Janzen Equipment recognized by Essex County Growers

Leamington Post

When the annual Essex County Associated Growers Award was given out yesterday at the Bounty of the County Trade Show and Convention, the folks from Janzen Equipment accepted it with pleasure, knowing that it was a group effort.

Although Ron Janzen incorporated the business in 1981, the growth since then has been amazing, and he has his dedicated group of employees to thank for that.

In 1969, Ron began farming, growing crops such as tomatoes, seed corn, soybeans and wheat.

At the encouragement of long time friend, Peter Epp, he became involved with the Essex County Federation of Agriculture as a member, director and eventually president. He also served as a director on the board of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.

Due to increasing difficulty finding reliable harvest workers, the farm's first mechanical tomato harvester was purchased for the 1975 harvest. It quickly became apparent that a California-built machine was not suited to the soil and climate conditions in southern Ontario. Repair parts were not readily available and as a result, in 1976, Ron became the parts distribution agent for the Blackwelder dealer in Ohio.

In 1978, a new shop building was constructed to provide a local parts and service facility for owners of Blackwelder harvesters. This arrangement continued until 1981, when Janzen Equipment Limited was incorporated, purchasing all interests of the Ohio company. Friend and fellow tomato grower George Krotek, became a partner in the company for the first decade of its history.

During the 1980s and 1990s, as the processing industry converted from hand harvest to machine harvesting, many used Blackwelder harvesters were purchased in California. Those were shipped to Ontario to be rebuilt and extensively modified to suit the local conditions. Other endeavours included building four wheel drive self-propelled crop sprayers, picking aids and even the development of a mechanical pickle harvester.

During this time, Ron was also involved with the Ontario Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association. After becoming a member, he served several terms as a director and later president.

In the early 90s, as the market for tomato harvesters declined, Janzen Equipment focused on even more extensive modifications of harvesters. Many of those machines are still in operation today.

The opportunity for diversification came in the form of a totally new direction for the company. John Deere Canada offered a dealership contract including consumer and commercial equipment. In July of 1992, the contract was signed and equipment began arriving. Sales grew quickly, with the store ranking in the 'top ten' list for eleven of the last nineteen yeas – reaching as high as fourth in Canada for two of those years among independent C&CE dealers.

The success achieved by the company is a result of the talent, hard work and dedication of many team members. This is especially true of three 25-year individuals – Stacy Morse, Bill Hiebert and John Hiebert. Without them, the story of Janzen Equipment Limited could not have been written.

"We've been together as a team for all those years and they deserve the recognition for this as much as I do," said Janzen.

He also cites his extremely patient and understanding wife Judy and son Marcus for supporting him through the years.