Centennial Celebration

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Where It All Began

Otley & Monroe

  • February

    A merger plan was approved by the Board of Directors of both cooperatives after two months of discussion. Four joint membership meetings were held in February and March 2001 to discuss the future plans of the two cooperatives merging to form a new cooperative.

  • March 23rd

    Membership votes to merge the two co-ops.

  • April 1st

    The first day of joint operations as Two Rivers Cooperative.

  • Soybean Storage Additions

    Pella added a new soybean storage bin and dump along with a new grain dryer.

  • Pella Scales Up

    A new scale was constructed at the Pella location.

  • Expansion Leads to More Opportunities for Monroe

    Large facility expansion completed in Monroe which included a new office and scale.

  • Pella Project Complete

    The Pella corn bin addition was completed.

  • Expansion Plans Lead to Tracy

    The land was purchased to build the Tracy location.

  • Serving Farmers & The Land Better

    Tracy location was built to provide needed services to farmers in the Tracy area. In April of 2011, a construction project at the construction at the Tracy location started on the initial stages of excavation on the office and warehouse.

  • TRC Breaks 25-Year Record!

    TRC passed all segments of an extensive FDA Inspection for the 25th consecutive year and received the Land O’ Lakes Quality Assurance Award to recognize TRC’s commitment to quality.

  • Cover Crop Services

    Two Rivers began custom drilling services of cover crops in response to the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

  • TRC Offers Direct Deposit & Farm Publications

    TRC offers direct deposit for TRC grain customers. This simplified the process since previously customers had to call in to order.

    Two Rivers began publishing an Agronomy publication called Soil Report. This publication is sent out twice a year, during peak seasons for the Agronomy team and local producers.

  • Nutrient Reduction Goals & Resources

    Des Moines Water Works begins a lawsuit against three northwest Iowa counties. TRC urges customers to reflect on their own operations and to familiarize themselves with the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

    Two Rivers updates the look on their website, making it more user-friendly.

    Two Rivers adds a John Deere 4030 to the fertilizer fleet. This piece of equipment brings added benefit to patrons by giving flexibility in application timing and the ability to work towards Iowa’s common goal of reducing nutrient loss and run-off.

  • Bushels & Bushels of Storage!

    Expansion Project to the Monroe grain receiving capacities began as well as the addition of a grain dryer and 515,000-bushel storage bin.

  • Tracy Location Sees Expansion

    The Two Rivers Cooperative Board of Directors approved an expansion project at the Tracy location. This expansion consisted of an additional storage capacity of 500,000 bushels.

  • Craig Hetland Takes On New Role

    Craig Hetland was the General Manager of Otley-Monroe from 1986 – 1996. That role affirmed his strong tie to the co-op system, and when Tracy Gathman asked Craig if he would be interested in helping manage and plan the new Tracy Two Rivers location in 2008, Craig proudly took on the task. Craig retired at the end of January 2018.

  • 100th Year Anniversary

    Two Rivers Cooperative celebrates 100 years of serving area members.

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TRC postpones the celebration of the event.

Pella Farmer’s Co-op Exchange

  • Humble Start

    Manager, C. Dieleman was hired for a wage of 6 cents cwt on livestock shipments.

    An old canning factory was used to store the co-op’s supplies, and they started doing business from this building.

  • And It Begins

    At the general meeting, the membership voted to form a stock company with an authorized capital of $75,000; shares sold at $100.

    On March 20, the membership voted to purchase the Vander Zyl elevator for $20,000.

  • Construction Ensues

    A committee was appointed to supervise the construction of a 24 x 50 x 8 building at the cost of $500.

  • Applications Aplenty

    A truck driver resigned, and they received 35 applications for the job, a sign of the times as the Great Depression started.

  • Eggs-ternal Order Causes Problems

    The finances of the organization were further depleted when a check for eggs sold to a firm bounced.

  • Co-op Culture Not the Only Bonus

    According to the 1941 Annual Report, there was a net profit of $4,770.00. The board felt the employees should be rewarded for a job well done and voted to give each a $20.00 bonus.

  • A New Place to Call “The Office”

    The board authorized the construction of an office building at the elevator to provide space so that bookkeeping and management could be moved from the store uptown.

  • Co-op Financial Crisis

    In May, the new manager reported that checks for hogs sold to a certain customer could not be cashed due to lack of funds. This put the co-op in a financial bind for funds for operating capital. A sum of $16,000.00 was involved. Needless to say, this affected the net profit for the year.

