In 1952 Ken and Noreen Gardiner began farming along the west side of Lake Manitoba in the Lakeland area, starting what is now 2 generations later, Gardiner Farms Ltd. and 7L Ranch Ltd.  Ken and Noreen had a mixed farm with grain crops consisting of primarily wheat, oats, barley, flax, and rapeseed.  They also bought and finished Holstein calves and raised layer and broiler chickens.   Early on, Ken also worked part-time construction, Noreen was on the farm raising their two children Wayne and Bruce.

Before Vince Munro began selling fertilizer in 1958, the only place to buy fertilizer in the Westbourne area was Hanneson Hardware.  In 1958, the Gardiners were one of the first customers to come to Munro Farm Supplies Ltd. and pick up the 50-pound bags off the railway cars in town.  Wayne and Bruce both remember coming to pick up fertilizer with their Dad, as well as applying anhydrous ammonia with an open cab tractor.  The Gardiners were one of the first farms in the area to use anhydrous, which Munro’s supplied for them along with the applicator.  Wayne and Bruce were both invested in the farm at early ages.  Wayne bought his first quarter of land when he was 14 years old for $30/acre, and Bruce put in his first crop at the age of 17.

Today, the Wayne and Bruce farm separately, still in the Lakeland area, with their yards across the section from each other.  Bruce and his partner Heather run Gardiner Farms Ltd. where they grow mainly wheat canola and soybeans on roughly 3,000 acres.  Wayne and his wife Colleen, along with their daughter Dana and her partner Curtis operate 7L Ranch Ltd.  Together they spring calve 620 cows, as well as custom feed approximately 300 calves in addition to their own in the winter.  They also grow 300 acres of corn for silage and grazing, as well about 800 acres of tame hay.

For the 60 years that Munro Farm Supplies has been in business, the Gardiner families have been among the most loyal customers.  When asked why they choose to continue to now do business with Shur-Gro Farm Services, they said it comes down to the excellent service they receive and the laid-back family atmosphere in the office in Westbourne.  We are very lucky to have customers like the Gardiners and would like to thank them for all of their business over the years.

In 2018, Shur-Gro Farm Services celebrates its 50^th year in business, Munro Farm Supplies celebrates its 60^th year and South East Seeds celebrates its 10^th year in business.  We wish to thank our customers for helping us reach these milestone anniversaries and invite all to help us celebrate this year!  Through the years, Ron Helwer, our company President has inspired all of us to focus on the customer with our motto “servicing your growing needs”.  Your success is our success.  Agriculture is the industry that brings us together, and we are committed to working with you to help produce food for a hungry world.

Ron started Shur-Gro in Brandon when he moved here in 1968.  We re-located to our present office and plant on Douglas St in 1976-77.  Both our retail and corporate offices are situated here.  We are very grateful to our local customers for supporting us at our Douglas St location for over 40 years!

Attached are some photos of our Douglas St location through the years:

2018 has been a milestone year for Munro Farm Supplies. Our company has achieved 60 years in business; remaining independently owned in a market sector that has seen some large mergers and take overs recently. We owe this success to both our owners & our customers. From our beginnings with Vince & Helen Munro’s dream; to our middle years growing with Dave Falk; to our current expanded network with Shur-Gro Farm Services & Southeast Seeds under Ron Helwer; we have only seen such longevity due to their business skills and risk taking in purchasing retail outlets in tough times.
We can’t forget our customers support over these past 60 years, because without them, we would not still be in business. Their trust in our service & expertise has led to strong customer relations and even longer friendships over the years. We are proud to support farmers in their passion to feed the world.

We celebrated our 60th Anniversary at our annual customer appreciation event in July 2018. Our Portage event at the Canad Inns was held on July 11th. This event is always a highlight for our customers and staff to have a nice evening out to socialize after all the long hours spent working during seeding and spraying. The room sported some enlarged pictures from our past, including some of the original floaters Munro used to spread fertilizer. After supper, we listened to Ron Helwer tells us a bit about the history of Shur-Gro and Munro. He also spoke about our future as we fully integrate into one company which will not be for sale but will remain an independently owned company. We want our customers to know we will continue to provide the agronomic expertise and service they have come to expect from us.

