Wanstead Farmers Co-op turns 100
The Wanstead Co-op turns 100 on April 7.
It was on this date in 1924, the Wanstead Farmers’ Co-operative Company was established.
“One hundred years is amazing,” said Wanstead Farmers Cooperative General Manager Peter Kelly, saying he is honoured to be the guy in charge while the organization marks its centennial.
Even though the anniversary date is April 7, the organization will not be holding its celebration until Aug. 17 at the Wanstead branch site. The organization is also putting together a booklet to document the history of the cooperative.
The process to form the cooperative began on Jan. 24, 1924 when a meeting was held at the home of Edwin Morris on the Main Street of Wanstead. For years before the co-op was established, the Wanstead Farmers’ Club joined with other similar organizations in the area to purchase coal, flour, seed and fertilizer. The club also organized various social functions.
The Wanstead Farmers Cooperative Company at first incorporated as a joint stock company with the new ventured capitalized at $10,000. Orville Ramsay was elected the first president and Arch Williamson became the first manager, a post Williamson held until 1942.
From the original 18 members who were part of the cooperative in 1924, the organization has grown to over 500 members during that 100 year span. Growth of the cooperative began in 1926 when scales were purchased from the Lambton Loan Co. for $50 and an office building for $25. It then leased enough land from the Canadian National Railway to accommodate the scales and to build covered stock pens.
The Wanstead Farmers Cooperative weathered the Great Depression and the Second World War and it wasn’t until 1946 when improvements were made to its facilities and seed cleaning plant was installed.
In 1947, the Townline Mill was purchased as the cooperative expanded into the feed business. The first warehouse was built at Wanstead in 1948. Fire destroyed the facilities at Wanstead on March 19,1954. When members were asked whether the cooperative should close after such a devastating event, the answer came back to rebuild.
An elevator was built by the fall of 1954 at Wanstead to handle the marketing of grain, as cash cropping had increased in the area. The Townline Mill was still going strong but by 1958 the mill was getting old and the volume of feed had increased to the point where the facility was hard pressed to handle it.
This led the cooperative to build a new mill at Wanstead in 1958. Tragedy struck again in May 1961, when fire destroyed the Townline Mill, which meant the new Wanstead mill had to handle more volumes.
The co-op purchased the McCormick Elevator in Wyoming in 1962. New bulk fertilizer facilities were built at Wyoming with a liquid nitrogen depot being installed. A modern grain dryer was installed at the Wanstead elevator in 1965.
Expansion continued into the 1970s, as two grain storage tanks were built in Wanstead in 1971, followed by a storage building in 1972, which could hold 100,000 bushels of grain.
Kelly said the co-op now has three locations, Wanstead, Alvinston and Inwood. The staff size fluctuates throughout the year depending on the season but the number of employees varies between 26 and 39.
Kelly said the secret to the organization’s success and longevity, is centred on the cooperative model, where it is owned by members, the very customers that conduct business with the co-op. Each member has an equal say and decisions are made democratically.
The Wanstead Farmers Cooperative continues to expand its services, something which he credits the organization for having a long-term vision for growth, said Kelly. In 2018, for instance, the co-op installed a new information technology system.
Kelly is sure those original members who started the Wanstead Farmers Cooperative would not be surprised that the co-op is still inexistence 100 years later and still thriving.
Blake Ellis, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Independent