  • Feed Room Fire

    On February 14th, a fire broke out in the feed room, causing significant damage feed mixing machinery. After consideration, the board gave the go-ahead to build a new feed mixing machine and warehouse to replace the building severely damaged by fire. This new set-up proved to be a much more efficient operation.

  • Keeping Up with Times

    As farming was changing, the co-op also made changes to keep up with supplies and services for farmers. Commercial fertilizer was being used in much greater quantities, so the board decided to make fertilizer available in bulk. In July, a contract was let to construct a bulk fertilizer plant.

  • One Door Opens and Another Closes

    The feed business had grown considerably. Many customers brought their grain to be processed and mixed by the co-op. This made it necessary to adopt a grain bank policy and start a bulk feed delivery service.

    The grocery department was not thriving so the board authorized to close the store.

  • Grain Dryers Added

    With the invention of the self-propelled combine, it became necessary to install grain dryers.

  • Co-op Continues to Grow

    Looking to the future, the co-op needed room for expansion, the Vander Zyl property was purchased. The building on the property was used in connection with a new modern lumberyard that was built on the site.

    More business created the need for more buildings. A 64,000-bushel annex was constructed adjacent to the elevator and existing annex.

  • The End of the Egg Era

    The Glidden Quality Egg Marketing Association closed so the co-op had nowhere to process members’ eggs. This had a noticeable effect on the net profit for the year with the loss amount for the egg business equaling $32,000.

    After buying eggs for many years, the trend of the times indicated that this service was being used by fewer patrons and it was decided to discontinue this service.

Two Rivers Cooperative

  • February

    A merger plan was approved by the Board of Directors of both cooperatives after two months of discussion. Four joint membership meetings were held in February and March 2001 to discuss the future plans of the two cooperatives merging to form a new cooperative.

  • March 23rd

    Membership votes to merge the two co-ops.

  • April 1st

    The first day of joint operations as Two Rivers Cooperative.

  • Soybean Storage Additions

    Pella added a new soybean storage bin and dump along with a new grain dryer.

  • Pella Scales Up

    A new scale was constructed at the Pella location.

  • Expansion Leads to More Opportunities for Monroe

    Large facility expansion completed in Monroe which included a new office and scale.

  • Pella Project Complete

    The Pella corn bin addition was completed.

  • Expansion Plans Lead to Tracy

    The land was purchased to build the Tracy location.

  • Serving Farmers & The Land Better

    Tracy location was built to provide needed services to farmers in the Tracy area. In April of 2011, a construction project at the construction at the Tracy location started on the initial stages of excavation on the office and warehouse.

  • TRC Breaks 25-Year Record!

    TRC passed all segments of an extensive FDA Inspection for the 25th consecutive year and received the Land O’ Lakes Quality Assurance Award to recognize TRC’s commitment to quality.

  • Cover Crop Services

    Two Rivers began custom drilling services of cover crops in response to the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

  • TRC Offers Direct Deposit & Farm Publications

    TRC offers direct deposit for TRC grain customers. This simplified the process since previously customers had to call in to order.

    Two Rivers began publishing an Agronomy publication called Soil Report. This publication is sent out twice a year, during peak seasons for the Agronomy team and local producers.

  • Nutrient Reduction Goals & Resources

    Des Moines Water Works begins a lawsuit against three northwest Iowa counties. TRC urges customers to reflect on their own operations and to familiarize themselves with the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.

    Two Rivers updates the look on their website, making it more user-friendly.

    Two Rivers adds a John Deere 4030 to the fertilizer fleet. This piece of equipment brings added benefit to patrons by giving flexibility in application timing and the ability to work towards Iowa’s common goal of reducing nutrient loss and run-off.

  • Bushels & Bushels of Storage!

    Expansion Project to the Monroe grain receiving capacities began as well as the addition of a grain dryer and 515,000-bushel storage bin.

  • Tracy Location Sees Expansion

    The Two Rivers Cooperative Board of Directors approved an expansion project at the Tracy location. This expansion consisted of an additional storage capacity of 500,000 bushels.

  • Craig Hetland Takes On New Role

    Craig Hetland was the General Manager of Otley-Monroe from 1986 – 1996. That role affirmed his strong tie to the co-op system, and when Tracy Gathman asked Craig if he would be interested in helping manage and plan the new Tracy Two Rivers location in 2008, Craig proudly took on the task. Craig retired at the end of January 2018.

  • 100th Year Anniversary

    Two Rivers Cooperative celebrates 100 years of serving area members.

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TRC postpones the celebration of the event.