For 72 years this little one horse county has had a Farmers CO-Op. While they might not have always been the cheapest they had farmers supplies, bob wire, chicken feed, gates, seed and fertilize. Last few years they have tried to keep up with tractor supply and ventured off into clothing ect. Anyway to make a long story short . In the morning the doors will not open. No seed, chemicals, tires, fuel and essential supplies to the few farmers left. Think it is a sign of what is happening all over the nation as we consolidate farms, and suppliers. Had two managers over the period of 65 years then went thru some young guys here lately that just mismanaged it into the ground.
- Thread starter jm.
- Start date
Billy Shafer
Well-known Member
I see the same thing happening. To a local feed store. New owners trying to be tractor supply. Running people off.
Welcome to my town. The elevator and milk plant have been torn down,implement dealers are gone,car dealer's gone,bank is closing in four weeks. Only good news is that a new branch office of another bank is going to be built where the old milk plant was.
That's how the world works these days though I guess. Nobody produces anything,they just shuffle money.
That's how the world works these days though I guess. Nobody produces anything,they just shuffle money.
pete black
Well-known Member
Same here, knowledgable help gone, relaced by not on the computer then do not know help that is if they put down their phone.
Steve@Advance
Well-known Member
Ted in NE-OH
Well-known Member
Ther local feed co-op is stopping grinding pet food because of Federal regulations. The FDA wants them to follow the same rules as are required for people food. They estimated it would cost them $500,000 to comply. Where is nnalert when we need him.
This place did over 5 million in sales 5 years ago and had 41 employees , Sure went down hill fast. Had a large tire shop that they closed last year , claimed it lost 60 thousand that year. I think they just needed a manager that knew how and when to cut back a little and someone waited too long so board was all older fellows and they more or less said easier to close it than to reorganize.
Sign of the times. Shrinking market and failing to stay competitive. Plus add in farmers woes over what they are getting and they get forced to buy from the cheapest supplier. All three things combined is what sounds like what killed them. No way they can compete with a place like TSC either. They get better prices because of volume buying and they can sell stuff cheaper. Your CO-OP trying to sell clothing and such was them grasping at straws. If that change made farmers go elsewhere then they shot themselves in the foot.
Rick
Rick
That 5 million in sales could have been pretty much in low margin products. Local place here used to grind feed years ago but could not compete with the large scale feed suppliers so they quit many years ago. As far as tires go there used to be money in mom and pop shops but those have pretty much gone by the wayside in favor of chain operations who can buy in volume. There is a Mennonite shop nearby but they run all over the state for business. Low cost and efficiency come at a price in terms of jobs.
Pair-a-dice farm
Well-known Member
It's well on the way to happening here too. My local coop was once the largest in Arkansas. The last couple of years have been tough and the future is questionable. Once there were 4 tractor dealerships, 3 car dealerships, 4 feedmills, and the coop. All in a town of less than 4000. That doesn't count all the grocery stores, service stations and small country stores. Now the town is twice that and only 2 tractor dealers are left, 1 car dealer, no feedmill and just a couple grocery stores and no service stations. The bigger the farms get the harder it is for small businesses that rely on a larger farmer base to survive. It's hard not to get political as the the reason why. When the largest farm was 500 acres you had 20 farm families on 10,000 acres. All of theses families and small businesses carried a lot of clout with their political representatives.Now there may only be 1 farmer on that acreage and some extreme southern employees. The farm voting base has diminished.
41 employees??? I worked for a month at Home Depot. We had 8 people for the entire store every evening after 6.
Saturday was when they would have 30 or more. It was all determined by how much money went thru the registers.....sounds like an employment deal for friends and family of the directors....
In Western Iowa, the small town farmer owner cooperatives have been consolidating for over forty years. Even the larger co-ops like West Central and Landus are still consolidating.
A question about the co-op that closed, did management resist consolidation for so long that it became too small to be worth buying out?
A question about the co-op that closed, did management resist consolidation for so long that it became too small to be worth buying out?
ss55 The way things are in Tennessee there is the TENNESSEE farm co-op then each county serves and an independent store under that umbrella selling products sourced thru TFC. I think that is one of the problems they at state level in management at big salaries so they charge the stores too much to be completive. The advantages of volume is not as great as it once was. Our county is the 5 larges ag county in the state so really the market WAS here but they just became so un-completive that farmers learned to shop elsewhere.
Hay hay hay
Well-known Member
Glad to see someone quantify the reality. What caused the changes? Simply market forces; price pressure, economy of
scale, easy access to other retailers and suppliers (competition). So the competitive American system that many people
(voters) want and support , results in the economic changes that so many people do not want (like their home town
dying).
