Libraries
Alan Graham Greer is the son-in-law of General Richard J. Seitz. He is an attorney who practices in civil commercial litigations in the state of Florida.
Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance—often shortened to Great Plains IDEA—is a partnership of public universities providing quality online educational opportunities in two areas, Human Sciences and Agriculture. Membership in Great Plains IDEA is a selective process that involves university leadership at all levels. Based out of Kansas State University, the group provides fully online graduate programs across several universities.
Don L. Good was born October 8, 1921 and died at home on February 14, 2012. He was raised on an 80-acre livestock and crop farm in Van Wert county Ohio with 3 brothers and one sister. He was the son of George Lewis and Dora Haines Good.
Don's livestock interests manifested early, through 4-H and FFA projects with Oxford sheep and swine. In 1939, Don entered The Ohio State University, working in the beef and horse barns and the meats laboratory to work his way through school. During his senior year, Don was called to active duty in World War II and he served in Europe and the Pacific, earning the Combat Infantry Badge and two battle stars. After returning to Ohio State, he was on the 1946 Ohio State livestock judging team and was high man in judging at the Kansas City Royal Livestock Show and was second high man at the Chicago International Livestock Exposition, where the team won.
Don received his bachelor's degree in 1947 from The Ohio State University and was named to the Animal Science Hall of Fame at Ohio State in 1950 and in 1970 he received the OSU College of Agriculture Centennial Award. In 1947 Don started his 40-year career at Kansas State University. His first position was to coach the livestock judging team, manage the purebred beef herds, and teach/advise students. As judging team coach, he won 14 major contests in 18 years. At the end of his first semester at KSU, he returned to Ohio to marry Jane Swick and bring her back to live in Manhattan.
In 1950, Don received his master's degree from KSU and his doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1957. He was named department head of Animal Husbandry at KSU in 1966 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1987. Following a devastating tornado in 1966, he and colleagues worked to form the Livestock and Meat Industry Council. This is a group of industry leaders that would aid in seeking private and corporate funding for use in improving or rebuilding facilities used to teach students and perform research.
Good’s influence, however, reached far beyond Kansas. His leadership and commitment to agriculture was instrumental in helping move livestock and meat production into the modern era. He was also credited with pioneering the concept of correlating carcass characteristics to live animal evaluation at livestock shows.
During his tenure at K-State, Good won three major awards from the American society of Animal Science: Distinguished Teacher in 1973, Honorary Fellow in 1978, and Industry Service in 1982. His portrait was hung in the Saddle and Sirloin Gallery in Louisville, Ky., in 1987. In 1997, Good received the Livestock Publications Council Headliner Award.
Elizabeth Goldsmith, Ph. D. is a Professor and former History Chairperson of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.
Samuel Fremont Goheen, the first mayor of Manhattan, Kansas, was born in Goheenville, Pennsylvania, on May 2, 1855, and died in Manhattan, Kansas on December 8, 1930. He was the son of George W. & Elizabeth (Holler) Goheen, grandson of James Madison and Sarah (Delp) Goheen. He married Barbara Ellen Jack, daughter of Michael and Sarah (McKinney) Jack, in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on December 14, 1876. Barbara was born in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on October 2, 1854 and died in Manhattan, Kansas on September 5, 1933.
Goheen was a graduate of Dayton Academy (Dayton, Pennsylvania). He took his family west in 1883 and settled on a farm in Riley County, Kansas. He was active in church and community affairs, serving first as township assessor, then as county treasurer (1907-1911), and then as the first mayor of Manhattan from 1912-1919. Upon his election to mayoral office, he moved to Manhattan proper. He also served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church for thirty years.
As mayor, Goheen was primarily concerned with the modernization of Manhattan. Some of the important issues during his two terms of office included residential lighting, jitney ordinance revision, sanitation practices, and the city-owned plant.
Carole Ann (Honstead) Gnatuk was born in Buffalo, New York in 1942. The daughter of former Chair of Chemical Engineering, William H. Honstead, and College of Home Economics instructor, Virginia V. Honstead, she attended Kansas State University from 1960-1964. She obtained a B.S. in Home Economics with specialization in Family and Child Development.
