ABERDEEN, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S. — Eleven Agtegra Cooperative locations received Governor’s Meritorious Achievement Awards from the South Dakota Safety Council at the annual South Dakota Safety and Health Conference held Wednesday in Sioux Falls.

Among the 26 recipients of the Governor’s Meritorious Achievement Award are 11 Agtegra Cooperative locations, including: Agtegra Aberdeen, Agtegra Bath Fertilizer, Agtegra Chamberlain, Agtegra Huron Elevator and Fertilizer, Agtegra Ipswich Regional Office, Agtegra Kennebec Agronomy, Agtegra Stickney, Agtegra Tulare, Agtegra Wolsey Fertilizer, and Agtegra Wolsey Grain.

The South Dakota Safety Council presents Governor’s Workplace Safety Awards to South Dakota employers for excellence in safety. Recipients of the South Dakota Governor’s Workplace Safety Awards are required to provide injury data for the most recent three years and complete a safety program evaluation scorecard that measures implementation of a comprehensive safety program.

Meritorious Achievement recipients must demonstrate a minimum of three years of Days Away Restricted Transferred (DART) rates that exceed the average for industry classification. Agtegra Cooperative said it not only exceeds the industry average, but is in the industry best quartile measured per 100 employees.

“Safety is one of our core values and we seek to demonstrate safety at all times at all our Agtegra Cooperative locations,” said Bill Spreeman, vice-president of Safety. “These awards recognize the efforts of our entire employee team to place safety as a top priority every day.”

In July, the safety team from Agtegra Cooperative conducted demonstrations of safety skills and procedures at the annual conference of the Association of Grain Regulatory Officials.

Agtegra conducted demonstrations of entrapment rescue using their Grain Engulfment Rescue Trainer (GERT) that simulates grain engulfment. The Agtegra safety team also simulated dust energy explosions and provided hands-on training in technical rescue skills and equipment.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity to share our safety knowledge and expertise with the AGRO attendees,” Spreeman said during the conference in July. “At Agtegra, safety is everyone’s responsibility. We practice being safe every day. We also train and prepare for those moments when for whatever reason someone ends up in harm’s way.”

The Agtegra safety team is comprised of employees from across the cooperative in maintenance, IT, operations and safety departments. Earlier this year, Agtegra was recognized by the Grain Elevator and Processing Society with 32 GEAPS Safety Awards given to facilities that have zero lost time injuries or illnesses during the calendar year.

Agtegra is comprised of 900 employees in North and South Dakota serving more than 60 communities and approximately 7,850 member-owners and 22,600 equity holders. In addition to offering grain and agronomy services, the cooperative will offer its members aerial application services, fuel, animal feed, and precision ag hardware and software products and services.