It’s fair to say that Ohio’s Westville Grain Company has been a part of J.P. Stickley’s life for about as long as the 67-year-old farmer can remember. Stickley was just 15 when he inherited stock in the company, and today, he’s both a customer and a member of Westville’s board of directors. While much about Westville Grain Company has changed since Stickley first became a stockholder, much has remained the same, too.
Westville Grain’s roots go back to 1919, when a group of local farmers decided it was time the community had a nearby market for its grain and livestock. To form a corporation, the group sold 200 shares of stock at $100 each, raising the $20,000 needed to open the Westville Grain and Livestock Company. “Back then, the railroad came through town, and the company could ship out products and livestock,” said Steve Jenkins, the company’s current manager.
In 1936, after the rails stopped running to Westville, the company changed its focus to feed. Along the way, it also added oil and fuel to its lineup, and that service continues today. After dropping its livestock business, the board changed the company name to the Westville Grain Company. Today, its products and offerings have many similarities to those early days, but the company has kept up with the needs of its farming community, adding and subtracting to their product and service lineup along the way.
Through it all, a nine-member board of directors has continued to steer the ship. Like Stickley, many of the stockholders have owned a piece of the company most of their lives, often inheriting their shares and representing the second or third generation of their families to do so. Westville remains an integral piece of the community, a business that has seen the region through thick and thin.
Meeting the neighbors’ needs
As any farmer like Stickley will tell you, making a living in agriculture can be challenging, and the same holds true for a feed business. Weather, the economy, corporate acquisitions, and more all impact the fortunes of farmers and therefore, the feed business, too. Westville understands this intimately and has faced several challenges over the years. “We’re a smaller operation today than during the peak years,” said Jenkins, “but we still get new customers thanks to word of mouth.”
A small business in a small town means that those customer recommendations carry great weight. It’s Westville’s ability to meet its neighbors’ needs that has kept the company afloat. “I feel lucky to have such loyal customers,” said Jenkins. “They have a good deal of knowledge in agriculture, and they’re grateful when you can help them save a few dollars.”
If nothing else, more than 100 years in business has taught the Westville Grain Company that it must operate with a flexible model.
One of the advantages Westville can offer its customers is specialized feeds. Jenkins joined the company four years ago after a career in agricultural education, as well as experience raising thousands of hogs. That has allowed him to bring nutritional know-how to the feed mixes he creates for customers. Whether cattle, hogs, goats, or poultry, Jenkins understands what each breed needs and ensures his customers receive that. “Each animal needs a different mix,” he said. “There’s a certain ratio of fat, protein, fiber and carbohydrates to meet all their needs.”
Westville not only mixes specialized feeds but also offers grain storage for farmers in need of that service, commodities, show supplies, and pre-bagged feed, among other items. Meeting each individual customer’s needs is a leg up for Westville, and something nearby bigger corporate grain companies can’t provide.
While none of Westville’s original buildings still stand, much of its old traditions and techniques still do. Customers can call in with 24 hours’ notice and count on Westville to have their orders ready. If they need heating oil delivered to their homes, Westville steps in where others no longer do. It’s that mix of homegrown know-how, modern equipment, and dedication to the community that has proven a successful recipe.
Facing headwinds
The long-standing trend in agriculture is the rise of the big ag corporations, which often swallow up the smaller, family-run farms. This trend has challenged Westville and required it to evolve over the decades. “As farms have gotten bigger, they often have their own storage now and sell directly to big processors,” said Jenkins. “There are also fewer livestock farmers around these days.”
With these changes, Westville has leaned harder on the fuel side of the business than feed business. Today, fuel, oils, and additives make up about 70 percent of its profits, according to Stickley. “There are heating oil customers whose parents were buying fuel from us back in the 1950s,” he said. “We have small customers, but we have a lot of them.”
It’s not just the bigger farms and bigger grain companies that have challenged Westville over the years. Two different fires—common in the grain elevator business—threatened its existence, once in 1930, and once again in 1941. Each time, however, the board met and voted to continue operations.
Other headwinds have included a short shutdown following the pandemic. Westville’s long-time manager retired after 40 years on the job, and finding a suitable replacement proved challenging. That’s when Jenkins came into the picture and began guiding the company toward the future. “After about 18 months, we had rebuilt our customer base,” he said. “Knowing the local community from my teaching background was an asset in that regard.”
If nothing else, more than 100 years in business has taught the Westville Grain Company that it must operate with a flexible model. “You have to adapt as change comes and figure out the right direction to go,” said Stickley. “Many of the bigger companies don’t want the smaller customers. There will always be a need for serving them, however, and we will continue to do that.”
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