Interesting, how few people can step back and see why and how these changes have happened.
scale, easy access to other retailers and suppliers (competition). So the competitive American system that many people
(voters) want and support , results in the economic changes that so many people do not want (like their home town
dying).
Interesting, how few people can step back and see why and how these changes have happened.
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
Guess I'm living in an Alternate Universe there are 4 Coops that operate and each have a store within 35 miles of my farm,4 Tractor Supply Stores,several Southern States Stores in the same area and all seem to be doing good.There is a lot of diversity in farming in my area cattle,dairy farms,meat goats,some crops,lots of small vegetable farmers,organic is big,lots of vineyards,several brewerys,small cheese makers,lady up the road from grows about 3 acres of flowers to sell,all sorts of stuff going on.
Farmers Markets all over the place even the TSC near me now ropes off part of their parking lot on Saturday for small vegetable growers that can't get into the Farmers Markets to set up and sell produce was by there yesterday afternoon looked like they were doing a brisk business.Helps there is a 200+ house subdivision behind the TSC people walk over and buy produce.Say what you want about small landholders and suburban folks but they drive the economy here and keep the farm stores financially healthy.The same folks keep the farm equipment dealers going too so its a win for farmers,the dealers and the surburban folks.About every store I go to has a help wanted sign up,restaurants of about any chain national chain you can think of plus a lot of
independents.Traffic can be a pain sometimes but with lots of fuel stations,Lowes,Walmart,Food Lion and around 20 restaurants within 5 miles I don't have to drive very far anyway.
Farmers Markets all over the place even the TSC near me now ropes off part of their parking lot on Saturday for small vegetable growers that can't get into the Farmers Markets to set up and sell produce was by there yesterday afternoon looked like they were doing a brisk business.Helps there is a 200+ house subdivision behind the TSC people walk over and buy produce.Say what you want about small landholders and suburban folks but they drive the economy here and keep the farm stores financially healthy.The same folks keep the farm equipment dealers going too so its a win for farmers,the dealers and the surburban folks.About every store I go to has a help wanted sign up,restaurants of about any chain national chain you can think of plus a lot of
independents.Traffic can be a pain sometimes but with lots of fuel stations,Lowes,Walmart,Food Lion and around 20 restaurants within 5 miles I don't have to drive very far anyway.
Our Co-Op closed a lil over a year ago. Almost 40 people laid off. Truck drivers, feed analyst, mill workers, maintenance workers, store clerks.
All the employees wanted it to stay open but the board of directors cited losses for the last several years.
Worst part was how it went down....
We picked up about 1000 pounds feed on a Monday and everything was fine, nobody had a clue. They informed the employees on a wensday afternoon and notified public and customers Thursday and closed Friday.
Left a lot a farmers in the lurch looking for feed.
They were around since the 1940's
All the employees wanted it to stay open but the board of directors cited losses for the last several years.
Worst part was how it went down....
We picked up about 1000 pounds feed on a Monday and everything was fine, nobody had a clue. They informed the employees on a wensday afternoon and notified public and customers Thursday and closed Friday.
Left a lot a farmers in the lurch looking for feed.
They were around since the 1940's
All depends on the area. Years ago there was an elevator and CO-OP both 8 miles east and west. JD dealer 8 miles east and a Ford dealer 8 miles west. Today just the one elevator. Here the face of farming changed with the "farm crisis" in the 80's. Almost everything here was small dairy, from 10 or so milk cows to about 40. 120-200 acres per farm on average. Lot of farmers to support the local stuff. Now we have guys farming 1000-1500 acres, 400 cow herds. Not good for the CO-OPs. All the folks that worked at all the other places had to find jobs elsewhere in bigger towns 25-35 miles away. That affected the other local businesses. They didn't open till after those folks left for work and by the time they got home the stores were closed and the streets rolled up. They never thought to change their hours to accommodate their customers. So they went broke too. Business can be a funny thing.
Rick
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
In central Virginia on the East Side of the Blue Ridge Mts.
Ours went under a couple of years ago. This is not a big farming area, mostly cattle and hay, so it was a small-time operation at best. I liked it because it was only a mile away and they carried nails and bolts and such stuff, saving a trip to the big box. TSC went in about six years ago, costing the Co-Op some business, but the death knell was major theft by an employee.
Dan Richardson
Member
Our Co-Op just did a remodel. Great looking store. Business seems to be good. One of the few places that sells no alcohol gas. When the gooberment took over tobacco it killed much of the farming around here. More corn and beans and hay now.
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