Last week, CAAR Executive Director, Myrna Grahn, and board member Stan Loewen attended Fertilizer Canada’s annual conference, which took place in Kelowna from Aug. 18 to 20. Key speakers included Garrett Lofto, President and CEO of J.R. Simplot Company, and Ken Seitz, President and CEO of Nutrien.

It was a great opportunity to meet with members and network with companies and organizations impacting the ag retail sector. CAAR had conversations with the staff at Fertilizer Canada, Yara Canada, Richardson International, Timac Agro Canada – William Houde, Taurus Ag Marketing, TerraLink and Tidal Grow AgriScience, and is excited to be building a partnership with the Nutrients for Life Foundation Canada.

While at the conference, CAAR also took the opportunity to meet with organizations, including IRM, CF Industries, Nutrien, the Sylvite Group of Companies, J.R. Simplot, Meridian Manufacturing and the International Fertilizer Association, to discuss how CAAR can add value for its members. The focus of these meetings was to listen and discuss how CAAR can partner with these organizations on advocacy topics that are important to ag retail, and determine what ag retailers are looking for in regard to education and training programs.

Next month, Myrna is heading to Edmonton to attend Tronia Systems’ annual conference and will speak about the important role that CAAR plays in the ag sector, and how ag retailers can get more involved.