We appreciate your business and look forward to many more years of serving you.

Written by Barry Lamb

Assiniboine Community College will be presenting Brandon agricultural entrepreneur Ron Helwer with an honorary diploma in Agribusiness at the college’s upcoming graduation ceremony in Brandon on June 14.

Mr. Helwer and his family have owned and operated Shur-Gro Farm Services since 1968. They purchased Munro Farm Supplies in 1990 and a majority stake in South East Seeds in 2017. Mr. Helwer is president of all three companies.

“Ron Helwer has been in business for more than 50 years, providing an important service to the farming community and hundreds of high-skilled jobs, many of them filled by Assiniboine grads. We are delighted that Mr. Helwer has agreed to accept this honour,” said Assiniboine President Mark Frison.

“I’m very honoured and pleased to be nominated. Assiniboine Community College has been very important to us for sourcing excellent employees. We have many employees who have been through their agribusiness courses,” said Mr. Helwer.

Shur-Gro offers financial help to employees who wish to further their education and provides scholarships at Assiniboine.

At 85 years of age, Mr. Helwer shows no signs of slowing down. He can’t wait to get to the office every morning.

“Friends say, ‘You should be retired.’ I say, ‘Well, what’s retirement?’ They say, ‘Doing what you want to do.’ I say, ‘That’s what I’m doing.’ I enjoy what I’m doing and the people I work with.”
His wife Vera and their three adult children, Sherry, Reg and Gail, all share in the ownership of the businesses, but are not actively involved.

Ron Helwer started Shur-Gro in 1968 when farmers were decreasing their use of fertilizer because of low farm prices, causing some fertilizer dealers to look for an opportunity to sell out.

“Why would I want in when things were going downhill? Well, my philosophy has always been to look forward with optimism. And it turned out well, because I could pick up those businesses for a reasonable cost,” Mr. Helwer recalled.

Mr. Helwer’s advice to Assiniboine grads is never to rest on one’s laurels. “It would be nice if you could get to a level in business where you say, ‘I’m going to stay at that level.’ But that doesn’t happen in business. My theory is, if we’re not going ahead, we’re going back. So we need to progress. We need to be forward-thinking and looking for opportunities,” he said.

In 1978, Mr. Helwer played a key role in establishing the Western Fertilizer and Chemical Dealers Association and served as its President from 1979 to 1980. He also served with the National Fertilizer Solution Association in the U.S. from 1977 to 1991. Mr. Helwer has been a long-time supporter and advocate of the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR). He received the Chairman’s Award in 1981 and Retailer Hall of Fame Award in 2007, and Shur-Gro was recognized with the Chairman’s Award in 2012. Mr. Helwer was inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2014.

Assiniboine awards honorary diplomas to those who demonstrate excellence in their personal and professional accomplishments. A list of recipients is included below.

Ten years sounds like a long time to most people, when in reality looking back, the last 10 years have flown by incredibly fast. Thankfully, the journey has been incredible every step of the way. South East Seeds was an idea that started while repairing a flex header in a soybean field. The next thing you know we were selling soybean and corn seed based out of Niverville, MB. Even though we started selling seed in 2008, we didn’t set up shop until the spring of 2010. ‘Baby steps’ was our business model and humble beginnings were a huge part in our success. With the Niverville location doing so well we decided to set up in the Dugald area in 2012. Blaine Epp came on board and has been taking care of those customers ever since. The goal has never changed… Relationships that develop into friendships and customer service every minute the farmer is working.

https://youtu.be/jBuZK6jYrjg

In 2018, Shur-Gro Farm Services will celebrate its 50^th year in business, Munro Farm Supplies will celebrate its 60^th year in business and South East Seeds will celebrate its 10^th year in business.  We wish to thank our customers for helping us reach these milestone anniversaries and invite all to help us celebrate this year!  Through the years, Ron Helwer, our company President has inspired all of us to focus on the customer with our moto “servicing your growing needs”.  Your success is our success.  Vince Munro, founder of Munro Farm Supplies stated, “Look after your customer and they will look after you.”  This great philosophy guides us in our day-to-day relationships with customers.  Agriculture is the industry that brings us together, and we are committed to working with our farm customers to help produce food for generations to come.

