*UPDATED* 8/28/07

Northfield News Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Gilbertson Feed & Grain is successor

NERSTRAND - Gilbertson Feed & Grain Inc. of Nerstrand has been approved as successor to P.H. Feely & Sons Inc. elevator in Farmington, Minn. The company has merged their three locations in Farmington, Nerstrand and Randolph under one U.S. Warehouse Act licensed facility.

   Producers who store grain in the facility are eligible for a commodity loan through the Dakota/Washington County FSA office in Farmington, Minn. The elevator is on a list of warehouses approved by the Commodity Credit Corporation.

   Successor's agreement has been approved by the FSA Commodity office in Kansas City, MO., following the transfer of ownership as necessary to comply with the Uniform Grain and Rice Storage Agreement controlling the storage of government-owned grains.

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Paul Tix of GTA in Randolph retires

  Paul Tix, veteran employee of the Farmers Union GTA Elevator in Randolph, will soon become a retiree, after 21 years serving this farming community. He began his career at the Hampton elevator, until it was destroyed by fire in 1962. He then transferred to the Randolph facility, making a total of 35 years in the business.

  He officially turned over the reigns to Doug Gilbertson of Ellsworth, Wis., on Tuesday, March 1. They have been working together over the past week so that Doug can become familiar with this particular operation.

  At the present time, Doug is still residing in Ellsworth, but plans to move to the area as soon as he can find suitable housing. He has had four years experience in this field, working at Deiss and Nugent Feed Company of Ellsworth, Wis. He also attended Rosemount Vo-Tech for two years in their agri-business program.

  Paul said that the elevator will continue as before, providing the same quality service for handling grain, and supplying fertilizers, seeds, chemicals and feed.

  The business has changed a bit, over the years, Paul added. GTA has closed in Bellechester and in Lonsdale. He claims that there is a trend to ship direct. By that he meant with bigger co-op farming, the grains are being trucked straight to the terminals for direct shipping. There will always be a need for local elevator, he said, but just on a smaller scale.

  Paul said GTA has been looking for a buyer for quite some time. It had been agreed that GTA would not sell until he had made up his mind to retire and the time has come.

  Paul said he can't give up working altogether and will be a part-time employee for Farmers Union Co-op Oil, as a salesman. This company is located near Hampton where he resides.

Cannon Falls Beacon Thursday, July 19, 1990

Despite lean, elevator sound

  Doug Gilbertson, owner of the grain elevator in Randolph, received good news at a meeting with Mayor Michael Popp on Thurs., July 12. Gilbertson , Popp, and an engineer fromt he firm of Bonestro, Rosene, Anderlik and Associates inspected the elevator, which is leaning to the south. According to both Gilbertson and Popp, the engineer proclaimed the structure sound.

  The inspection was prompted by the recommendation of building inspector John Murphy and by inquiries made by resident Vern Jones. Murphy had inspected the building three years ago, and at that time, recommended that future inspections be made by a structural engineer.

  The elevator leans significantly to the south. Gilbertson attributes the angle to a train derailment in the 1950's, which hit the base of the structure. However, Thursday's inspectiopn proved that the leaning position is not a hazard.

  According to Popp, the inspector called the wooden structure "very forgiving", which means it changes slowly over time. The inspector went on to say that the leaning angle is common among elevators and the biggest changes are in aesthetics, commented Popp. The inspection found no cracks in the foundation, and the inspector believes that the inner bins of the elevator will adequately support the structure during windy weather. Gilbertson agreed that the many interior walls of the elevator provide good support in spite of its sagging appearance outside.

  The council plans to ask Murphy to calculate the angle of the elevator yearly to record any changes. The engineer plans to write a letter to the city reporting his findings.

*UPDATE* 1/6/06

The Kenyon Leader Thursday, February 6, 1969

Nerstrand Elevator Shows Substantial Gain

   The Nerstrand Farmers Mercantile and Elevator Co. observed its 50th year of operation with net margins of $50,363.23, it was revealed at the annual meeting of stockholders and patrons at the Nerstrand school last Saturday afternoon.

   Door prizes were won by Harlan Bauer, Wendell Luknik, Elmer Bauer, F. H. Feldmann and Roger Hildebrandt.

   Following the meeting lunch was served by the Valley Grove Ladies Aid. Music during the lunch hour was provided by Tex Coya and the Ranch Hands of rural Nerstrand.

Accept Fertilizer Plant

   The Nerstrand City Council held a special meeting on Monday, January 27. They met with the zoning board and the field representative of the Cominco American Fertilizer Co. in regard to a fertilizer plant in Nerstrand. It was voted to put up a plant in Nerstrand.

   The Nerstrand Farmers Mercantile and Elevator Company held their annual meeting. The meeting celebrated the golden anniversary of the elevator. Gues speakers for the occasion were Mr. John Alquist representing the Hubbard Milling Co.; Mr. Bob Fee for G.T.A.; Mr. Warren Liebenstein Rice County Agent; Mr. David Redfield, representing the Nerstrand State Bank and Mr. Frank Callister for the Kenyon Leader.