Gnatuk’s summers of 1961, 1964, 1965 & 1966 were spent in Estes Park, CO, at the YMCA of the Rockies. During the spring semester of 1963, she attended the Merrill-Palmer Institute, a special study program in Detroit, Michigan, then pursued her masters in Ames, IA, from 1964-1966. She worked as a teaching and research assistant during this time. After completing her M.S. in Child Development from Iowa State University’s College of Home Economics, Gnatuk left for Corvallis, Oregon.
She worked as a Family Life Specialist in Oregon State University’s Cooperative Extension Service from 1966-1967, then returned to Ames. From 1967-1968, she was an instructor for Iowa State University’s Department of Child Development, followed by working as a staff member for Collegiate United Methodist Church for a year.
From 1969-1975, she lived in Tucupita, Venezuela, then in La Coruna, Spain from 1975-1977. In each country, she served as a volunteer church pianist and choir director for Baptist Church services.
Upon her return to the states, Gnatuk lived in Morgantown, WV from 1977-1996. She worked as a pre-school teacher at The Shack Presbyterian Church and Neighborhood House from 1984-1987, and served as a choir director and pianist/organist volunteer at Trinity United Methodist Church, Morgantown, WV from 1978-1983. This overlapped with her time as a Meals on Wheels volunteer from 1979-1985.
After graduating with a Doctorate in Education from West Virginia University where she majored in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Early Childhood Education in 1996, Gnatuk held a Graduate Assistantship with West Virginia Extension Service of Kentucky University in Richmond, KY until 1999.
She then worked as a Child Development Senior Specialist for Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service in Lexington, KY until she retired in 2014.
Carole A. Gnatuk moved to Louisville, KY in 2020, where she currently resides.
Throughout its history, K-State’s Global Campus (formerly the Division of Continuing Education) has provided educational opportunities for adult learners. Since 1966 Global Campus has offered thousands of conferences, seminars, courses, and degree programs to distance education students and working professionals. In 1967 they received the name Division of Continuing Education and have expanded to many academic programs, including the establishment of distant learning in 1997. Sue Maes was named the interim dean in 2007, a position which was solidified in 2009. In 2014, the Division of Continuing Education was renamed as the Kansas State University Global Campus under the leadership of former dean Sue Maes, who held that position from 2007 to 2017. Today, Global Campus provides distance education to students from across the country and around the world. In addition to distance education, Global Campus provides coordination of professional meetings, conferences, and professional development through the Conferences and Noncredit Programs office. Global Campus also believes in fostering strong ties to community and the importance of lifelong learning and personal development for all through the UFM Community Learning Center.
Arthur H. Gilles was born on October 10th, 1892 to Lewis J. and Nellie Gilles in Nebraska. Arthur was the oldest of five children. He had three brothers Clifford L., born in 1895, Louis A., born in 1897, and Ronald D., born in 1908. He also had a sister Ruth H., born in 1908. Both Arthur and Clifford were born in Nebraska before the family moved to Kansas where Louis, Ruth and Ronald were later born. Gilles attended Kansas State Agricultural College between 1910 and 1914.
Arthur became engaged to Florence Paul and they were married on September 25th, 1916. They had two son’s Paul W. born in 1921 and Donald A. born in 1924.
Arthur began his duty in the Army on July 25th, 1918, and was stationed at Camp Funston in the 10th Division. Arthur and the 10th division remained at Camp Funston until September 29th when they moved to Ft. Riley to assist in emergency service at the hospital due to the influenza breakout among soldiers and did not return to Camp Funston until October 21st. On October 31st the 10th division left Camp Funston heading for Detroit, Michigan from which they would travel across the eastern United States transporting trucks for the Army. This continued until his duty in the Army was complete.
World War 1 ended on November 11, 1918, and Arthur returned to Camp Funston on January 11, 1919, and discharged on January 20th. Although there had been many rumors that the 10th Division would be recruited overseas this never happened and neither Arthur nor the 10th Division was ever involved in direct combat.
George Thompson Fairchild (October 6, 1838 – March 16, 1901) was born in rural Lorain County, Ohio, and graduated with two degrees from Oberlin College. In 1865, Fairchild began his academic career as an instructor at State Agricultural College of Michigan. The following year he was made professor of English. Fairchild became vice president of Michigan State, and in 1878 he served as acting President.
