SALISBURY AG CENTER

The known history of the Salisbury Ag Center goes back to the 1930’s when the company had the same location as today.  A Mr. McCorkle was the manager and the business consisted of processing various grains into livestock feeds.  The business was named the Salisbury Milling Company.  Almost everyone kept chickens and pigs at home as well as cattle.  They usually bought ground and mixed feed for the chickens at least seasonally.

In the 1940’s the ownership changed to a man named Fay VanPelt who operated the business through most of the ‘40’s.

In the late 1940’s the business was sold to Joe Roling and his son-in-law, Al Monnig.  Al had just returned from military service and was active in the business as manager.  Joe Roling continued to operate the J.F. Roling and Son Company selling John Deere machinery and doing plumbing and     The Salisbury Milling Company bought and sold all types of grain, ground feed for all types of livestock, and became a Purina Dealer.

Around 1955, Joe Roling and Al Monnig sold the business to Ed Knutson from Trenton, Missouri.  The addition of a mobile grinder increased the feed business considerably and a second mobile grinder was added the following year.  The  operator would drive the portable grinder to the farm and use the farmer’s grain for rations.  The Purina concentrate was added to the mix at the farm.

In 1960, Al’s brother Herb Monnig took over as manager.

In 1964 the business was sold to Central Soya and became a Master Mix Feeds dealer. A new feed mill was constructed including a stationary grinder and mixer along with overhead ingredient bins.   The new manager was Vernon Shupp.  Fertilizer was added as a retail item including both dry mixed blends and liquid nitrogen.  Over the years, grain storage was added.

In 1966, Bill Minshall was hired as the manager.  Bill came to Salisbury from Ohio where he was an assistant manager of a Central Soya facility.  Bill left in 1974 to form M & M Spraying with his partner and former Central Soya employee, Jr. Marek.

Bill was succeeded by Jim Simmons as manager.  Dale Thomas succeeded Jim Simmons.

In 1980, the business was sold to Larry and Betty Harman and Kim and Linda Ricketts and re-named Salisbury Ag Center, Inc.  Larry was the manager of the business from that date until 2016 when he sold his ownership in the business to Seth Ricketts.  The business name remains the same.  In 1984, The Salisbury Ag Center bought the assets of Naylor Fertilizer Company which included land, anhydrous facilities, warehouses and grain storage.

During the thirty-six years under Larry Harman’s management, the business added custom application equipment, chemical containment facilities, improved grain handling and expanded grain storage.

Since the ownership transferred to the Ricketts family, a new modern 200-ton-per-day swine feed mill has been constructed which will process more than one million bushels of local corn per year.