its growing list of nutrient service providers to achieve certified status.
The voluntary certification program, now in its third year as of March, is a concentrated effort by the agriculture industry to significantly reduce and prevent applied nutrients from running off fields, which has contributed to water quality issues in Lake Erie.
Crop Production Services’ location in Ottawa/Leipsic, Ohio is now 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certified. Employees pictured include (from L to R), Front Row: Mandy Rump, Darin Prowant, Abby Klinebriel, Dave Steffan, Brenda Maag, Chris Niese, Andy Niese and Don Lause; Back Row: Joe Phillips, Logan Kaufman, manager Nick Morman, Brad Gerten, Nolan Fisher, Steve Goedde, Spencer Drey, Dan Bauer and Tom Knueven.
“The 4R Certification Program has been a real eye-opener for how we can run a more efficient and environmentally-safe workplace,” said Ottawa CPS Facility Manager Nick Morman. “We are now able to follow new laws in place for phosphates much more effectively. It’s a great feeling to be able to work in this industry, and this program has enabled us to do so at the right time, with the right rate, at the right place, using the right source.”
The Ottawa CPS facility has been in operation for over 50 years, and partners with the Leipsic facility that has been in operation over 60 years. Sixteen full-time employees and 14 seasonal employees at these locations provide services to its shared customer base for seed, chemical, nutritionals, fertilizer, soil and grid sampling, custom application, variable rate technology application and seed placement, plus field scouting. CPS’s Leipsic location is also a bulk seed terminal that supplies a number of surrounding locations.
Crop Production Services’ location in Upper Sandusky, OH, is now 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certified. Employees pictured include (from L to R), Front Row: Anna Young, Jaime Webb, Tim Wengerd, Justin Metzger and Fred Geiser; Back Row: Lance Kessler, Stan Geiser, Cliff Orians, Dan Lessig, Dave Sayre, Philip Reed and Todd Ulrich.
The CPS Upper Sandusky group, which consists of the locations in Upper Sandusky, Carey, and Dunkirk, services Wyandot and adjoining counties, with 85% of its clients/acres in the Western Lake Erie Basin. These facilities have 34 employees offering liquid and dry fertilizer 4R recommendations and custom application, anhydrous ammonia sales, agri chemical sales and application, grid soil sampling, sales and custom treating of Dyna Grow, Dekalb, Asgrow, LG, Mycogen and Syngenta brand seed, field scouting and crop tissue sampling.
“The 4R program is about doing the right thing for the customer and for the rivers and lakes,” said Jim Seiler, CCA, sales consultant with the Upper Sandusky system. “We are striving to keep a farmer’s nutrients on his acres to feed his crops, not allow them to run-off and be lost, and to be responsible with the customer’s fertilizer investment while protecting the environment.”
Crop Production Services’ location in Dunkirk, OH, is now 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certified. Employees pictured include (from L to R): Dave Clinger, Martha Schaller, Payton Strawser, Rob Deckling, Caleb Burbach, Adam Burbach, Jim Seiler, Brenda Mattevi, Adam Hites and Dan Webb.
The program certifies nutrient service providers in the Western Lake Erie Basin that apply or make recommendations are doing so in accordance with 4R Nutrient Stewardship principles – which refers to using the Right Source of Nutrients at the Right Rate and Right Time in the Right Place. Program participants must go through an annual, independent, third-party audit and demonstrate they not only understand 4R principles, but also follow them.
Approximately 2.7 million acres and over 5,600 grower customers are serviced by the 34 facilities in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana that have earned 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification, with approximately 70 percent of those acres located in the Western Lake Erie Basin.
“By participating in the 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program, these CPS facilities have proven their ongoing commitment to the long-term improvement of Lake Erie’s water quality,” said Carrie-Vollmer Sanders, Nutrient Stewardship Council chairwoman.
“We’re proud of Crop Production Services’ dedication and efforts in having multiple facilities go through the audit process and earn certification,” said Andrew Allman, executive director of the Nutrient Stewardship Council.
The 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program is governed and guided by the Nutrient Stewardship Council, a diverse set of stakeholders from business, government, university and non-governmental sectors with a common goal of maintaining agricultural productivity while also improving the quality of Lake Erie and its contributing watersheds. The program is administered by the Ohio AgriBusiness Association.
For more information, visit 4Rcertified.org, email [email protected] or call 614-326-7520.
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