Stanislaus Farm Supply joins ag pantheon

Stanislaus Farm Supply, founded in 1949 to deal with a shortage of baling wire, has held together nicely ever since.

Thursday night, the cooperative will enter the Stanislaus County Agricultural Hall of Fame, a tribute to its 66 years of service to farmers and ranchers. About 140 employees provide them with fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and other products at the Ceres headquarters and stores in Merced, Susanville and Yerington, Nev.

“Farm Supply is an institution in this community,” said Michele Laverty, director of the National Ag Science Center, the Modesto-based group putting on the 18th annual induction banquet. “It’s farmers who come together for farmers, and it’s been growing strong for many years.”

A record 550 people will attend the sold-out event at the Assyrian American Civic Club in Turlock. Proceeds will go to the center’s efforts to teach young people about farming, including a mobile laboratory for junior high schools and summer seminars for teachers.

Stanislaus Farm Supply is one of many agricultural cooperatives around the nation, the profits going to the farmers and other investors who own it. It had sales last year of about $77 million.

“Farmers have a say in the business,” said Joey Gonsalves, marketing manager and seed coordinator, during a Monday morning tour. “They have an ownership stake in it.”

It all started amid a nationwide steelworkers strike that reduced the supply of wire for baling hay and raised the price of what little was available. A group of Modesto-area farmers arranged for a railcar of the product at a lower cost. They soon decided to use this approach for other supplies.

The cooperative was first located at Eighth and Washington streets in Modesto, under the leadership of Joe Sousa. The Stanislaus County Farm Bureau helped with early financing and is still allied.

In 1960, the cooperative bought the Sisk Warehouse on Service Road, which later became the headquarters. It acquired the Merced site around 1990 and merged with the San Joaquin Cherry Growers cooperative five years later.

Then came Susanville, supplying hay and beef producers in northeast California through the Pardner store, and Yerington, serving hay, beef, onion and garlic producers east of Reno under the Silverado Mercantile name.

Sam Bettencourt managed the cooperative from 1978 to early this year. Nick Biscay is now president and chief executive officer.

The 40-acre headquarters stores liquid fertilizer ingredients in 50-plus tanks, each 30,000 gallons, and dry ingredients in two warehouses. Employee Bill Krigbaum said he makes up to 30 liquid mixes a day, each based on the specific needs of the customer’s soil.

Gonsalves, who also is Farm Bureau president, said the blends go well beyond the basics – nitrogen, phosphate and potassium – to include micronutrients.

“We’re not making more land, so the soil has to be more productive,” he said.

The fertilizers, along with pesticides and herbicides, go to a wide variety of nut, fruit, vegetable and feed crops in the area. The seed warehouse mainly serves dairy farmers, including about 20 varieties each of alfalfa and corn, and can hold about 1,500 tons of sacked product.

The headquarters has a 7-acre farm where researchers can test seed varieties, fertilizers and pesticides. This allows the business to tailor its products to the Northern San Joaquin Valley, its main market area. Dairy farmers, for example, have endured the drought with the help of corn varieties with short growing seasons.

Gonsalves said being a regional cooperative is challenging because of the greater purchasing power of bigger rivals. On the other hand, he and other leaders do not want to lose the close-to-home touch.

“We’ve always stressed customer service – the motivation that we’ve always had to make sure that we take care of our customers first,” said Tony Weatherred, vice president for sales.

Biscay noted the long tenure of many employees, some of them second- or third-generation, and the willingness of the member-owners to invest in the cooperative.

Laverty cited the support that 4-H and FFA members have long had for their livestock projects from Stanislaus Farm Supply. And its research area has twice hosted the Farm to Table Dinner, another Ag Science Center fundraiser.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Stanislaus Farm Supply joins ag pantheon."