HISTORY
GROWMARK FS, LLC stems from the merger of four major fertilizer retailers: Andgrow Fertilizer, Milford Fertilizer Company, Reading Bone Fertilizer Company, and ultimately, Agway, Inc.
Andgrow Fertilizer was founded by the Anderson Family in East Berlin, PA as a private wholesale farm supplies company. The original site of Andgrow Fertilizer is the current site of the GROWMARK FS Agronomy and Turf facility in East Berlin, PA.
The Milford Fertilizer Company began as a small fertilizer company in 1912 in Laurel, DE under the name of Valliant Fertilizer Company. Valliant Fertilizer Company was later managed by Delaware’s former Governor Elbert N. Carvel, back in 1936. The company continued to grow and expanded with a fertilizer plant in Milford, DE, which was owned and operated by Robert A. Fischer, Sr. and his family. The growth of the Milford Fertilizer Company included expanding retail markets into Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania until the late 1980’s.
Reading Bone Fertilizer Company, founded in 1905, manufactured dry and liquid fertilizers for farms, golf courses, and other landscaping needs within a 50-mile radius of Comru Township in southeastern PA. The Angstadt Family owned and operated Reading Bone until the late 1980’s.
Andgrow, the Milford Fertilizer Company, and Reading Bone were purchased by Agway, Inc. in 1988 and operated thru 2002 under the name of Agway Agricultural Products with retail outlets now including Western PA and New York, in addition to Andgrow’s, Milford Fertilizer’s, and Reading Bone’s locations.
GROWMARK, Inc. purchased the assets of Agway Agronomy Products from Agway, Inc. in December 2002, and operations began early 2003 under the name of GROWMARK FS. With a limited amount of change in retail operations, GROWMARK FS quickly established itself as a leader in the agricultural crops supply business in the Northeast. GROWMARK FS is provided dry product support by GROWMARK, Inc. from major terminals in East Liverpool, OH and Philadelphia, PA as well as a significant amount of rail delivered product from Canadian, Gulf Coast and Florida suppliers. Liquid product support comes from terminals in Philadelphia, PA; Rochester, NY; Baltimore, MD; Aurora, NC and Norfolk, VA.
Crop protection products are provided by GROWMARK, Inc. from Midwest warehouses or vendor direct shipments into the GFS region. Seed products are developed by our own seed research and development team in our trade territory for use in this region. Our seed is then produced in the upper mid-west in the best seed producing environments available. Regional distribution is supported by a York, PA warehouse providing mixed loads of crop protection, seed and bagged fertilizer products. Vegetable and specialty seeds are provided by our Eastern Region seed partner, Seedway, Inc. out of Hall, NY.
Since 2002, GFS has invested capital in new facilities located in Bridgeton, NJ, Laurel, DE and Milford, DE, acquisitions of existing competitive retail business, as well as major building, equipment and rolling stock upgrades at all locations. Expansion plans continue as we explore acquisitions of additional retail outlets and upgrades of our existing GFS sites.
In 2018 GROWMARK Inc. acquired and branded three Iowa-based agronomy companies as GROWMARK FS Midwest. With the inclusion of GROWMARK FS Midwest, GROWMARK FS was rebranded to GROWMARK FS Mid-Atlantic and operates as GROWMARK FS, LLC. In 2019, GROWMARK FS, LLC acquired the Solu-Cal portfolio to expand its turf and specialty agriculture market with soil amendment products.
GROWMARK FS, LLC continues to be the LEADER in the agriculture, turf, and energy markets we serve by satisfying our customers, profitably.