In 1879, Fairchild was hired as the third President of Kansas State Agricultural College in Manhattan, Kansas. He took office on December 1. While at Kansas State, Fairchild stepped into an ongoing debate about the role of land grant colleges. While some felt that the college should be limited to agricultural and mechanical arts, Fairchild re-implemented a classical liberal arts education at Kansas State. Fairchild restored classics courses and brought in prominent professors. He also bolstered the number and caliber of students at Kansas State, lifting attendance at the young school from 207 to 734 students during his tenure. President Fairchild retained his position at Kansas State until June 30, 1897. Fairchild submitted his resignation that year in connection with a complete restructuring of the college by members of the Populist Party on the state Board of Regents, who terminated every employee of Kansas State because the Board disagreed with the University's direction.
After leaving Kansas State, Fairchild became a professor of English and vice president at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. Fairchild’s book, Rural Wealth and Welfare: Economic Principles Illustrated and Applied in Farm Life, was published in 1900.
The Gavitt Medical Company was formed about 1868 from W. W. Gavitt's work as an agent for Dr. Perkins Medical Co. of Washington, D. C. Based in Topeka, the Gavitt company sold medical products to customers all over the United States. The most popular product was a laxative, Gavitt's System Regulator, which was sold through direct mail and by agents. The company rose to prominence in 1889 when Harry E. Gavitt, William's son, reorganized the company. The company closed in 1967.
William Wellington Gavitt was born on 9 February 1840 in Delaware county, Ohio, the son of Rev. Ezekiel Stanton and Elizabeth (Miller) Gavitt. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1862, moving to Topeka, Kansas in 1867 where he organized a real estate and coal business. In 1869 he commenced his banking and loan career. He married Jennie Ledie Spangle (b. 15 June 1853, d. 04 Feb 1899) on 23 June 1873. They had three children: Harry Ezekiel, Corrington Spangle, and Elizabeth (Gavitt) Brunt. William was the president of W.W. Gavitt and Company, the Gavitt Loan and Investment Company, the W. W. Gavitt Medical Company, and the W. W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing Company at the time of his death on 11 January 1922.
Harry Ezekiel Gavitt was born in Topeka, Kansas, 01 January 1875. He graduated from Washburn Law School, and took private courses in medicine, pharmacy, and chemistry from the University of Kansas. He re-organized the Gavitt Medical Co., founded by his father. In 1903, he invented the game Gavitt's Stock Exchange which became so popular by 1904 he sold partial interest in it to Parker Brothers, allowing them to refine and publish it under the name of Pit. He married Edith Snyder (1879-1936) on 17 May 1905. In 1934, Harry was manager of the W. W. Gavitt Printing and Publishing Co. and vice-president of the Topeka State Bank. He died in 1954.
The Friends of the Konza Prairie is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support of the Konza Prairie environmental education program. The origins of the Konza Prairie can be traced to 1872 when C.P. Dewey purchased 175 acres of land in what is now the northwest corner of the Konza. Dewey sold the land and his ranch in 1930, after which the land had multiple owners. Lloyd Hulbert had first proposed the idea for a prairie field station for ecological research at Kansas State University in 1956, but it wasn’t until 1971 that the Natural Conservancy was able to obtain the original Konza Prairie land for K-State. This original purchase did not include the Dewey Ranch land, as this was acquired in 1977 after several years of negotiations with the McKnight family, the last private owners of the property. Hulbert served as the first director of the Konza Prairie until his death in 1986, overseeing the addition of prairie land to the U.S. Geological Survey’s network of benchmark watersheds and the dedication of the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area Network dedicated to long-term ecological research. Bison and cattle grazing were introduced to the Konza in 1987, while from 1987 to 1989, NASA Satellite Land Surface Climatology Projects were conducted at the prairie. In 1993, the Friends of the Konza Prairie was established. Over the past few decades, the Konza’s research and maintenance facilities have continued to be improved and expanded.
