By LOUISE HOFFMAN BROACH, louiserbroach@yahoo.com

Over the course of a year, Washington County dairy farmer Brian Ziehm says his Farm Bureau membership saves him $2,500 alone in discounts through Grainger, a company that works with more than 1,300 suppliers to provide customers with access to more than 800,000 products from categories ranging from adhesives to tools.

“I buy a lot of electric motors and pumps,” said Ziehm, who milks about 1,000 cows and has 1,300 acres in crops. He is also a member of New York Farm Bureau’s State Board of Directors.

“It’s very easy,” Ziehm said about using Grainger’s Web site, www.grainger.com,  or talking with company reps on the phone.

“Seldom do I send anything back. It’s just a great company to deal with because they understand downtime creates a huge problem for farmers.”

And this year, Grainger began offering free shipping to members in addition to the discount, which, for Farm Bureau members, can be as much as 55 percent off manufacturer’s prices of Stanley tools or 52 percent off DeWalt power equipment.

“The discount Grainger offers Farm Bureau members depends on what you buy,” noted Kevin Cook, director of Member Services for New York Farm Bureau. “It’s usually 10 percent, but you get more off on certain brands.”

Grainger offers Farm Bureau members a 55 percent discount on Stanley tools and 52 percent off DeWalt power equipment. This year they began offering free shipping to Farm Bureau members, too.

In 2006, about 400 New York Farm Bureau members used their discount to buy more than $1 million worth of items through Grainger, putting New York second only to California in amount of purchases that Farm Bureau members make under the program.