It all began in the small village of Tara in 1964. Back then, there was one employee. Frank Coulter operated a warehouse that simply sold fertilizer.

In the last 40 years, things certainly have changed. Now there area few more people working at Sprucedale and there are two other locations in Hanover and Gore Bay. Our product focus has also expanded as we now provide not only fertilizer, but agricultural chemicals, seed and farm supplies.

Frank Coulter started with CIL and through the years, the business has had many different partners and made a lot of friends; all of which have helped us grow as a business.

In 1964, Sprucedale Agromart set up business in one small building at the south end of the village of Tara, to supply farmers with fertilizer. Forty-two years later, the business has grown to 6 buildings at the Tara site

We also have two other locations, in Hanover and Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island as well as a small bulk storage facility near the village of Lion’s Head on the Bruce Peninsula.

The business is 50% owned by the Agronomy Company of Canada and 50% by 4 private partners. Frank Coulter began working in Tara in 1967 as a sales representative and became one of the partners in 1978 when Sprucedale Agromart was incorporated. Scot Reid has been with Sprucedale since 1977 at which point, as he likes to remind us, that he was making $3.95/hour. Two years later he became a partner.  In 1982, we purchased the Hanover location which was operated by Jim Reid and the Brockville Chemical Company. It was then that our partnership was fortunate to increase by one, with the addition of Jim.  It would take 17 years before Frank, Scot and Jim, would be approached by one of our own,then employee, Rob Helm. In 1999 Rob joined the partnership. His dedication to the growth of our business was appreciated and with his assistance we knew the future would be right.

Since the beginning, we have expanded to be the supplier of agricultural chemicals, such as pesticides and herbicides, certified seed, fencing supplies, road culverts, baler twine, silage wraps, feeding equipments, forage racks and wagons. This diversity has helped us be successful.

One of the biggest changes over the years has been in the fertilizer sector. Where it used to be all shipped in bags, now, 85 % is sold as bulk.  The other change which has help to expand the business has been in the custom application of dry and liquid blended fertilizers, herbicides and seeds.  We started custom applying products in 1974 with one 4-wheel drive truck, and now we have 8 units, some very big.

Our customer profiled has also changed from mostly family operated farms to a mix of corporate and larger family run operations. Certainly this is more demanding, which in order to be a progressive company, and service those accounts, we have trained our staff accordingly.

Sprucedale Agromart employs 21 individuals, and during the busy season we bring back about 12 part time workers. Among this great staff we have 7 certified crop advisors. 
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There have been two big challenges in the last few years for Sprucedale Agromart Ltd, recent low commodity prices for grains and oil seed producers and the BSE crisis.

The BSE crisis of 2003 has likely been the toughest challenge in the last 40 years.  It was a tough situation that affected all livestock operators in the area.  Sprucedale’s main business is with Bruce and Grey county farmers with the former rated as the number one producer of beef and the latter number two.

Sprucedale Agromart knows that it is our great local farmers that buy our products, along with our experienced staff that has allowed for our growth as an agricultural supplier over the last 40 years.

We believe it is just a matter of growing with a good staff and having a good agricultural community.

Our company’s involvement in the community is high on our list. We are.We are big believers in being part of the community.  Although financial assistance is always welcome by organizations; participation, and other forms of support can be more valuable. We have been sponsors for farm seminars and educational events. We also support 4-H clubs, The Children’s Aid, hospitals, hockey, baseball and broomball teams, and fall fairs. If you support the local people... they will support you.

What does the future hold for Sprucedale Agromart and the Agricultural Industry…..We hope see fertilizer and chemical demand will level off in the next few years and the demand for registered seeds increasing.  New varieties are flourishing in our heat unit range and there will be great opportunities not only ourselves as a business but our local producer as they struggle to move forward.

The way our business grew is dependant on good customer service. We try to give the customer the best service possible.