Konza Prairie Directors:
Lloyd Hulbert: 1971-1986
Donald W. Kaufman (acting director): 1986-1987
Ted Barkley: 1987-1990
Donald W. Kaufman: 1990-1991
Ted Barkley: 1992-1993
Jim Reichman: 1993-1995
David Hartnett: 1995-2006
Eva Horne (interim director): 2006-2008
John Briggs: 2008-2018
John Blair: 2018-present
Friends of Konza Prairie Coordinators:
Ginny Arthur: 1994-1997
Ann Feyerharm: 1998-1999
Clint Riley: 2000-2001
Jim Guikema: 2002-2003
Charlie Given: 2004
Loren Alexander: 2005
Dan Franke: 2006
Larry Loomis: 2007-2008
Patrick Gormerly: 2009
Vickie Clegg: 2010
Mike Haddock: 2011
Greg Zolnerowich: 2012
Karen Hummel: 2013-2014
Diane Barker: 2015
Joe Gelroth: 2016
Donna McCullum: 2017
John Harrington: 2018
Cydney Alexis: 2019
Ken Stafford: 2020
Kelly Yarbrough: 2020
Jim Koelliker: 2021
Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh was a professor at Kansas State University (KSU) for over 40 years. As a Professor Emeritus, Dr. Flinchbaugh taught undergraduates and educated KSU third generation families. Originally from York, Pennsylvania, Flinchbaugh earned a bachelor's degree in animal science in 1964 and a master's degree in agricultural economics in 1967, both from Penn State. He went on to earn a doctoral degree in agricultural economics from Purdue University. Dr. Flinchbaugh joined KSU in 1971, and conducted statewide public affairs educational programs in such areas as financing state and local government, food and agricultural policy, use value appraisal of Kansas farmland, and water policy. He served for four years as special Assistant to the President of KSU. Dr. Flinchbaugh served for five years as Chairman of the Alfred M. Landon lecture series on public issues. Dr. Flinchbaugh has been Director of Board of Trade of Kansas City (KCBT), Missouri, Inc. since January 2007. He had joined the KCBT board of directors in 1997.
Flinchbaugh is known as a leading expert on agricultural policy and agricultural economics. During his early professional years, he worked with leaders of both political parties on federal farm bills. He served on a variety of boards of directors, advisory organizations, and national task forces where he provided input on domestic food and agriculture policy and served as an advisor to industry and government leaders.
Dr. Flinchbaugh’s influence went beyond Kansas to the national and international arenas. He represented the agricultural community through active participation in the development of U.S. agricultural policy. He was a trusted adviser to industry leaders, members of Congress, presidents, cabinet secretaries, and international dignitaries. His service on numerous national task forces, boards of directors and advisory groups allowed him to provide input on domestic food and agriculture policy. He served as chairman of the Commission on 21st Century Production Agriculture, which was authorized in the 1996 FAIR ACT, also known as the Freedom to Farm Act.
Flinchbaugh was been honored with Outstanding Teacher Awards three times by Kansas State University and has been recognized by the agricultural industry with several honors. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the American Farm Bureau and recently was selected as one of Farm Credit's 100 Fresh Perspectives, a national recognition for leaders making positive contributions to agriculture and rural communities. Dr. Barry Flinchbaugh died November 2, 2020.
Max Marlin Fitzwater was born in Salina, Kansas, on November 24, 1942 to Max Malcolm and Phyllis Ethel [Seaton] Fitzwater. Raised on a farm in Dickinson County, he has used his middle name since childhood to distinguish himself from his father. He worked for the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle (Kansas) in 1961 before attending K-State for a year, and then was editor of the Lindsborg News-Record (Kansas) in 1962. While continuing at K-State, Fitzwater worked for various newspapers as a salesperson or correspondent that included the K-State Collegian, Manhattan Mercury (Kansas), Topeka Capital-Journal, and Abilene Reflector-Chronicle.
After his graduation from K-State (B.A. in Journalism, 1965), Fitzwater left for the Washington, D.C., area where his fiancee, Linda Kraus, was employed. They married soon thereafter and later divorced in 1980. They had two children together. He married Melinda Andrews in 1999.
Fitzwater's career in the federal government included the following:
1965–1967: Assistant in the Public Affairs Department of the Appalachian Regional Commission
1967–1970: Served in the United States Air Force
1970–1972: Speechwriter in the Department of Transportation
1972–1980: Press Officer and eventually Director of Press Relations, Environmental Protection Agency
1981–1983: Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Treasury Department
1983–1985: Deputy Press Secretary to the President for Domestic Policy, The White House
1985–1987: Press Secretary to the Vice President, The White House
1987–1989: Assistant to the President for Press Relations, The White House
1989–1993: Press Secretary to the President, The White House
Mr. Fitzwater received the Presidential Citizen Medal in 1992. He worked on the television show The West Wing as a consultant. In 2002, Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire, completed the Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication in his honor.
