Special Edition • Morrow County Fair and Rodeo • Heppner Gazette-Times, Wednesday, August 6, 2014 - Page 3
2014 Grand Marshal Morrow County Grain Growers
Long-time Morrow
County institution, the Mor
row County Grain Growers,
has been honored as the grand
marshal for the 2014 Mor
row County Fair and Rodeo.
MCGG was first organized
on March 18, 1930 in the
lone High School gym when
100 farmers pledged 183,000
bushels of wheat to coopera
tive selling. The cooperative
was formed to give the local
farmer more leverage and
higher prices in the market
place. The articles of incor
poration were filed on April
2, 1930. On April 18, 1931,
the Lexington Oil Coopera
tive was formed. The oil Co
operative began purchasing
gas and lubricating oils from
Portland, passing the savings
on to the producers in the
area that were shifting their
farming from horses to trac
tors. The producers found that
just as with wheat, oil prices
were more to their advantage
through cooperatives.
In 1932, the cooperative
went into wheat storage.
On April 1, 1940, Morrow
County Grain Growers pur
chased the assets of Farmers
Elevator Company adding
Heppner, McNab and lone El
evators. In 1952, North Lex
ington and Ruggs Elevators
were built. In 1954, the coop
erative built a grain elevator
on the Columbia River at the
site where the Patterson Ferry
took vehicles across the river
from Oregon to Patterson,
MCGG main office in Lexington
Washington. The Ferry ceased
operation when the Umatilla
Bridge was built several miles
upriver. The company bought
the property from the last op
erators of the Patterson Ferry,
gentlemen whose last names
were Hogue and Warner,
hence the name, Hogue War
ner. Hogue
Warner has
evolved
over
years
the
to
become
one of the
most
ef
ficient fa
cilities on
the lower
Colum bia
River for
unloading
trucks. The
company
currently operates eight-grain
elevators, one of which is
leased. Total license capacity
is 3,934,000 bushels.
In 1967 Morrow County
Grain Growers, Inc. merged
with Lexington Oil Coop
erative, placing the company
in the retail business, sell
ing hardware, fuel and tires.
About that same time, the
company bought Lexington
Implement Co.# from Red
Leonard and became an In
ternational Harvester Farm
Equipment and Truck Dealer.
In 1971, the cooperative
moved into the building now
occupied in Lexington, put
ting all three of the former
companies in one location.
In 1976, the company bought
the Cenex Soil Service Center
in lone, Oregon, adding Fer
tilizer and Chemical sales to
its retail business.
In 1987, the company pur
chased Pettyjohn Oil Co. in
lone, doubling the petroleum
volume
the
company was
doing at that
time. The Fer
tilizer Depart
ment moved
their office to
the building
Pettyjohn op
erated from.
In 1988, they
expanded its
farm
equip
ment
deal
ership
into
Sherman and
Wasco counties by opening a
parts store at Sherman Farm
Cooperative’s new Farm
Store in Wasco, Oregon.
In 1989, the company
bought Heppner Nor-Gas,
adding more diversification
and helping with cash flow
during the winter months
when seasonally things were
slow for the other departments
within the company.
In 1991, they began sell
ing fertilizer and chemicals at
Wasco. In 1997, the company
built a new facility at Wasco,
putting the Agronomy and
Machinery dealership togeth
er in their own facility.
In 2002, MCGG sold its
tire inventory to
Les Schwab and
exited the tire
business. Also in
2002, MCGG pur
chased the Polaris
ATV and Snow
mobile dealership
in Lexington.
In 2005, the
cooperative pur
chased
Green
Feed and Seed
in Heppner. The
company consoli
dated its inven
tory of clothing,
fencing, livestock
equipment,
and
animal
health
products to the
Green Feed and
Seed store in Hep
pner. In 2006, the
cooperative pur
chased the inven
tory of Heppner Auto Parts
in Heppner and moved the
NAPA inventory to its Lex
ington store.
One January 1, 2007, the
cooperative purchased NAPA
Auto Parts stores located in
Boardman, Oregon, and Uma
tilla, Oregon. The acquisition
of these two stores comple
mented the vision of the com
pany to strategically focus the
organization for long-term
success at serving the mem
bers by focusing employees
on delivering maximum val
ue at what they do now and
looking for new products and
services in growing markets
to properly
balance the
portfolio of
services and
mitigate mar
ket risk.
Cur
rently,
the
cooperative
is serving 7
counties in
north
cen
tral Oregon
and Klickitat
County in Washington, with
its Farm Equipment dealer
ship and its Agronomy depart
ment. The Energy department
serves 5 counties in Oregon.
Grain comes to Hogue Warner
from as far away as the state
of Idaho. Hogue Warner El
evator is strategically located,
making it a terminal of choice
for trucks needing a back haul
of grain out of the Boise Val
ley area. With over 70 full
time employees and now
over 600 members. Morrow
County Grain Growers Incor
porated is a story of growth,
diversification, consolidation
and vision for the future suc
cess of its members
MCGG celebrated its golden
anniversary with festivities in
1980. In addition to current
manager John Ripple, past
managers include Larry Mills,
Harlan McCurdy, Jr., and A1
Lamb. The first general man
ager was Amil Swanson.
Morrow County Grain Grow
ers, Inc., serving your com
munity since 1930