It started in 1990 when more than 400 dealers from 30 states shared their stories of environmental respect -- having a clean, safe facility, having emergency response plans in place and having spent the time needed to effectively train their people. The Environmental Respect Awards - a program to recognize and promote environmental stewardship in farm supply retailers across the U.S. - was born.

Since 1990, more than 5,000 businesses in the U.S. have participated and more than 300 have earned state awards. In the last two years, the international extension of the Environmental Respect Awards has seen involvement from more than 180 businesses in 18 countries.

For eighteen years, the Environmental Respect Awards has strived to encourage and honor excellence in stewardship, educate retailers and distributors around the world on safe business practices, and promote environmentalism in agriculture to the industry and the general public. The dealers and distributors that are honored with Environmental Respect Awards have displayed outstanding initiative and are shining examples of what it takes to make the world a safer, cleaner place to live.