He is the author or co-author of the following books:
Call The Briefing! Bush and Reagan, Sam and Helen: A Decade with Presidents and the Press. New York: Times Books, 1995.
Esther's Pillow: The Tar and Feathering of Margaret Chambers. New York: Public Affairs, 2001.
(With Woody Klein and Dee Dee Myers) All the Presidents' Spokesmen: Spinning the News, White House Press Secretaries from Franklin D. Roosevelt to George W. Bush. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2008.
Death in the Polka Dot Shoes: A Novel. Terrace, BC: CCB Publishing, 2011
Sunflowers: A Collection of Short Stories. Terrace, BC: CCB Publishing, 2011.
Oyster Music. Tallahassee, FL: Cedar Winds Publishing, 2012.
Calm Before the Storm : Desert Storm Diaries and Other Stories. Leesburg, FL: Sea Hill Press, 2019.
Doris Fenton was born January 9, 1899, and died November 3, 1993.
Marjorie L. Honstead Feldhausen was a native Kansan and U.S. Army nurse during World War 2. Feldhausen graduated from Christ Hospital School of Nursing in Topeka, Kansas in 1942, followed by an appointment to the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Reserve as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1943. In September 1943, Feldhausen was deployed to 316th Station Hospital at Camp Stover in Newton Abbot, England, before being moved to the 316th Holding Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland in 1944. In June 1945, Feldhausen served in Marseille, France for two months, after which she returned to the United States. She was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in January 1946. Feldhausen also received a degree in Home Economics in 1950 from Kansas State College.
Norman Fedder was a playwright and well-known professor of English and Theater. Fedder earned his B.A. in Speech and Theatre from Brooklyn College in 1955, his M.A. in Dramatic Literature in 1956 from Columbia University, and his Ph.D. in 1960 from New York University. He began teaching in 1956 and taught at multiple universities over the years, including Indiana State College from 1961 to 1964, Florida Atlantic University from 1964 to 1967, and the University of Arizona from 1967 to 1970. Fedder arrived at K-State in 1970, where he was a professor until his retirement in 1999. In 1988, he was awarded the William Stamey Outstanding Teacher Award, and in 1990 he was inducted into the Kansas Theater Hall of Fame. Fedder's specializations included play writing, creative drama, drama therapy, religion and theatre, Jewish theatre, drama in Jewish education, American ethnic theatre, staging of original plays, and dramatic literature. Fedder also wrote the original play “Never Let ‘em Catch You at It: An Evening with Milburn Stone.” The play was about actor Milburn Stone, who played the role of Doc Adams on the TV show “Gunsmoke.” It was performed in Dodge City, Kansas in 1989 and again in Hutchinson in 1995.
Francis David Farrell was born March 13, 1883 in Smithfield, Utah. He was called Dave by his friends. He graduated from Utah State College in 1907 and then, in 1910, worked at the University of Idaho as a professor of irrigation and drainage and organized the first Agricultural Extension Service at that University. His wife, Mildred Leona Jenson, was born September 11, 1887 in Utah, the only child of Nels and Johanna Wilhelmina (Holmgren) Jenson. She met Francis in Logan, Utah, where she was attending preparatory school. After receiving her degree in English from the University of Utah, she taught high school English at her alma mater, Brigham High School. On September 16, 1913, Francis and Mildred were married.
The couple then moved to Washington, D.C., in 1911, where Francis worked with the Department of Agriculture in irrigation investigations and reclamation projects. During their time in Washington Mildred gave birth to a daughter, Frances. In 1918, at the request of their old friend from Utah State College, Pres. William Jardine, Farrells moved to Manhattan where Francis served as dean of agriculture and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station for KSAC. They rented a house near the Jardines' at 1007 Houston.
In 1925 Professor Farrell became president of K-State and, in that same year, was awarded an honorary doctorate of agriculture from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Farrell’s tenure lasted 18 years,. His successor, Dr. James A. McCain, credited the leadership of President Farrell and administrators like him with “the vital role of the land-grant universities in the nation and the world today.” During his administration President Farrell managed to keep the campus open and active through the Great Depression and World War II and, in times of plenty, strengthened the academic basis of KSU by supporting the arts, library, and cultural resources. He also brought together one of the finest faculties in the nation. The names of many of the professors and administrators under Farrell read like a list of campus buildings. This faculty included J.T. Willard, James Ackert, Margaret Justin, Leland Call, Ray Throckmorton, A.D. Weber, Paul Weigel, Roy Seaton, and R.R. Dykstra. As a result of his love of reading history, philosophy, poetry and fiction and in recognition of his contributions to the academic life of Kansas State the University Library was renamed in his honor in 1952.