   The 50th anniversary meeting showed sales of 1 1/2 million dollars and net gains of 50,363.23. Officers and directors for the following year are O. A. Osumdson, re-elected for another three-year term as president of the board, Alfred Severson, vice president; Luverne Hafemeyer, secretary - treasurer; Kenneth Bailey, Gary Hanson, Harold Wagener, Orven Hellerud are holdover directors. Harold Homeier and Elmer Covert, Jr., were both re-elected directors for three year terms. William Vesledahl is manager and Ethel Kostelnik is bookkeeper.

*UPDATE* 12/22/05

Stockholders of the Nerstrand Farmers Mercantile and Elevator Company as of January 21, 1959

When Lake Country Community Bank took ownership of the bank here in town they were doing some cleaning and came across these records of all the stockholders in the elevator. We thought this would be fun to share with everyone.

*If you see your name above you may have unclaimed money. Call Harvest States at 1-800-328-6539 ext 6124, give them your name and see if you have any money comeing.

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History

Nerstrand’s first elevator was built by John Osmundson and Ole Hegnes in 1895. It was located on the north side of Main Street, east of the railroad tracks.

A larger elevator was erected by John Helberg about 1898 on the south side of Main Street, east of the tracks and is the site of the present elevator. It was later sold to W.H. Pierce, then to E.E. Bulin, and then to M.T. Gunderson, then of Dennison. In 1910, Mr. Gunderson owned both elevators. Later the smaller one was closed.

The Nerstrand Farmer’s Mercantile and Elevator Company was organized in 1919 when the farmers (stockholders) purchased the elevators form M.T. Gunderson for $5000.00. O.N. Hegnes was the first manager, which position he held until he retired.

At the time of organization there were about 100 stockholders and the capital stock was then $13,625. In 1939 it was reorganized as a co-operative.

The elevator has been remodeled several times and many additions have been made to the original elevator through the years. In 1945, a $19,000 remodeling program was carried out. A new hammer mill, a new leg and hoist, and a new 30-ton scale were added.

As business was expanding rapidly, more storage room was needed so in 1956 a new warehouse was built for storing merchandise and grain.

Every year farmers were purchasing more feed and supplies and in 1962 sales topped the one million-dollar mark. Also in 1962, the elevator bought a used corn dyer from Manford Isaacson, and began to dry corn for the patrons. The demand for corn drying increased, so in 1967 a Continuous Flow Clipper Dryer was installed for $34,000.

Increased demand for fertilizer prompted the Nerstrand Elevator to build a fertilizer blending plant in 1969 at a cost of $51,000. Another fertilizer warehouse was added in 1974 costing another $60,000.

Farmers were asking for more grain storage room, so large steel bins each with capacity of 45,000 bushels were built in 1971, 1972 and 1974.

In 1973 a new 18,000-gallon LP gas storage tank was purchased from $17,000.

1974 was a big year at the elevator; a new Automatic Batch Crop Dryer was added, and record-breaking sales hit almost 5 million dollars.

Each year more trucks, fertilizer equipment and machinery were purchased with no place to shelter them from the weather. So in 1975 a large storage shed, 54’x108’, was built at a cost of $22,000.

The Nerstrand Elevator has continually expanded in the past years to meet the needs and demands of their over six hundred farmer patrons, and will strive to improve their facilities and services in the future.

William Vesledahl was general manager with Jim Black as Assistant Manager; Rueben Boevers is Fertilizer Plant Manager.

(Written in 1976)

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In 1977 the Nerstrand Elevator built a new grain drying, handling and storage facility with a capacity of 245,000 bushels. This brought the total storage space at the elevator to 607,000 bushels. Of interest is the fact that the facility is constructed entirely of wood, using 2x10, 2x8 and 2x6’s. The boards are laid flat and nailed in place. The building is 70 feet long, 44 feet wide and 140 feet in height. Wooden elevators are becoming more scarce because of the cost of wood. However, in our area, they are better because of the moisture factor. It took 600,000 board feet, 7 tons of nails and 26 railroad cars of lumber to complete this structure. Other additions at the elevator include storage bins for bulk feed and a liquid feed storage tank. Additions at the fertilizer plant include a floater sprayer and two liquid fertilizer storage tanks.

Nerstrand Elevator provides area farmers with a dependable source of fertilizer, chemicals, feed and seed. Along with quality products the elevator does custom application or fertilizer and chemicals, grinds and mixes feed and offers a complete program of soil and feed sampling and analysis.

The last train to deliver fertilizer to the elevator was in 1982. Since then all ingoing and outgoing products are hauled by truck.

After 43 years of service to the Nerstrand Elevator, Bill Vesledahl retired on May 31, 1979 from the position of General Manager. He was followed by Ray Cleven and Neil Prescher and David Overland as General Manager.

(Written in 1985)

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In 1985 the elevator was purchased by International Multi Foods and was run as Nerstrand Agri Center. Jim Black at that time was the Manager.

September 1989 Doug Gilbertson became manager of the elevator and leased them the Randolph Agri Center at that time.

AGP bought the elevator from Multi Foods in 1991. It remained Nerstrand Agri Center at that time.

September 2005 Nerstrand Agri Center was purchased by Doug Gilbertson from AGP. We are currently run by Gilbertson Feed and Grain but still go by Nerstrand Agri Center. We have two locations, one in Nerstrand and one in Randolph, MN.

                                                                                                                                                              (Written in 2005)