One day shy of the 62nd anniversary of the grand opening of Tarkio Pelleting Corp., Ag Partners (formerly Tarkio Pelleting Corp.) unloaded its first truck in the newly built, 3 million bushel grain storage facility in Tarkio.

Bill Smith of Tarkio unloaded the first truckload of grain into the pit, which was then lifted and dumped into the new building Thursday, September 29.

The grand opening of the Tarkio Pelleting Corp. was held September 29, 1960. This picture of the facility ran in the September 23, 1960, edition of the Tarkio Avalanche.

Life is an interesting thing. Sometimes, history repeats itself in ironic ways. Sixty-two years ago, September 29, 1960, a grand opening was held for the Tarkio Pelleting Corp. Tarkio Pelleting was an industrial enterprise representing an investment of more than a quarter-million dollars. The plant manufactured complete-ration pelleted feeds for livestock. Fast forward 61 years and 364 days – just one day shy of the 62 year anniversary of that grand opening – Ag Partners Cooperative, Inc., formerly Tarkio Pelleting, unloaded its first load of corn into its newly built 3 million bushel grain storage facility in Tarkio. Due to a belt issue, the trucks on hand had to be driven into the facility and unloaded that way. However, on the 62nd anniversary, Thursday, September 29, 2022, the first truck, driven by Bill Smith, unloaded its grain haul into the pit and the corn kernels were hauled up the bucket elevators and onto the conveyor belt, where they were poured and spread into the building.

Tarkio Pelleting Corp. was one of the first feed plants designed and built to manufacture a complete pelleted feed, including roughage. The start-up of Tarkio Pelleting Corp. represented the culmination of several years of planning by a group of cattle feeders interested in a plant to make a complete pelleted feed. The go-ahead was finally given when 34 stockholders, all local landowners, raised enough money to build the type of mill which they believed the area needed. The plant, which had a capacity of about 150 tons of mash feed and 50-80 tons of pelleted feed in an 8-hour day, manufactured a full line of feed, although the emphasis was on roughage-containing complete pelleted feed for ruminants. The 34 owners of the mill used a sizeable portion of the anticipated production of the plant. Located on a 13-acre site at the southeast corner of the Tarkio city limits, the mill was selling direct to consumers within a 50-mile radius.

A lot has changed for the company in those 62 years – not only the name and location, but its services provided and efficiency of providing those services. Run by manager Gary Henson and four full-time employees, Ag Partners has continued to be an important piece of the area agricultural scene, storing and selling corn and soybeans, and selling feed, mineral, and salt for livestock and for sidewalks. With this new 525 feet long and 180 feet wide building on 1st Street, just south of the main Ag Partners facility, grain trucks can be unloaded in three minutes; not to mention the 3 million bushel holding capacity, something no facility in Tarkio has provided until now. Those 3 million bushels add up to 228 billion kernels of corn. A bushel of corn is 56 pounds and a bushel of soybeans is 60 pounds. While the new facility is only holding corn, Ag Partners also stores and purchases soybeans from area farmers. The new building is one of the many additions added since Ag Partners moved to the bottom of Main Street in 2018 from its previous location south of the ball field. That year, Ag Partners’ new facility was built to include new offices, a warehouse, 80 foot scale, truck and pick-up docks, and a 344,000 bushel grain bin (which is currently housing the soybeans). Most of the corn at Ag Partners ends up going to a corn mill in Atchison, Kansas. The soybeans are transported to Ag Processing Inc. (AGP) in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Ag Partners normally serves around 80 farmers with their crop storage, but with this new storage capacity, the co-op could serve at least 100 farmers. This is a huge boost for the Tarkio company and the many farmers who must store and sell their grain to make a living. Thanks to Ag Partners’ expansion, business at the bottom of Main Street is booming and Tarkio is proud to have such a state-of-the-art facility keeping our area farmers going.