MARCUS
 In
1987 we celebrated our 100th birthday, being known as the “oldest
continuous coop in the nation”. There have been other coops
that were older, but they were bought out by private or other
coops, leaving Marcus the earliest one that achieved permanent
status.
Some of the highlights over the years are as follows:
1927 -
Built a scalehouse
1929 - Oats huller, costing $1,220.00
1931 - Bought second-hand feed mixer
1941 - Electric grain moisture tester
1946 - Purchased a corn dryer
1947 - Put in new coal yard and coal loader
1949 - Erected two steel storage tanks, 26x48
1950 - A new Burrows bookkeeping machine
1955 - 250,000 bushel concrete elevator
1956 - Two steel buildings, one south and
one west of present office
1959 - Built 64 bin feedmill, that produces
6-7 ton of hog feed and 4-5 ton of cattle feed per hour.
1959 - Built a liquid fertilizer and manufacturing
plant
1963 - Feed contract with CCA was initiated
1965 - New office and 10x70 scale
1966 - Dry fertilizer plant
1967 - New Clipper Randolf dryer
1968 - 247,000 bushel concrete annex
1989 - Merged with Cleghorn, Cherokee and
Larrabee
1990 - Bought out Fredrickson Grain Company
in Meriden
1997 - Merged to make First Cooperative Association
as it is today
Our total grain capacity
is 1.1 million bushel. We are capable of loading out 50 car
trains. We no longer handle dry fertilizer, as Cleghorn put
up a new plant to handle this for us.
Our feedmill is still making a lot of cattle feed for other
locations. As I stated earlier, the mill was built in 1959 and
at that time was the most modern in northwest Iowa. A 5-ton
order of bulk feed was a big order back then. Now they call
in 24-36 ton at one time. Our production today varies from 50-80
ton daily.
We have six employees at Marcus. The customers at Marcus are
very proud that the Board and corporate staff kept the Marcus
chapter of “first” in choosing the name of First Cooperative
Association.
Dean Drefke
Branch Manager
Contacts:
Tammy Johnson,
tjohnson@firstcoop.com
Marcus
Location
204 West Railroad
Marcus, IA 51035
Main Line
712-376-4147
FAX Line 712-376-4149
Toll Free Line
888-244-8314
Read about our Historical Roots
Back
to Locations |
