Longtime Growers’ Guide owners bid fond farewell

Published 9:45 am Friday, October 15, 2021

COLFAX, Wash. — One of the things Bill and Dana Carroll have most enjoyed is seeing their publication laying on the seat in farmers’ pickup trucks.

The Carrolls in 1983 established The Growers’ Guide, a monthly farm publication serving 14,000 readers in Eastern Washington, the Idaho panhandle and Eastern Montana.

It’s been a vital asset for its readers.

“It’s a pretty simple format, it’s easy to read,” Bill Carroll said.

Over the years, Dana Carroll said, she’s gotten calls from a “desperate” farmer’s wife who accidentally threw the latest Guide out while cleaning, asking for another copy.

“That was relatively familiar over the years, getting that kind of call … that happened quite often,” she said. “Of course, now they could go online if they’re computer savvy.”

After nearly 40 years, the Carrolls have decided to retire and sell the business.

EO Media Group became the owner of the publication Oct. 1. The Growers’ Guide is now being operated by the Capital Press, the company’s weekly agriculture publication.

The Carrolls both grew up on cattle ranches in Dillon, Mont. Their families knew each other. In high school, Dana had a date to the junior prom. When the date was in a car wreck and unable to attend, Bill’s sister and mother volunteered him to Dana’s mom.

They recently celebrated their 48th anniversary. They have three daughters.

Based in Colfax, Wash., they worked out of their home before relocating to a downtown office in the late 1990s.

Bill has a degree in zoology, with an emphasis on large animals. He was a fertilizer plant manager before working for the Prairie Star, an agriculture newspaper in Montana and Wyoming, for five years.

Looking to do a similar publication, the couple researched different locations and came across a National Geographic article titled “A Paradise Called the Palouse.”

“That intrigued us,” Dana said. “We chose Colfax at that time because it’s centrally located to the area we were interested in. It worked out for us.”

Bill, an accomplished photographer, has often teased farmers to be sure and give him a call whenever they got their tractors stuck.

It would make a great photo for the front page, he’d say.

“He sees where they’ve been stuck, but they’re not going to let him know when they’re stuck,” Dana Carroll said with a laugh.

One time, a farmer actually did call Bill. He was out of town.

“I said, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m out of position, I’m terribly sorry, but I’m stunned you’ve got a tractor stuck and you’re calling me,’” Bill recalled. “He said, ‘Well, it’s not mine, it’s the neighbor’s.’”

Technology has changed drastically since the couple first went to print. Bill called the evolution “enormous.”

“Of course, the horsepower’s gone up, the machines have gotten bigger, the combines are astonishing now,” he said. “There are a lot of innovative people here … These guys are right on top of it.”

When the Carrolls first arrived on the Palouse, the average farm was 900 acres. Today, Bill estimates they’re 3,500 acres to 4,000 acres. Most farms lease their land today instead of owning, he said.

They decided to retire because they want to move closer to family, returning home to Montana. They hope to travel, and Bill has several family history books he would like to finish writing. He will continue taking pictures in retirement.

It’s been getting harder to find good help, they said.

“We train from scratch and it takes a lot of time, even if they’ve gone to school,” Bill said. “We’ve been pretty particular.”

Longtime customers say that they will miss the Carrolls.

Jim Howell, president of St. John Hardware in St. John, Wash., remembers Bill walking into his office in 1983, “basically the day he started.” Howell started advertising “immediately, and never missed an edition” of The Growers’ Guide.

“He was a hard-working, aggressive, friendly, honest guy,” Howell recalled. “We hit it off really well right from the get-go and … continued doing business for 38 years. His publication was and is probably the most productive advertising that we do.”

Ed Burlingame, of Burlingame Machinery in Milton-Freewater, Ore., echoes that sentiment.

“Fantastic, best outfit I’ve worked with,” he said. “We’re just real, real, real good friends. He even came to my dad’s funeral. They take care of their customers like you’re family.”

Burlingame credited the Carrolls with bending over backwards for him, working with ads submitted late and making corrections when needed.

“It’s unbelievable how much machinery I sell in a year, and it’s all because of The Growers’ Guide,” he said.

Casey Jones, general manager of Jones Truck and Implement in Colfax, said he has been advertising in The Growers’ Guide for as long as he can remember.

“It’s probably been a tremendous impact on local growers as far as getting the right machinery in front of them,” Jones said. “As technology has changed, it’s kind of been a shrinking world, but it’s nice to have a local resource to have at your fingertips.”

Bill Carroll was a longtime associate of his father’s, Jones added, calling them “pretty good friends.”

“It’s been a successful partnership,” Jones said. “(Carroll) has had a great run and it’s been win-win for us.”

The Carrolls will be missed, Jones said.

“We’re going to miss his unique personality and sense of humor, but we wish them all the best,” he said.

The Carrolls said good-naturedly that they’ve gotten “chewed out” for retiring by their loyal customers.

“Thank you to all of our readership and especially thank you to all of our advertisers all this year,” Dana said. “It’s been a joy to serve them. Thank you for your loyalty and good luck in the future to all of you.”

“My customers are friends,” Bill said. “I tell people, ‘You want to know the best people in the whole area? They’re all in The Growers’ Guide.’”