Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The United Farmers' Co-operative Ltd., a company designed to buy supplies and sell produce for Ontario farmers, was established in 1914 alongside the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO), a farmers’ educational, social, and political organization which came to power in Ontario in 1919 under Ernest Drury (1878-1968). In 1936, the UFO, the United Farmers’ Co-operative Ltd., and various growers and other agricultural organizations formed the Ontario Chamber of Agriculture which, in 1940, became the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), a non-partisan lobbying and marketing organization for farmers.
In 1948 the United Farmers' Co-operative became the United Co-operatives of Ontario (UCO) and became one of the largest farmer-owned co-operatives in Canada and included feed mills, dry fertilizer storage facilities, distribution centres, and a petroleum supply company. In 1950, the UCO, together with the Ontario Credit Union League and Ontario Federation of Agriculture, became principal shareholders of Co-operators Insurance Association (CIA), which later became the Co-operators Life Insurance Association (The Co-operators Group Limited today).
In 1995, the UCO was purchased by GROWMARK Inc. of Bloomington, Illinois.