Horizon Resources Proud to Be Part of Co-op Day

Most regular attendees at the Richland County Fair are well aware of the longstanding Co-op Day tradition. On this day, local co-ops sponsor a free treat for fairgoers, which includes root beer floats and frozen orange push-ups.

Horizon Resources is one of the corporate Co-op participants who sponsor the treats at the Richland County Fair. Other corporate sponsors include Richland Federal Credit Union, Mid-Rivers Communications, CHS Farmer's Elevator, Nortana Grain Co. and Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative.

Jami Propp, who helps to organize the Co-op days for Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Cooperative, told the Roundup that the 2018 fair would continue the tradition.

Propp said, "We're doing the root beer floats starting at 4 p.m. It is all the same Co-ops cooperating as previous years, we're going to give away free push-ups starting at noon, and everything else should be the same."

The Roundup also spoke with Horizon Resources employee, Bruce Prevost, who is volunteering for the fair Co-op Day and helping to head up their volunteer efforts. Prevost, who works at the Horizon Resources' Fairview location, explained the mission and history of the co-op.

Prevost told the Roundup, "Horizon Resources is an agriculture co-op. We have at least ten different locations in Montana and North Dakota. We started off as a fertilizer and ag-chemicals business, selling fuel and other resources. We merged with Prairie States Co-op and acquired some grain elevators along with that."

Horizon Resources is a company whose origins go back to 1929 when the Farmer's Union Oil Company in Williston began business and quickly grew from about a hundred members to more than five hundred in a short few years. Its first service station was built in 1936, its Anhydrous Ammonia Fertilizer Plant was built in 1973 and its Soil Service was developed in 1991. It later purchased numerous area fertilizer plants, expanded its petroleum division, and continued to grow until it eventually merged with other cooperatives to form Horizon Resources in 2006.

Prevost, who started working for Horizon Resources about thirteen years ago and who grew up in Savage, continued, "We usually have six to seven folks that will show up and volunteer. We've been a part of Co-op Days since the beginning."

It's an important sign of support for the community, to know that local co-ops are community-focused, community-served, and community-operated. Thursday, August 2, fairgoers can enjoy the free frozen treats from noon until about 3:30PM, and root beer floats will be available at 4PM.