Finding Aid
Download Finding Aid and Container List
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
View container list on Open Prairie
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.