Farmland Industries Inc. Essay -- essays research papers fc

Introduction     Today, when we hear the slogans "better farming, better food," or "proud tobe farmer owned" one company comes to mind, Farmland Industries. We whitethornthink of this of this fortune 500 company as a leading agriculturalpowerhouse, which it is, however, it was not always that way.Background      Farmland Industries Inc. was founded by Howard A. Cowden, who was born and raised in Southwestern Missouri. Cowden started young in the cooperativebusiness by working for the Missouri Farmers connective (MFA). However inOctober of 1927, he had resigned from the position of secretaire for the MFAand started out on his own. Immediately following, Cowden received the MFAoil contract that previously had been held with Standard embrocate order, andCowden was now in the wholesale oil business. On January 27, 1928, CowdenOil Company was founded. This business was moved to Kansas City, Missouriin late 1928.   &n bsp In January of 1929, Cowden Oil Company was dissolved and Union Oil Company( reconciling) was formed. It was clear that Cowden had plotted to do morethan just buy and sell oil to local cooperatives. A board of directors wascreated to run the company, yet Cowden retained full control everyplace thecompany that he had created. Cowden started recruiting smaller companies tojoin their cooperative by signing contracts to sell certain amounts ofUnions products. In 1929, Union Oil Company had purchased its first land."The Two Car Garage," as it is referred to, was the building that they hadpurchase to become their new home.     In 1935, Union Oil Company changed its name to Consumers CooperativeAssociation (CCA). CO-OP was decided to be its official logo. In Octoberof 1956, CCA moved to their new home on North Oak Trafficway, in KansasCity, and the company was ready for study business. In June of 1961, HowardA. Cowden retired as President of CCA and Hom er Young stepped in to fillhis shoes.In early to mid 1966, CCA changed its name again. This time to FarmlandIndustries, Inc., however they unperturbed kept that CO-OP symbol for atrademark. CCA now emphasized much of its business to fertilizer, petroleumand commercial feed. This business only grew and grew for them. "By 1967,Farmland Industries had manufacturing fac... ...nternational consumer take to be confident that they are gettingexcellent product at a competitive price. Farmland Industries is thecrucial link between these two segments of the market. It is a system thathas proven strong for many decades and promises to be strong for many more.WORKS CITEDAlm, Rick. "Gamblin on the River." The Kansas City Star Almanac. 1996.Cabrera, Mario. Telephone interview. 20 Nov. 1996.Fite, Gilbert C. beyond the Fence Rows. University of Missouri Press,Columbia, Missouri, 1978.Fite, Gilbert C. Farm to Factory. University of Missouri Press, Columbia,Missouri, 1965.Hartke, Debby . "Farmlands Harry Cleberg Agri-marketer of the year."Agri Marketing June 1996 A-D.Tolley, Warren D. E-mail to the author. 8 October, 1996."Top 125 demesne Private Companies-Part I." Kansas City Business Journal 14June 1996 20-24.Appendix1992 Annual Report. The Farmland Cooperative System, 1993.1994 Annual Report. The Farmland Cooperative System, 1995.1995 Annual Report. The Farmland Cooperative System, 1996."We Bring Quality to the Table" The Farmland Cooperative System. 1996 61U.S. Bureau of the Census 1995.