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Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. Records

Finding Aid

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Collection Summary

Identifier

MA 50

Title

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. Records

Creator

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc.

Dates

1941-2004

Extent

1.84 linear feet (1 records center box, 1 document case, 1 oversize document case), photographs

Language

English

Repository

South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections, Hilton M. Briggs Library, Brookings, South Dakota.

Access note

This collection is open to researchers without restrictions. The materials in the Archives do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Preferred Citation

Name of item . Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. Records. MA 50. South Dakota State University Archives and Special Collections, Hilton M. Briggs Library, Brookings, South Dakota.

Abstract

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. made available to farmers in South Dakota and the surrounding states hybrid seed corn. Composed mainly of Board of Directors minutes from its incorporation in 1944 to its dissolution in 1986, articles of incorporation, by-laws, purchase agreement, financial material, and trademark information.

Historical Note

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. made available to farmers in South Dakota and the surrounding states hybrid seed corn.

Sokota began in 1924, when Clifford Franzke, a South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station agronomist, started inbreeding local varieties of corn in an effort to produce a hybrid which could withstand the Dakota weather. In 1942, a new hybrid seed was released to farmers by the experiment station. Fred Baldridge, a retired farmer, began to standardize grading of the hybrid seed.

In 1944, Sokota Hybrid Producers incorporated as a cooperative and 24 farmers purchased certificates of equity to get the organization going with E.G. Sanderson as president.

W.L. Davis, who was a vocational agricultural instructor at Brookings high school, became manager in 1945 and the cooperative was able to erect its own plant in south Brookings. Davis served as the manager of Sokota for nearly 35 years.

Sokota continued to grow and prosper through the years, by the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sokota, had a breeding program nearly three times bigger than any program South Dakota State University had undertaken.

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. was sold in 1985 to North American Plant Breeders.

Contents Note

The Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. records are composed mainly of Board of Directors minutes from its incorporation in 1944 to its dissolution in 1986. Most of the minutes include an agenda and the minutes. Some may include newsletters, correspondence, and reports. The collection also includes articles of incorporation, by-laws, purchase agreement, financial material, and trademark information.

The financial material is composed of corn payments, revolving fund certificates, grower and producer ledger sheets, and other certificates related to the financial portion of Sokota.

Also included are newspapers clippings on the history of Sokota, South Dakota codified laws in relation to cooperatives, and a photocopy of the first check written.

Key Words

Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc.

Container List

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Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. Records Container List. MA 50.

Box Folder Description Date(s)
1 1 Agreement for Advancement to the Sokota Hybrid Producers, Inc. 1944 August
1 2 Agricultural Heritage Museum 1976-1984
1 3 Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws 1942-1966
1 4 Asset Purchase Agreement between Sokota and Nickerson American Plant Breeders 1986 September 6
1 5 Bang Board, The: Newsletter by/for Corn Items Collectors Association 1995-1997
1 6 Board of Directors minutes 1944 September 9-1958 November 23 1944-1958
1 7 Board of Directors minutes 1958 December 13-1965 November 13 1958-1965
1 8 Board of Directors minutes 1965 December 4-1972 October 2 1965-1972
1 9 Board of Directors minutes 1972 November 17-1979 December 8 1972-1979
1 10 Board of Directors minutes 1980 March 12-1988 November 15 1980-1988
1 11 Board of Directors minutes 1983 December 3-1985 September 19 1983-1985
1 12 Board of Directors minutes 1985 July 9-October 3 1985
1 13 Board of Directors minutes 1985 October 22-1986 May 1 1985-1986
1 14 Board of Directors minutes 1986 June 17-December 7 1986
1 15 Brookings Operations 1978-1987
1 16 CCC Storage Profit 1957-1962
1 17 Certificate of Amendment 1945-1985
3 1 Certificate of Amendment and Articles of Incorporation 1965
1 18 Certificate of Dissolution 1989
1 19 Certificate of Equity 1944-1950
1 20 Corn Payments 1945-1980
1 21 Correspondence 1977-1988
1 22 Distribution and Production 1977-1987
3 2 Financial Documents 1979-1986
1 23 Financial Statement 1984-1985
1 24 First Check Written 1944 September 18
1 25 Growers 1962-1985
1 26 Growers Notes and Trustees Meeting Minutes 1658-1985
1 27 Growers Notes, Trustee Minutes, Test Plot Sites 1958-1987
1 28 History of Sokota Hybrid Producers Meeting Minutes 2004
1 29 Liquidation Documents 1983-1987
1 30 Membership Certificates 1945-1961
3 3 Newspaper Clippings 1942-2000, undated
1 31 Newspaper Clippings 1947, 1987, undated
3 4 Pamphlets and Seed Guides 1984, 1986
1 32 Photographs undated
1 33 Policy on Male Sterile and Restorer Seed 1961 March 18
1 34 Producers 1962-1985
1 35 Revolving Capital Records 1977-1986
1 36 Revolving Fund Certificates 1945-1983
1 39 Shareholder Distribution and Handwritten Notes 1960-1961
3 5 Sokota Brand clothing Patches and Sokota Sticker undated
1 37 Sokota Dealers and Members 1949-1965
1 38 Sokota Dealers Handbook undated
3 6 Sokota Employees 1959, 1984
2 1 Sokota Hybrid Seed Corn and Sorghum Annual Booklets 1968-1986
2 2 Sokota Price List 1971-1983
2 3 Sokota Producer Memos 1941-2004
3 7 Sokota Production and Research Informational Folder undated
2 4 Sokota Sale 1968, 1978-1987
2 5 Sokota Silver Anniversary Materials and Photographs 1968-1969
3 8 Sokota Sunflower Handbook undated
2 6 Sokota Trustees Correspondence 1967-1986
2 7 South Dakota 4-H Doings 1987 January
2 8 South Dakota Codified Laws in relation to Cooperatives (Chapter 47-15) 1982
2 9 South Dakota Corn Performance Tests 1948-1955
3 9 South Dakota Corn Picking Contest (10 October) Official Program 1963
2 10 Statement (Financial) Corn and Sorghum 1965
2 11 Stockholder Meeting Reports and Correspondence 1950-1986
2 12 Trademark 1954, 1963
2 13 Trustees Seed Division 1949-1961
2 14 Yield Tests 1968-1984

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to researchers without restrictions. The materials in the Archives do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Researchers conducting extensive research are asked to make an advance appointment to access archival material. Please call or e-mail prior to visiting the collection and indicate as much detail as possible about a particular topic and intended use.

South Dakota State University supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted as a result of their fragile condition or by contractual agreements with donors.

Copyright note

Copyright restrictions apply in different ways to different materials. Many of the documents and other historical materials in the Archives are in the public domain and may be reproduced and used in any way. There are other materials in the Archive carrying a copyright interest and must be used according to the provisions of Title 17 of the U.S. Code. The Archive issues a warning concerning copyright restrictions to every researcher who requests copies of documents. Although the copyright law is under constant redefinition in the courts, it is ultimately the responsibility of the researcher to properly use copyrighted material.

Arranged and Described by

Crystal J. Gamradt, C.A., Archivist on November 5, 2013. Additions made July 11, 2018.