Mildred was the only first lady to have a baby, a boy they named James, during her tenure. Both of the Farrell children attended Eugene Field Elementary School and K-State. She was an avid gardener, adding irises and peonies to the gardens around the president's house. She was active in the Social Club, Domestic Science Club, AAUW, and Pi Beta Phi. While president of the Social Club she revised the rules for a growing membership and created a Newcomers group. She encouraged the group to purchase John Steuart Curry's "Sun Dogs" and several Birger Sandzen paintings, contributed to the Girl Scouts Little House, and purchased reading and recreational material for Fort Riley soldiers.
Farrell stayed on after leaving the presidency in his 60s, he said the university needed a younger executive, and remained a part of the faculty even after retirement. He was a long time member of the Rotary Club, president of the Association of Land Grant Colleges and Universities, the Kansas State Historical Society, member of the agricultural Commission of the Kansas Bankers Association, and the Advisory Council of the National Broadcasting Company.
Following Mildred’s death in 1965, her husband moved to a retirement community in Topeka where he resided until his death on February 13, 1976. Their ashes are inurned behind an inscribed plaque in the east wall of the nave at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Manhattan.
Created by Jordan Herman 08/10/2012
On January 27, 1928, Howard A. Cowden formed Cowden Oil Company in Columbia, Missouri. During this year, Cowden saw a worth-while cause in the growing cooperative movement. In late 1928, he moved the offices of Cowden Oil Company to Kansas City and made plans to establish a regional wholesale cooperative. On January 5, 1929, Cowden Oil Company dissolved and its assets were transferred to a new corporation named Union Oil Company on February 16, 1929. In 1931, the trade name "CO-OP" was used and in 1932 the first CO-OP tires, tubes, and batteries were produced. The first issue of the Cooperative Consumer newspaper appeared on December 10, 1933. It provided a regular tie between the company and its patrons.
In 1935, the Union Oil Company changed its name to Consumers Cooperative Association (CCA). At this time it served 259 local cooperatives and had $2 million in annual revenues. The growing company needed to expand its physical facilities so it purchased the property at 1500 Iron Street in Kansas City. It was during this same year that the first Co-Op grease was produced. The company continued to grow adding products such as paint, groceries, Co-Op tractors in 1936, Co-Op appliances, and a Consumers Insurance Agency in 1937.
A Cooperative Refinery Association was established in 1938. In 1940, the first CRA refinery was opened at Phillipsburg, Kansas and the first Co-Op oil well was launched at Layton, Kansas. Additional refineries were opened at Scottsbluff, Nebraska (1941) and Coffeyville, Kansas (1944).
As the company grew it formed new divisions such as the National Cooperative Refinery Association (NCRA) and Cooperative Finance Association (CFA) in 1943, and Cooperative Farm Chemicals Association (CFCA) in 1951. It also established feed mills, soybean plants, fertilizer plants, ammonium phosphate plants, meat packing plants, steel product plants, gas products plants, a pork plant, a battery plant, a nitrogen plant, phosphoric acid plants, and wheat products plants throughout the central plains.
The company moved headquarters to 10th & Oak, Kansas City (1944) then moved to 3315 N. Oak Trafficway (1956). In 1960, Howard A. Cowden saw the company's first $1 million sales day. The next year, in 1961, he retired and Homer Young was named the president of the company. In 1966, the company changed its name to Farmland Industries, Inc. Under Young's tenure, the company expanded its headquarters building, was instrumental in the establishment of the North Kansas City industrial complex, launching of a phosphate plant in Bartow, Florida, and exceeded $300 million in sales.
Ernest Lindsey was named company president in 1967. During his reign, the company acquired several companies such as Farmers Life Insurance Company, Des Moines, Iowa (1967), Southern Farm Supply Association, Amarillo, Texas (1968), Woodbury Chemical Company, St. Joseph, Missouri (1969). Farmland merged with companies such as Minnesota Farm Bureau Service Company and Producers Packing Company, Garden City, Kansas in 1968 and with Far-Mar-Co, the United States largest grain co-op in 1977.
