FIRST - organized farm club in Missouri - Treloar, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 38.604 W 091° 11.276
15S E 657700 N 4278763
The farm clubs of the 1910s led to the Farm Bureaus and Farmer Associations across America
Waymark Code: WMRBDW
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 06/04/2016
Views: 1
County of marker: Warren County
Location of marker: Katy Trail, Market St. & Koch Creek Rd., Treloar
Marker erected: 2012
Marker erected by: Missouri Department of Natural Resources
1918 ................
The Farm Club Movement
On a stormy Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1918, several members of the New Haven Farm Club braved the Big Muddy's rough waters in hopes of convincing the farmers of Treloar of the benefits of establishing their own club.
"WE must light up the School Houses far and near, and make the hills and vales echo with the Farm Club Slogan;
Production Cost with a Reasonable Profit for the fruits of the Farmer's Sweat and Toil"
This was the message these men carried with them at the time when the farm club movement was spreading like wildfire across the state. The Missouri Farmers Association (MFA) traditionally designates their founding as May 10, 1914 when several farmers in Missouri formed the first organized farm club. In January 1916, a convention was held to form the MFA, a statewide farmers' organization. William Hirth, father of the MFA, believed the agriculture interests of Missourians were fundamentally important and deserved reward and recognition.
Warren County Farm Clubs
Warren County was the first county in the state to establish a county farm club. Smaller individual clubs combined to form the Warren County Farmers Association in 1915. The Treloar Farm Club was instrumental in the formation of clubs in Peers and Marthasville, and the Tri-County Farmers Association comprised of Warren, St. Charles and Montgomery counties. The values of the Treloar Farm Club extended beyond farming to the enrichment of their community. Quality education was the utmost importance to the Treloar Farm Club, whose members envisioned a rural high school that would "grace our hills, giving our boys and girls an equal chance with the city youth in the great battle of life."
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