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feed companies past and present

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
A friend of mine and I were talking about feed companies in this area. Some that I remember are Hubbard, Moor Mans, Golden Sun, Zip(good for using chicken feathers for protein!) Vigorena, 4X4, McNess, GTA, Purina(not very popular around here)and Land O Lakes. What are some that you remember?
 
Albers was big around here. Ralston Purina was also popular.

I was a Moormans representative when I was about 16- My ag teacher was sold on the stuff, but I found there was no one to buy it from locally. I called the company, and they made me a rep so they could ship it to me. They even sent me a few "customers", from whom I got a few cents a bag. Probably made all of 10 bucks in 2 years.

Never could see that it really did any good, but pretty pricey for those days, as I recall.
 
Interesting comment about using chicken feathers for protein...In my Animal Science courses at the U of M I heard the same thing- it"s a good way to raise protein level, since feathers are high in protein (CRS says 90% crude protein) but not digestible. Crude protein level in feed is determined by measuring nitrogen level, then doing the math to convert to protein. Factor is 16.5. Google "protein level in chicken feathers".
 
Mike, back when there were hogs on every farm, we fed Moorman's pig pellets. We had a real nice local salesman who we ordered the feed from, and a few days later an enclosed box truck would pull up with the pellets. Our neighbor made a big order for pellets (he had fifty sows, we had thirty) and a temporary driver, while we were at work, got the farms mixed up and unloaded them in a shed by our fattening floor. I well remember rolling the sliding door open and staring at a wall of pellet sacks. You couldn't have gotten one more sack in that little building. I made a couple of phone calls and quickly found out who they belonged to, and helped haul them to the right farm.

The Moorman guy was a big FFA supporter and was well respected for his support, and made a lot of sales because of it.

The good old days, as I remember them. . .


Paul
 
Wayne Feeds was big around here into the late 90's. Don't know what happened to them but they aren't around anymore. I use Hubbard now that we're back in the pig business.

Tim
 
Wayne, Master Mix, Acco, Kent - "for the Independent."

The flat topped boxy type winter caps especially Master Mix style made by K-Brand of Iowa with ear flaps that Dad got from the feed mill were some of my favorite farm caps of all time.
 
I use Land O Lakes for my cattle now. I remember feeding Golden Sun and Vigorena. Here in Southern Minnesota there is still Kent feeds. I use the Kent mineral for my steers.
Kow Farmer
 
Corno, National Oats Company National Stockyards East St. Louis Illinois

Dixie Also East St. Louis

Gristo, Scott County Milling Co. Sikeston, Missouri

Wayne, Location not remembered.

There was one in St. Louis in the Carondolet area but cannot remember the name

Nutrena, Cargill

I think Farmland owns Land O'Lakes and Purina
 
Wayne Feeds and Master-Mix were popular here long before my time. Supersweet and Hubbard were too when I was growing up. Almost everyone with livestock bought something from Moor-Mans at one time or another. Local Farm Bureau Co-Op had their own blends.

Purina, Kent, Nutrena/Cargill and McNess products are still available within an hour's drive. Only two feed mills are left though.

AG
 
JMS, A couple of years ago I went to Elkton,SD to get protein as I was going to grind for my weaned calves. I found out they switched from Golden Sun to CHS. I took it home and after grinding I read the label and it too had feather meal. The next batch and everyone since is mixed with pellets from Pipestone Grain and is all natural protein. As for Zip a few years agotheyy were going to demolish the building in Sioux Falls. Some smug demo expert was on tv saying how it would come down. It had several vertical bins of reinforced concrete and when they set off the charge it shook a little and rested at a slight but noticeable angle, it was hilarious. They had to knock it down with a demolition ball.
 
How many of them had cloth samples to show to the farm wives? The feed order would come in the requested calico feed sacks so the Mrs. could sew them into dresses and shirts. My mother and her sisters wore feed sack dresses as kids.
 
You must live in the mid-section of the country. Those are all the names we used to have here in NW Iowa. The names bring back memories.

In my local town we had Felco, which later became Land-O-Lakes, and Golden Sun. Dad called it "Sunshine" feed as a joke. Both of these dealers had portable mills that ground our feed for ten years or so. One was just a mill, and the other was a grinder/mixer combo. Jim
 
Triple F Feeds, Des Moines Ia. Grandad was a lifelong salesman, they are a biological company now. I think the only original feed product they still sell is OCM mineral.
 
