The fonds contains incorporation documents, Annual Meeting and Board minutes, annual reports, correspondence, financial records, procedural manuals, directories, records of retail site developments, documentation of Community Investment contributions, historical collections, scrapbooks, catalogues, flyers, brochures, advertisements, and newsletters. Includes the magazines The United Farmer and Alberta Farm and Ranch. Includes correspondence regarding Canadian Co-operative Implements Ltd., Farmers' Union of Alberta, and Camp Goldeye. Includes photographs, moving images, and electronic records.
Administrative History
The United Farmers of Alberta (U.F.A.) was founded in 1909 and incorporated by the Province of Alberta in 1918. In 1932 it established a subsidiary, U.F.A. Central Co-operative Association Ltd. (U.F.A. Central Co-op), to provide wholesaling and other services to local and regional farmers' consumer co-ops. In December 1948 U.F.A. changed its name and revised its Bylaws in order to function as a cooperative business, United Farmers of Alberta Co-operative Ltd. (UFA Co-op). The advocacy and educational functions of U.F.A. then merged with the Alberta Farmers' Union to form the Farmers' Union of Alberta. UFA Co-op took over most of the functions of its subsidiary UFA Central Co-op, which dissolved in 1966. In 1952 the management of most of the grocery and general merchandising cooperative outlets in the province was transferred to Alberta Co-operative Wholesale Association, which later merged with Federated Co-operatives Ltd. UFA Co-op then concentrated its marketing efforts in two areas: petroleum products and farm supplies. Petroleum products were initially supplied by Maple Leaf Petroleum Inc., and distributed through a network of local co-ops and agents. In 1957 the Co-op purchased Maple Leaf, and by the 2000s, the Petroleum Division consisted of a network of about 110 locally-managed Petroleum Agencies primarily serving the agriculture industry and rural communities. The Farm Supply Division entered the retail market in 1954, and expanded through amalgamations with local and regional co-ops. By the 2000s there were about 34 Farm and Ranch Supply Stores offering a wide range of products and services to agricultural producers, including animal health services and construction of farm buildings and mechanization systems. In 2008 and 2009 the Co-op acquired two groups of outdoor sporting goods stores which operate as a non-co-operative business in western Canada and the northwestern United States. Committed to enhancing the agriculture industry and the rural way of life, UFA Co-op sponsors a Community Investment program which provides scholarships agriculture students and grants to youth groups such as 4-H, as well as activities such as stock shows, rodeos, and amateur sports. The Co-op is governed by a Board of Directors, elected from among Delegates, who are in turn elected by the customer/members of local districts of its trading area. For further historical information see: Deep Roots, Promising Future / by Gord Tolton. - [Calgary] : UFA, 2009.