Edmunds County Tribune -

This is the last of the history stories written last year. The Ipswich Historical Society is sharing articles written by IHS students. The students visited the museum, researched and wrote about events, people and businesses in the community.

North Central Farmers Elevator

by Logan Weig

I chose North Central Farmers Elevator as my topic because it is a big part of the small communities of northeastern South Dakota. According to Deanne Hoyle in 1915 a new agricultural company came to the little town in northeast South Dakota, Ipswich. The company was called Farmer Equity Elevator Company and served as a place to only market one’s grain. It didn’t take long after that for it to become a place for settlers to buy much needed supplies. On July 1, 1970, another elevator came to the Ipswich area, only five miles out of town.

The Farmers Elevator Company of Craven merged with the Ipswich Company and became Farmers Equity Elevator Company. All of the shares of the new elevator would become part of the Ipswich stock numbers and all members were then voting members of the new elevator. With the new elevator it would change the prices of the grain market for the area and offer better services for the communities it served.

On December 31, 1979, Ipswich Co-Cooperative Association merged with Farmers Equity Elevator Co. Java Equity Exchange merged with Ipswich Farmers Elevator to be called Ipswich/Java Farmers Elevator on December 27, 1990. Leola Equity Exchange joined into Ipswich/Java Farmers Elevator on December 16, 1991. In December 21, 1992 Wecota Farmers Elevator Co joined into Ipswich/Java Farmers Elevator which then changed the name to be, North Central Farmers Elevator.

On December 30, 1999, Pollock Farmers Elevator Co and Herreid Equity Exchange also joined North Central Farmers Elevator. In 2018, North Central Farmers Elevator has merged with one of its biggest competitors, Wheat Growers. While the name has changed and the headquarters are no longer in Ipswich, the territory for Ipswich’s once little elevator has grown along with the number of members, services offered and marketability of our crops. I am glad I chose this topic because it taught me a lot about the history of the company.