The Farmer's Union Cooperative Shipping Association, known also as the Greenwood Shipping Association, was founded at Greenwood, Wisconsin, on December 3, 1929. Located in a small town in west-central Wisconsin, the co-op functioned as a non-profit association that bought, sold and transported livestock for its members. By 1931 it affiliated with the Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, Milwaukee, to which it shipped livestock for sale. Equity opened regional markets, first for direct shipments to packers and later as auction markets. The Farmer's Union Cooperative shipped primarily to the Stratford and Altoona markets. These records best document the co-op's part in Equity's auction marketing system.
In 1966 the members of the Farmer's Union Cooperative voted to join with other area sales co-ops that were members of Equity Cooperative to form the Equity Stratford Livestock Marketing Cooperative. The last meeting of the Farmer's Union Co-op, at which the directors determined what property and records to turn over to Equity Stratford, was recorded on January 28, 1967.
