A Brief History of River Country Cooperative

River Country Cooperative traces its origin to March 14, 1935, when Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Association of South St Paul, Minnesota, was formed by 66 people who contributed $502 of seed money.

From those roots in the energy business, River Country has expanded into the areas of agronomy, feed and convenience stores. Here are some of our historical highlights:

• Sept. 15, 1991 – Thell Oil was purchased, increasing our fuel business in the St. Paul metro area.
• Feb. 4, 1994 – The business expanded into agronomy, purchasing Vigoro fertilizer plants in Hastings and Randolph.
• Sept. 30,1996 – Local Oil was purchased, expanding our fuel business in the Hastings area.
• Oct. 2000 – Our C-store, in Lake Elmo, opened.
• Oct. 4, 2001 – The purchase of Miesville Milling expands the co-op feed business.
• Jan. 15, 2002 – The purchase of Minnesota Valley Ag Co-op in Montgomery expands our fuel and agronomy businesses.
• Sept. 1, 2002 – Kenyon Co-op was purchased, increasing fuel business in the Kenyon area.
• 2005 – Hennepin County Cooperative’s East Bethel store was purchased, expanding our service into the area.
• Jan. 1, 2009 – The co-op is renamed River Country Cooperative.
• Jan. 2012 – Our C-store (Lake Elmo) was converted to a Holiday store.
• Sept. 1, 2015 – The purchase of Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services expands our propane business into Western Wisconsin.
• Spring of 2019 – Opened a new agronomy facility in Le Center, MN to increase capacity and better serve our customers.
• July of 2022 – Purchased the Speedway location in Cambridge, MN.
• Sept. 12, 2023 – Our East Bethel C-store is rebuilt and converted to a Holiday store.