Here in NY GLF was a real player in the 50s. They became AGWAY, which is still a franchised name plate. My paycheck has the Agway emblem on it. Most agways are home and garden stores, but pet food and related products and cash and carry animal foods are also big sellers. We have a lot of "Green Acers" farmers. This past week baby chickens, ducks and rabbits have been big sellers. AGWAY use to sell bulk feeds, Diesel Fuel, Heating oil, LP, sold and installed Home and Farm heating appliances, and offered 24/7-365 service. They also had crop centers that sold farm seed, fertilizer,and lime, and provided crop spraying services. Those days are gone. Suburban Bought out the Petroleum Services, and priced themselves out of the market. The crop service Ctrs. are now privatly owned. We still have several Co-op feed dealers, a few privately owned feed dealers, a couple of cash croppers who retail and whosale their crops, and CARGIL at the PORT OF ALBANY.
 
Wayne , Beacon, GLF-Agway, Blue Seal were all big around here at one time. I Still have a couple Wayne Feed winter hats like you describe .
 
I hauled out of the Moor-Man s Quincy IL plant for quite a while. The dairymen who used their feed wouldn t not use anything else, they all said they would get more pounds of milk using Moor Mans. They are ADM now.
 
I grew up in Minnesota and we used Moor-mans. When the salesman came we would say the moorman man is here. :eek:)
 
We had Sun-Ray feeds here in Ontario. Dad said it was because they used a lot of corn in their mixes,and thus the feed looked like "Sun Rays". This would have been in the Forties & Fifties. As a kid I always enjoyed going to the local Sun Ray dealer with my father.
 
GLF = Grange League Federation

Here"s some info on the Grange.

http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voicjl28-1-2/grange.html

We still have an active Grange near me in Breakabeen, NY
 
Back in the late 40's and 50's there were a lot of country elevators/feed stores in this area who handled Gooch's Best, which was produced at Salina, Kansas. We fed a complete feed ration they dubbed "Oprema" to our 4-H fat steers. Each Gooch's product had "Gooch's Red Circle" either on the tag or on the sack, and each circle had a value on it like 2, 4, 10, etc., and people collected the circles as they could be used to purchase merchandise from a catalog from the company. The unique thing about Gooch's, was that the family that owned the feed plant also had a large cattle ranch just west of Salina and every summer they held an auction at the ranch and sold club steers to 4-Her's and FFA kids. Kids from all over the midwest came to the auction. They sold mainly Horned Herefords as that was what they raised on the ranch, but they also purchased some Angus calves from local ranchers to sell. I finally saved up enough of the red circles (after about 4 years of saving) to buy me a steer calf. If I remember correctly, Goochs also produced flour and some pasta products like noodles and macaroni, which also had the red circles. I think the feed plant and flour mill closed in the early to mid 70's. Anyone remember the products or the Red Circle Auction?
 
Cooper feeds made in Cozad NE in the 50s. They had a coupon printed on the bag good for 20 Green Stamps. We clipped a lot of coupons.
 
There used to be a "Fun House" at an amusement park in Lincoln, Nebraska. One feature was a controlled air jet built into the floor. When an unsuspecting woman walked over it, an operator hit a pedal and blew her dress up over her waist.

One woman got her dress blown up one time, and it said "Gooches" across the back of her underpants.

I suspect, though, a lot of gals knew where the jet was and walked across it on purpose for advertising.
 
Glad to see you mentioned Supersweet. That was one
we used to handle way back when I worked in the
feed mill/ grain elevator/ fertilizer plant/
service station.

There was also a Key branded feed, along with lots
of regional small players. We had our private
branded feed, LynCo. Lynch family from Salina, KS
owned lots of small town elevators back in the
70's. We were the production plant for most of the
feed they marketed.

Where I am in Illinois now, Pike Feed from
Pittsfield, IL sells a lot under their own name
and also "private labels" feed for several local
dealers around here.

A for instance is my next door neighbor, he does
have a mixer for some "custom" blends for the
Amish. Otherwise his is mostly supplied by Pike
Feed with his Chapin Feed tags sewn on. DOUG
 
Didn't see Nature Rich mentioned. Don't know anything more about it except a little feed store in my home town sold it.

made us lots of eggs
 
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