HISTORY

Glacial Plains Cooperative’s core business units of Grain and Agronomy date back to 1907 when local Kerkhoven farmers pooled $5,000 dollars together to purchase an existing PV elevator.

Co-op grain elevators were established in Kerkhoven in 1907, Murdock in 1909, and Benson in 1945. In 1982, the three locally owned cooperatives merged to become United Farmers Elevators (UFE) and immediately began construction of facilities capable of handling unit-train loading. The first unit-train was loaded in December of 1982. In 1997, UFE purchased the feed mill in De Graff and purchased Milan Farmers Elevator in 1999. In 2001, United Farmers Elevator and Swift Co-op Oil Company of Benson voted to merge their businesses, forming Glacial Plains Cooperative.
 
Swift Cooperative Oil Company was formed in 1929 as a cooperatively owned oil and gas business servicing the Benson area. In the early 1950s, the co-op got into the LP and fertilizer businesses. And in the early 1970s, the fertilizer plant was upgraded to hold 1,200 tons of dry fertilizer and blend 30 tons per hour.
 
Today Glacial Plains Cooperative is a major Grain and Agronomy company handling 20 to 25 million bushels of grain and 30,000 to 35,000 tons of fertilizer. The 24,000-ton fertilizer plant in Murdock, the 5,000-ton plant in Benson and the 5,000-ton plant in Clontarf have a combined blending capacity of 350 tons per hour. With total sales of $150 million to $250 million, we have become one of the major businesses in West Central Minnesota. We employ 70 to 80 full-time local personnel and another 15 to 20 part-time staff.

APP INFO

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COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
The creation of Kerkhoven Farmers Elevator in 1907 started what is now Glacial Plains Cooperative.
In addition to supporting agriculture in West Central Minnesota over the past 100+ years, the cooperative has made significant contributions to the communities it serves. Every year we donate thousands of dollars to fire departments, EMTs, local schools and their many activities, FFA and 4-H, Boys and Girl Scouts and local food shelves.

There is great need in rural Minnesota. At Glacial Plains, we recognize our part in supporting those needs that directly affect our employees, our thousands of customers and their families.