R.D. Offutt Co. & Offutt Family Foundation Announce 54 Community Builder Grants

Dec 19, 2024

R.D. Offutt Company and Offutt Family Foundation announce 54 Community Builder grants, supporting healthcare, education and community development organizations. Altogether, $314,200 was awarded to 54 recipients.

The Offutt Family Foundation Community Builder program is a unique initiative designed for R.D. Offutt Company team members to nominate local nonprofits for grants. It supports team members' commitment to investing in their own communities. Jessi Zenker, Offutt Family Foundation program manager, says RDO team members demonstrate dedication through their rich and diverse applications.

“Each year, the causes team members advocate for and the stories they share create ripple effects through their communities and RDO as a whole,” Zenker said. “It’s an incredible opportunity to understand how so many RDO team members are giving back to their communities, and then sharing about and supporting these causes is a privilege.”

Source : Farm Equipment

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.