Who is Tennessee Farmers Cooperative?

Co-op, recognized as one of the strongest federated farm supply cooperative systems in the nation, includes Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) and the 49 member Co-ops and 27 associate members in neighboring states that own TFC. At the very foundation are the roughly 70,000 farmers who are member-owners of the local Co-ops in their home counties.

 Of course, you don’t have to be a member of the Co-op to shop there. Co-op offers quality products for everyone! Some 164 Co-op retail outlets, which operate in 84 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, and across the border in five neighboring states, serve more than half a million customers.
 
 Co-op is a cornerstone in the communities where our retail stores and facilities are located. Co-op is truly your hometown store, locally owned and operated with a well-trained, dedicated staff ready to serve the needs of each and every customer. Because its roots reach back into the soil farmed by its organizers, Co-op always has the best interests of its patrons at heart. And that heritage generates a spirit of cooperation that has molded our system into a closely knit network of individuals and organizations working together for the benefit of the farmers and our other Co-op customers. Co-op is more than a store — it’s a way of life.

How Our Co-op System Works

The Co-op system in Tennessee is a federated system with a circle of ownership. Each member Co-op is an independent business owned by its farmer-members; those local Co-ops, in turn, own TFC. This gives the farmer true ownership of his or her own farm supply and service organization.

Each farmer-member owns one share of voting stock. Those members elect a local board of directors, which establishes that Co-op’s policies and employs the general manager. The daily operation of the business is under the supervision of the general manager, who answers to the board. Savings above the cost of doing business are returned to the member-patron on a patronage basis.

On a state level, the cooperative system in Tennessee is divided into three zones roughly reflecting the three grand divisions of the state — East, Middle, and West Tennessee. Three directors are elected to represent each zone on TFC’s board of directors, each for a three-year term. TFC operates facilities in LaVergne in Middle Tennessee, Tenco at Rockford near Knoxville in East Tennessee, and at Jackson in West Tennessee. Each has its own distribution center, fertilizer plant, and feed mill. In addition, TFC’s offices, metal fabrication plant, and farm equipment facility are located in LaVergne, and a seed-conditioning and vegetable/lawn seed packaging facility at Halls in West Tennessee.

Our Heritage is Our Standard

When Tennessee Farmers Cooperative was officially chartered on September 27, 1945, a whole new era in Tennessee agriculture began. In the spring of 1944, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation’s board of directors had authorized a committee to study farm supply cooperatives in other states to recommend what structure would best serve the needs of Tennessee farmers. After a whirlwind tour of cooperatives in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana, the committee, headed by Al Jerdan, marketing specialist with the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service, recommended a federated system, similar to those operating in Indiana and Ohio.

After its board accepted the recommendation, the delegate body of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation authorized the organization of the cooperative in November of 1944. Each of TFC’s 33 charter members, which were Farm Bureau supply associations, had an incorporating director to serve until a permanent board could be elected to direct the new regional cooperative. On the afternoon of September 27, 1945, during the first meeting of TFC’s members, a director to represent each of the state’s seven designated districts was elected to the board. With that election — at 1:05 p.m. — TFC was born.

Our Board Of Directors


Our Subsidiaries and Partnerships

TFC has established subsidiary companies and joint ventures with other cooperatives to provide additional services, extend its reach into other markets, and grow its business. Though these companies are not operated as cooperatives, the revenue they generate and the services they provide strengthen the entire Co‑op system.

Faithway Alliance, LLC

Farm and Rural Lifestyle Products are provided through Faithway Alliance, a joint venture between Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC), Alabama Farmers Cooperative (AFC), Alliance Farm and Ranch, and Faithway Feeds.
 
This company was established Aug. 1, 2020 and focuses on sales, marketing, customer service, procurement, inventory management, warehousing, and distribution for farm supplies at TFC, AFC, and Faithway Feeds. Faithway Alliance provides member Co-ops with products from categories such as lawn and garden, farm hardware and fencing, automotive, horticulture, and home goods.

Stockdale's

Stockdale’s is TFC’s retail initiative established in 2006 as a way to better serve the rural lifestyle market. Currently, TFC has Stockdale’s stores in Hixson, Covington, Bowling Green, Ky., Oakland, Bolivar, and Selmer.

These attractive, conveniently designed stores provide a comfortable, welcoming environment and a large selection of quality products for the home, farm, and family. Product lines include clothing and footwear, pet and horse supplies, lawn and garden items, feed, fencing, tools, outdoor equipment for hunting and camping, gifts and home décor items and much more.

GreenPoint Ag

GreenPoint Ag was established Sept. 1, 2020, and encompasses $1 billion in wholesale and retail sales, making it among the top seven largest agronomy distribution companies in the nation. It operates 99 retail and wholesale agronomy locations in 10 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas, and Tennessee, servicing 11 crops across 28 million acres.

Alliance Animal Care

Alliance Animal Care Is a wholesale animal health distribution company focused exclusively on procuring products from manufacturers and suppliers and delivering them to wholesale and retail locations through a just-in-time logistics network. Alliance is a joint venture equally owned between TFC and MFA Incorporated and is based at TFC’s La Vergne offices.

ProTrition

ProTrition, is a joint venture company owned by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC) and Purina Animal Nutrition, a division of Land O’ Lakes, supplying feed, premixes, minerals, pet foods, and other animal nutrition products. ProTrition brings together the feed manufacturing resources and purchasing, formulation, support, sales, and service teams from the legacy companies to better serve livestock producers within ProTrition’s geography. The company is headquartered in La Vergne, Tenn. Learn more at https://protritionfeed.com.

Commitment To Community

Co-op was organized with the idea that “together we can make a difference”.  We have a long history of charitable support of our communities through sponsorship, scholarship, partnership, and fellowship.  To leverage the power of our cooperative system to better serve Tennessee agriculture and our neighbors, we established the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Foundation in 2021. It is a non-profit entity with a mission to foster future generations of agricultural leaders, serve local communities, and support faith-based initiatives.


Statewide, the Foundation consistently supports worthy organizations like Tennessee 4-H and FFA, as well as Ag in the Classroom, Ag Kids and Clay, and Shooting Hunger.  We also fund scholarships at six Tennessee universities for students studying agriculture. Shaping the future of farming and ensuring continued growth and prosperity for our cooperative system is a high priority for us. In total, the Foundation gives more than $300,000 annually in financial contributions alone, not to mention volunteer time, product donations, and in-kind sponsorships.


In addition to our charitable giving, the Co-op continues to support other agricultural events via sponsorships of conferences, field days, fairs, etc. via the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Marketing Department.


To learn more about the Foundation, visit our website.

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