The History of Waconia Farm Supply

In 1946, the Waconia Creamery Association purchased the Waconia Elevator Association and hired John Scheuble to oversee the closing of the elevator business, establishing a subsidiary of the creamery.

The building was originally located on Highway 5, adjacent to the Waconia Mill on land leased from the railroad. The machinery lot was located across the highway on the Northeast corner of Elm Street and Highway 5. The farm supply sold coal, feed, flour, seed, farm machinery and parts, milk machine parts, twine, and fertilizer.

In 1955, a 30,000 gallon LP (propane) storage tank was installed and the sale of LP tanks and bulk LP to private homes began. The plant included a facility to fill smaller 20# to 100# portable LP cylinders.

By 1961, the business had outgrown it's building and a search for a more modern facility was began. In 1962, an agreement was reached with John Fischer, who owned a parcel of land South of the railroad tracks, fronting Highway 284. He agreed to put up a building to meet the needs of this expanding business and offered a 20-year lease with the option to buy. On March 1, 1963, the new building opened with an expanded line including hardware, appliances, animal health supplies and eventually work clothing. They also installed an LP rocket tank and pumper adjacent to the new building to enable them to continue filling LP cylinders for their growing clientèle.

In 1966, the Waconia Creamery Association Board of Directors decided to close the creamery, and they began reorganizing the cooperative to continue only their farm supply department. After leasing the creamery building to several different businesses, the building was sold in 1974 and by 1975, the cooperative officially was named Waconia Farm Supply.

The business continued to grow as lines of farm machinery and lawn and garden equipment were added. In 1975-76, the building was expanded to include a larger shop and more store area. A new feed warehouse was also built.
The cooperative was able to pay off the creamery's outstanding loans from the St. Paul bank of cooperatives and in 1978, they began retiring equities to it's patrons. It has continued to return some portion of these equities to its patrons on an annual basis since then.

John & Maryanne Fischer decided in 1979 to sell the parcel of land that was occupied by Waconia Farm Supply, and the cooperative agreed to purchase the site. That year also saw the purchase of an Anhydrous Ammonia plant in New Germany to enable the cooperative to better serve its farm customers.

John Scheuble retired on September 30, 1980, and Timothy Dahl took over management until 1985, when present General Manager, Michael Loscheider, was hired.

A refined fuel plant was purchased from Flite Oil Co. in 1982, and Waconia Farm Supply added delivery of bulk gasoline, diesel fuel, and furnace fuel to its customer services.

As farm machinery and lawn & garden equipment sales increased, the need for a larger shop became evident. In 1987, an expanded shop area and enlarged feed warehouse were added.

In 1988, construction began on a complete fertilizer facility, which enabled Waconia Farm Supply to provide better and more complete agronomy services to its patrons at competitive prices.

That same year, a new underground, refined fuel plant was added. In 1991, the LP storage was moved to its present location on the South end of the Waconia Farm Supply parcel, and another 30,000 gallon storage tank was added as the service area continued to expand.

Waconia Farm Supply continued to grow and expand with the purchase of the Hamburg Clark Feed Mill in 1991 and Cologne Milling in 1993. Adding these two facilities allowed Waconia Farm Supply to better serve the bulk feed needs of its customers.

Also, in 1993, the main building was again expanded to add office space, retail store area and more parts and shop area. At that same time, the retail establishment became know as Waconia Farm & Home Supply. In 1995, a snowmobile, ATV, and watercraft line was added.

Today, Waconia Farm Supply continues to strive to meet the requirements of an ever-expanding customer base.