This weekend I had the honor of attending Jerry Stoller’s 40th year in business and 75th Birthday. Since 1985, I have been privileged to have this man as a mentor. And while our formal business arrangements ended in 1999, when we began to formally build The Agri-Coach Network, he has always been an inspiration and teacher to me.
Jerry founded Stoller Chemical Company in 1970 at the age of 35 with around $8,000 in his pocket. Today the Stoller group operates in over 55 countries world wide and impacts the lives of millions of people.
In all those years, he has never tired of walking fields, teaching “the language of the plants” and seeking to have a greater understanding about plant genetics and their expression.
I remember in the ’80′s when Jerry came to Alberta and shared his thoughts that there was wide-spread copper deficiency in the province. The “the then experts” basically dismissed his ideas … except for our own Dr. “Copper” Ieaun Evans who went on to prove that Stoller’s observations were correct. Since then copper has proven a God-send on millions of acres across Canada.
He also taught me a lot about fertilizer and we did plenty of work with acid fertilizers and also calcium based liquid fertilizers.
Today, Jerry spends most of his time in the area of plant hormones and helping plants express their true genetic expression.
Jerry, has invented hundreds of products and churned out thousands ideas that have benefited farmers, retails and even his competitors.
I consider it a privilege to know this man and thank him for his contribution to our industry.
It is my hope that his health will allow him to attend The Farm Forum Event in Saskatoon, Nov 16th to 18th and you will have an opportunity to meet with this humble giant who continues to transform our thinking.
Well done Jerry…here’s to the next 40 years!
Your friend
Rob Saik