Thank you to all of you for helping us reach this milestone in our history.  Munro Farm Supplies – 60 years, Shur-Gro Farm Services 50 years and new to the fold South East Seeds 10 years!

The Shoal Lake branch of Shur-Gro Farm Services Ltd was established in 1980. Many things have changed since then but the final outcome and goal for our customers still remains the same, the Shur-Gro staff are always here to service all your growing needs.

Edgehill Farms Ltd formed its roots when three Findlay brothers travelled from lower Ontario and homesteaded in the now Shoal Lake area in 1879. At that time there was not much to be found in the area besides a North West Mounted Police office that resided on the south-west side of the lake. It wasn’t until 1885 when the Canadian Pacific Railway laid down tracks just north of the lake; this in turn was the start of a community beginning to form. Shoal Lake became an official village on January 12^th, 1909.

Glen and Kay are fourth generation farmers of the Findlay family. Over the years Glen has had a very strong involvement within the agricultural industry and then decided to become directly involved with the family farm in 1969. At that time the farm consisted of 600 acres and a small herd of cattle. The Findlay’s started growing canola (rapeseed) in the 1960’s and were early adaptors for the crop in doing so, and the now Yellowhead Municipality area has been deemed the roots for where canola crops first started being grown. Growing canola wasn’t how it is nowadays and Glen has been through all the canola growing learning curves; from dealing with the early management stages of weed issues, green seed, sclerotinia, and clubroot. GPS and modern technology in farm equipment has played a large role in greatly improving the yield and quality in both crops and cattle over the years. Glen’s son Gary became involved with the farm in 1975. The Findlay’s have been dealing with Shur-Gro and Ron Helwer since 1980 when the Shoal Lake branch first opened. Also, in the 1980’s they continued growing rapeseed that was refined for its erucic acid content, which was used for oil in military engines. Over the years big changes continued to happen on the farm including when they purchased their first high clearance sprayer in the 1990’s. Carey joined forces with Glen and Gary in 2010 to become involved with Edgehill Farms. Now they have around 250 head of cattle and over 6000 acres of crop and pasture/hay land. They grow canola, wheat, soybeans, barley, and corn. The Findlay’s are now a seventh generation family farm and have played a huge part in both the Shur-Gro and Shoal Lake community over the years. Shur-Gro Farm Services Ltd would like to extend a huge thank you to the Findlay family for their dedicated service and friendship over the years, here’s too many more!

Shur-Gro Farm Services Ltd celebrates its 50^th anniversary milestone for 2018 with Ron Helwer having guided the way.

The MacGregor branch of Munro Farm Supplies Ltd. opened in 1997.  The MacGregor location has a full service of fertilizers with liquid tanks on site, anhydrous ammonia, and in 2011 a new volumetric dry blending system was upgraded to a capacity of 1000MT.  For the past 21 years, these services have allowed us to provide complete service to customers in the market area.  The trained staff and team atmosphere has been essential to support our farm customers.  The entire staff is always willing to jump in to lend a helping hand when anyone drives onto the yard.

Introducing:

Trails End Farms Ltd. of MacGregor, MB.  Peter and Verna Doerksen moved to MacGregor buying a local farm on April 5, 1991.  It was a homecoming for Verna who has family in the area, but Peter brought his (then 3) children to a new community, to start farming in spring.  With no seeders or tractors, extended family put a crop in and allowed Peter to get his feet under him. It was a big decision to uproot and move, but the lack of opportunity where he was living and the belief that God provided this opportunity to flourish was recognized.  Now with 3 more children, Peter, Verna and children Andrew, Steven, Rachel, Joel, Bethany and Holly are thriving. With the growing addition of grandchildren the move has proved to be prosperous for the family.

When the Munro Farm Supplies Ltd. location opened in 1997, Peter did business there because of recommendations from other farms and family.  He knew the people that operated the location and was comfortable with their knowledge. In recent years, Peter’s sons Steven and Joel have returned to the farm and are actively contributing to the farm’s success.

