FEEDERS, INC.:

Arthur Dwight Hyde was born at Pipestone, Minnesota in 1902. The family later moved to Illinois, where Hyde grew up. In 1928 he went to work in Minneapolis for General Mills, resigning in 1961 as an executive vice president. From 1961 to 1968 he was president of A. O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc., a firm that manufactures metal silos.

In 1930 Hyde inherited a 440-acre farm south of Wilder and east of Heron Lake in Jackson County, Minnesota, which had been in his family since 1905. This property, which came to be known as Wilder Farms, was being farmed by tenants and managed by professionals in Minneapolis. In 1937 Hyde (with his business associate Eleanor C. Romhild) assumed management of the farm himself from his office in Minneapolis.

Wilder Farms was a cash grain operation until 1949 or 1950, when cattle feeding was begun. In 1952 Hyde formed Feeders, Inc., and the Wilder Farms properties were transferred to this corporate entity. The farm eventually grew to comprise more than 1500 acres and became a showcase for Harvestore brand silos. Around 1970 Hyde moved to Wilder Farms, building a new home for himself on the shores of Timber Lake.

In addition to Wilder Farms (its major subsidiary), the Feeders corporate umbrella also included several other subsidiary and related companies: Feeders of S. D., Inc.; ETOH Incorporated; and Daramac, Inc.

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The collection documents the operation and management of a family farm corporation, and the growth and development of Wilder Farms from a relatively modest cash grain farm to a large mechanized farming and cattle feeding operation. It follows Hyde's growing involvement in the farm and its management, as well as his interest in innovations and new trends in agriculture.

The collection consists of financial records and subject files relating primarily to Feeders, Inc. and to Wilder Farms. It includes financial statements and corporate income tax returns, clippings, photographs, drainage systems maps, architectural and engineering drawings, invoices, receipts, correspondence, and memoranda. There is information about farm buildings and equipment, Harvestore silos, designing and installing drainage and irrigation systems, operating feedlots and raising beef cattle, insurance policies and coverages, farm managers and tenant farmers, and Hyde's operating partner Archie Forsberg. There are land acquisition and sales records, including an abstract of title with an appended document dating back to 1883. The bulk of the documents date from 1937 and beyond, the period of Hyde's active involvement in the operation and management of the farm.

There is information about a 1961 visit (sponsored by A. O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc.) to Wilder Farms by a group of French farmers and businessmen, who came to inspect Hyde's Harvestore silos and automated cattle feeding system as a part of a larger American tour.

There is some information about Feeders subsidiaries: Feeders of S. D., Inc., which owned and operated a farming and cattle business near De Smet, South Dakota; ETOH Incorporated (Heron Lake, Minnesota), which was formed to construct and operate an anhydrous ethyl alcohol distillery (gasohol production plant) at Wilder Farms; and Daramac, Inc., which apparently was a hog-producing operation located at or adjacent to Wilder Farms. The records also include material about Hyde's personal finances and net worth.

Correspondence is scattered throughout the subject files. Correspondents include: Arthur D. Hyde; his son Maclay R. Hyde; Eleanor C. Romhild; lawyers; banks, particularly the First National Bank of Minneapolis and Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago; tenant farmers; property managers O. M. Corwin Company and the First Minneapolis Company; Barr Engineering Company; A. O. Smith Harvestore Products, Inc.; and officials (Hyde and Romhild) of Wilder Farms and ETOH incorporated.

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These records are divided into the following three sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. The Feeders, Inc. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 14,804

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, September 1994

Catalog ID number: 990017305020104294

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agricultural engineering -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Beef cattle -- Minnesota.

Cattle -- Feeding and feeds.

Drainage -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Farm buildings -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Farm corporations -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Farm equipment.

Farm management -- Minnesota.

Farms -- Automation.

Farms -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Gasohol industry -- Minnesota.

Irrigation -- Minnesota -- Jackson County.

Silos.

Persons:

Forsberg, Archie.

Hyde, Arthur Dwight, 1902-.

Hyde, Maclay Reed, 1934-.

Romhild, Eleanor Caroline, 1907-.

Organizations:

A.O. Smith Harvestore Products.

Barr Engineering Company.

ETOH Incorporated (Heron Lake, Minn.).

Feeders, Inc. (Heron Lake, Minn.) Wilder Farms Division.

Types of Documentation:

Engineering drawings.

Maps.

Photographs.

Tax returns.

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