Our History

The Culpeper Farmers' Cooperative was created in the midst of the Great Depression. Unemployment was at nearly 25%, and there was a drought in the agricultural heartland of America. Both businesses and families defaulted on record numbers of loans, and more than 5,000 banks failed. But in Culpeper, Virginia, farmers organized to pool their resources and production.

While it was too expensive for each farmer to manufacture products or undertake a service on his own, the Culpeper Farmers' Cooperative provided a means for farmers to join together to achieve a better financial outcome than by going at it alone. A local farmer could save in the purchase of seeds, machinery, and other farming supplies by being a member of the Co-op.

After a fire destroyed the Wausau Street facility in 1959, the Culpeper Co-op moved to its present location on Brandy Road in 1960, and a fertilizer plant and feed mill were added. The present feed mill was constructed in 1976, increasing significantly the capabilities of the volume of feed produced. The remodeling of the current retail facility, featuring the distinctive cylindrical entry-way, was completed in 2006.

In Remington, the Co-op opened its doors in a leased facility in 1940, and was able to purchase the Embry Building in downtown Remington by 1948. That same year, the warehouse and tanks across the street were purchased from the Remington Milling Company and added to the facility.

In 2006, the Remington store was moved when a new store was built about five miles south of Bealeton, and the Remington property sold. In its new location, it became the Morrisville CFC Farm & Home Center, located near the town of Morrisville, VA on Route 17.

The Rappahannock branch was added in 1952, in a facility located in the town of Sperryville. In 1979, the Co-op purchased the former Rediviva Cold Storage Co-op and apple-packing shed and moved to its present location.

The Warrenton Co-op was formed in 1958 with the purchase of Beach's Feed Service located near the present restaurant, Claire's at the Depot. In 1967, the Co-op was relocated to its present site, with a new facility on six acres of land leased from the Southern Railroad. In 1982, the lawn and garden center was added.

In 1979, the Marshall store was added, with the purchase of the John W. Mills facility, and began its retail sales in 1980. By 1989, a new store was constructed, and opened for business in the spring.