Peter does business with Munro Farm Supplies Ltd. because he says “the advice he receives is good for the farm” and it’s not for the benefit of just selling product.  The service is also another positive.  Even in the middle of the busy season a call from Munro staff towards the end of the day is “what’s going on tonight and what will you need?” instead of an insistence to get product before the doors close.  Peter also notes that the staff at MacGregor is really a team.  They work well together and he feels that when his farm does business there that it’s part of that team too.

Vince Munro, founder of Munro Farm Supplies said “Look after your customer and they will look after you.”  This statement holds true even 60 years after starting Munro Farm Supplies Ltd.  We are a group of people that pride ourselves on providing products and services that growers need.  Our company is led by a strong leader, Ron Helwer, and with that leadership we will continue to be available to our customers when they need us the most.

It is a blessing to be a part of Agriculture and we will continue to help our growers be prosperous and flourish for generations to come.  Thank you to all our growers for helping us reach these milestones in history.  Munro Farm Supplies Ltd – 60 years, Shur-Gro Farm Services – 50 years, and South East Seeds – 10 years!

Peter Doerksen, Steven Doerksen, Joel Doerksen

Waskada has been a growing outlet for Shur-Gro Farm Services since 1984. With a strong community of farmers backing us, our Waskada branch has expanded, moving our site a mile out of town in 1994. Our loyal customers have allowed us to grow and in our upcoming 2018 season we will expand again adding an additional 1200 tonne of fertilizer storage to our plant. With the additional storage we will be able to service our customers better and make sure we never run out of any products they might need. Waskada offers many services to our customer some of which include, our custom seed treating site, which was added in 2017.  Our trained agronomy staff is always available for any agronomic assistance our farmers may need, as well as a highly experienced operations staff always willing to lend a hand in those unfortunate seasonal breakdowns.

This year Shur-Gro will be celebrating its 50^th year in business and we would like to thank all our customers who have supported us over the years. The Waskada branch owes its success to the strong and loyal community it is surrounded by and looks forward to continuing to grow in the years to come.

Introducing:

Temple Holdings Ltd of Waskada, Mb, is a multi-generational family farm founded in the early 1900’s. It started out as a grain and cattle farm but transitioned to grain only in the late 1990’s. Don and Pat Temple and their son Todd Temple are the current owners of the farm. They have grown a wide range of crops over time including wheat, oats, canola, barley, sunflowers, flax, peas and lentils.  More recently their focus has been on producing wheat, canola, soybeans and corn.

Don and Pat have three children, Leslie (Brad) McKinney, Tami (Terry) Pavely, Todd (Stacy Artz) Temple.  Don and Pat have three grandchildren (Kadence, Payton, Bree). Don started farming in 1966 and farms with Todd  who came back to the farm in 2012.

The Temple’s have been customers of Shur-Gro since the opening of the branch in Waskada in the 1980’s. They chose to work with Shur-Gro because of the services and products that they provide.  They use the seed, fertilizer and crop protection products that Shur-Gro recommends.  They value the customer service, product quality and agronomic knowledge that Shur-Gro brings to their business.   ” Shur-Gro has always supplied all the products that we require for our crop production as well as deliver it in a timely manner.  We look forward to continuing our business with Shur-Gro and are excited for the changes to come.”

The Portage branch of Munro Farm Supplies was opened in 1972, 14 years after Vince Munro founded Munro Farm Supplies in Westbourne.  Over the years our branch has focused on agronomy and custom application.  “Leaders in Agronomic Service” has been our guide towards focusing on what your farm needs to be more profitable.  We offer scouting, custom application, fertilizer, chemical and seed.  Our full-service branch is open when our customers need us.  Our continued success comes from the relationships we have built with our customers over the years.  So, thank you and please join us in celebrating this 60-year milestone!

