Administrative/Biographical History
The Winnebago County Farm Bureau was organized on May 8, 1920. The first Board of Directors included E.F. Derwent, president; R.S. Bradt, vice-president; W.H. Mackey, secretary- treasurer; E.C. Burch, E.E. Austin, C.F. Tullock, George Atwood, S.E. Hoisington, and Ashley Hartman. On August 3, 1920, board members hired Charles Keltner as the county farm advisor.
During the 1930’s and 1940’s the Winnebago County Farm Bureau organized three subsidiaries under the Illinois Agriculture Cooperative Act of 1923 to perform needed services and to improve the profitability of farming for Farm Bureau members. These subsidiaries were the Winnebago Service Company, the Winnebago Producers Supplies, and the Winnebago Boone Marketing Company. The associations operated with considerable success supplying farmers with oil and gasoline, fertilizers, seed corn, and other farming supplies. By 1960, the Winnebago Producers Supplies dissolved operations and the Winnebago Boone Marketing Company merged with the Illinois Livestock Marketing Association. Only the Winnebago Service Company continued operations: it served as a cooperative grain marketing organization for Winnebago County. In 1961, the Winnebago County Farm Bureau reorganized its cooperative services and formed the Winnebago Farm Bureau Cooperative. The cooperative was organized primarily for the purpose of carrying on the Farm Bureau program for the eradication of hog cholera and other animal diseases. After twelve years of service to Farm Bureau members, the cooperative dissolved operations in 1974.