John Anderson was named the president of Farmland in 1978. During his time the company celebrated its 50th Anniversary (1979), produced the television series "American Trail," organized Farmland World Trade Company with an export elevator located at Galveston, Texas, introduced the Co-op computer-based farm accounting system, and saw the first negative earnings for the company.
In 1983, Kenneth Nielson became president and three years later the company experienced a major loss in earnings even though it sold Terra Resources (1983), a gas plant in Lamont, Oklahoma (1984), the grain business (1985), and the steel products business (1985).
James Rainey became president in 1986 and made major expense reduction and organizational restructuring. Rainey eliminated nine divisional sales offices, and the Equipment and Supplies Division. He sold the pork plant in Iowa Falls, Iowa, and the Texas gas plants. He introduced the Master Commitment Agreement (1989), acquired a meat facility in San Leandro, California (1989), established a base capital plan, formed broadcast partners, and introduced the Farmland logo (1990).
In 1991, Harry D. Cleberg was named the president of Farmland. He sold the battery and paint plants and the export elevator at Houston, Texas, and closed the Phillipsburg Refinery. Several companies were acquired in 1993 such as Tradigrain, National Beef, Supreme Feeders, and National Carriers. The first international office was opened in Mexico City (1993), the construction of an ammonia plant took place in Trinidad (1996), and a Farmland National Beef office opened in Tokyo (1998). Several Limited Liabilities Companies (LLC) were formed under Cleberg's tenure such as Livestock Services of Indiana, LLC (1996), Triton Tire & Battery, LLC (1997), Agriland Technologies, LLC (1998), Agrifarm Industries, LLC (1998), Triumph Pork Group, LLC (1999), and Rocky Mountain Milling, LLC (1999).
Bob Honse became the president of Farmland Industries in 2000. In 2001, Farmland ranked #170 on the Fortune 500 company list. Its annual revenues were in excess of $11.8 billion. In 2002, the company had 16,000 employees and faced a liquidity crisis resulting from fluctuations in commodity prices and increased operational and capital costs as well as the tightening of credit terms from suppliers and increased demands from its stockholders. The company filed for Chapter 11 in May 2002. Farmland Foods, Inc., organized in 1970, produces, sells, and exports pork products in the United States and Internationally. In 2002, the pork processing division was sold to Smithfield Foods for $367 million, and in 2014, it was acquired by The Smithfield Packing Company. Farmland National Beef Packing Company was sold to U.S. Premium Beef for $232 million. The fertilizer production division was sold to Koch Industries and the company's refinery and coke-to-nitrogen fertilizer plant were sold to a hedge fund.
On June 28, 2006, JPMorgan Bankruptcy & Settlement Services reported that all unsecured creditors were paid $1.04 for every dollar.
The Records of FAR-MAR-CO, Inc. and its predecessor organizations were donated to Kansas State University to start the Arthur Capper Cooperative Research Collection, as a resource for the study of cooperatives. FAR-MAR-CO was dissolved in 1985, prompting the directors to donate the material.
Clarence Jinks Etherington was born March 8, 1894 in Quincy, Kansas and died June 5, 1938 in Baggs, Wyoming. He attended Kansas State Agricultural College from 1912–1916.
Ernest Reuben Nichols was the fifth President of Kansas State University. Nichols was raised in northeastern Iowa. Nichols attended the State Normal School of Iowa, followed by the State University of Iowa, before being appointed an instructor of physics at Kansas State Agricultural College in 1890. In 1899, he was elected as the acting President of KSAC, becoming the official President in June of 1900. Though some on the Board of Regents criticized Nichols in his early years as President, he continued to serve until his resignation in June of 1908. In 1909, he was conferred an honorary Ph.D. degree from Kansas State along with the announcement that Nichols Gymnasium would be named in his honor. Following his leave from the Presidency, he managed the Thurston Teachers Agency and participated in various business ventures. Nichols suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1929 and died on November 26, 1938.
Andrew B. Erhart was born on November 14, 1910. He graduated from Kansas State University in 1933 and was appointed Superintendent of the Garden City Branch Experiment Station in 1948. Erhart died on January 5, 2004.
The Alpha Rho chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi was chartered March 21, 1930 under the direction of Dean Harry Umberger. The original chapter consisted of thirty members. Their vision is to lead the Extension System in promoting and supporting professionalism in Extension.