The Rural Voice, 1992-12, Page 34Hensall Co-op provides
a model of how
new co-ops can work
If the people co-ordinating the
restructuring of United Co-operatives
of Ontario could snap their fingers
and plant model co-ops across
Ontario, they might choose
something like the Hensall and
District Co-operative.
The Hensall Co-op is a multi-
service facility, serving six
communities and providing service to
a farmer member in everything from
the fertilizer and seed in the spring, to
the marketing of his crop in the fall,
to lumber to build his barn and feed
for his pigs and cattle, to the stove to
cook his Thanksgiving supper when
the crop is in. For the year ending
July 31, 1992, the co-op did nearly
$71 million in sales and service,
returning a patronage dividend of
$250,000 to its 3700 members,
despite the hard times. A recent
ranking of agricultural co-operatives
showed Hensall in 28th spot in
Canada.
From its birth in 1937 as the
Huron Farmers Company Co-
operative, through its reorganization
as the Hensall District Co-operative
Incorporated to the mid-1960s, the
Hensall co-op followed much the
same path as most of the small co-ops
across Ontario. The co-op helped
arrange insurance for members,
30 THE RURAL VOICE
arranged
shipment of
cattle to
market and
organized a
petroleum business with the United
Farmers Co-operative and Goodrich
Oil in 1947. In 1948 it bought a flour
and feed mill in Zurich which it
operated under the Hensall charter. In
1956 the co-op bought a Brucefield
feed mill.
But in the mid -sixties Hensall co-
op took a different fork in the road
than many co-ops. While some co-
ops merged with UCO, the Hensall
board of directors rejected the move
because they couldn't be assured it
would result in grain handling
facilities for the Hensall area. Instead,
in 1967 the co-op bought the mill and
handling facilities of E. L. Mickle
and Son in Hensall. The purchase
price was $90,000 and renovations
were also required at a cost of
$72,500. It was a huge commitment
by the co-op's members but they
exceeded the target of money
required, putting Hensall Co-op into
the grain and white bean handling
business. With its entry into the white
bean business, the co-op from the
little village in southern Huron
County became a player in the
lienal! Co-op and Manager Earl Wagner:
"synergy"prompts growth.
international
marketplace.
The next
major
milestone for
the co-op was
the merger
with the
Seaforth Co-
op in 1984,
Earl Wagner,
manager of
the Hensall
Co-op says.
"We saw a lot of benefits of the two
businesses working together — a
synergism between the businesses
and the administration costs. It
increased the volume of business in
our main core businesses such as
fertilizer, feed, fuels, stores and the
grain elevator plus it reduced the
administration." Most of the Seaforth
administration could be absorbed into
the existing Hensall administration.
The move allowed the continuation
of a co-op in Seaforth as well as
increasing the volume of the Hensall
operation.
The old feed mill in Seaforth was
closed down and feed was drawn
from the co-op's newer facility in
Zurich. Seaforth's petroleum needs
were met through the Hensall
terminal, increasing volumes for the
Hensall plant. A satellite facility was
set up to collect grain business to go
through the Hensall elevator,
increasing its volumes. Volumes of
fertilizer were increased so better
deals could be made with fertilizer
coming in on unit trains to Hensall,
then being distributed through the