Jamor Farms Ltd, of Oakland, MB, started in 1945 by Jack & Verna Moorhouse, began as a grain and cattle farm. In time, Jack’s son Jim became more involved and eventually took over the farm. Seeing a new opportunity in the market, Jim worked with Alan Brown (family relative) to start up the vegetable farming in 1968. They grew carrots and parsnips to sell to the Campbell Soup plant in Portage la Prairie. When the Campbell Soup plant closed in 1985, they switched and began selling their vegetables to Peak of the Market.

Jim and his wife Brenda have two children, Scott (Rhonda) and his sister Sherri (Bill). Scott completed his Diploma in Agriculture at University of Manitoba and returned to the family farm in 1995. Scott has been active in both sides of the farm business. Jim and Alan are still actively involved in the vegetable business, leaving most of the grain acres to Scott’s care. Currently the farm grows wheat, canola, soybeans, edible beans, carrots, parsnips and red beets. Scott and Rhonda have 3 sons; Hayden (16), Carter (14) and Asher (14). All three boys help on the farm.

The Moorhouse’s chose to work with Munro Farm Supplies because of the services we provide. They have used our custom application services to help get their crops fertilized and sprayed at the right time and staging. They value our friendly customer service-oriented staff and agronomic knowledge. Munro Farm Supplies has always been able to source the products they need. From fertilizer options to horticulture pesticides. ‘I don’t remember dealing anywhere else since I started farming’, Scott says when it comes to his field’s agronomic needs.

In 2018, Shur-Gro Farm Services will celebrate its 50th year in business, Munro Farm Supplies will celebrate its 60^th year and South East Seeds will celebrate its 10^th year in business.  We wish to thank our customers for helping us reach these milestone anniversaries and invite all to help us celebrate this year!  Through the years, Ron Helwer, our company President has inspired all of us to focus on the customer with our motto “servicing your growing needs”.  Your success is our success.  Vince Munro, founder of Munro Farm Supplies stated, “Look after your customer and they will look after you”.  This great philosophy guides us in our day-to-day relationships with customers.  Agriculture is the industry that brings us together, and we are committed to working with our farm customers to help produce food for generations to come.

Once again Adama is holding their Thank-A-Retailer contest; where communities can nominate their Crop Input retailer to win their community $15,000.00. Oakville Community Club has nominated the Oakville Munro Farm Supplies branch for their long-standing commitment to the community of Oakville.

The staff at the branch have always worked hard to ensure their customer’s needs are met. Staying open long hours & working weekends to provide better service for the farmers of Oakville. They also help with the community crop fundraisers. These are acres that have all the inputs & labour donated, with the profits going towards community projects (Skating & curling rink, sports park, and the hall). Many of the staff live in the surrounding area, attend community events & call Oakville their hometown.

If Oakville wins, the money will go towards the New Hall fund. Oakville Community Club has been working on a plan to build a new hall to replace the existing one, which is 70 years old. The new hall will be located on land adjacent to the skating & curling rinks, making a central point for the community to gather. This building will be the start of the community complex which will eventually facilitate the replacement of the ice facilities as they age. It will also incorporate a daycare center. Oakville is a growing community with young families in need of a community daycare. Small towns thrive on community engagement and community buildings provide the needed venue to create a sense of community & family. The new Oakville hall will help the community continue to grow & thrive, encouraging more families to want to live there.

The contest will provide $15, 000.00 to 4 regional winning retail’s communities. Voting for the regional winners will take place between Jan. 4^th – Feb. 14^th.  The 4 regional winners will then start a second competition nationally for another $15,000.00. Voting for the national winner will be between Feb. 15^th – Mar. 8^th.

How can you help?                                                                www.thankaretailer.ca/vote

Vote for Oakville Munro Farm Supplies on Adama’s Thank-A-Retailer contest site. Click to see Oakville’s entry. You must have a Facebook account to vote – this is how Adama is confirming voters are real people. Click to login with your Facebook account information. Once logged in – click ‘Vote for this retail.’ You can also gain bonus entries. Daily you can share the contest on Facebook & Twitter for an extra vote each (bringing your total to 3 votes per day). One-time bonus of 5 votes each – you can like Adama’s Facebook page & follow them on Twitter (total 10 each votes). These options need to be completed through the Adama Thank-A-Retailer website.