Jon Beatty and Lon Stephens, Co-Operative Feed Dealers. Beatty took over as the General Manager after Stephens retired in February, 2025. Photo provided.
NEAFA would like to congratulate Lon Stephens on his retirement from Co-Operative Feed Dealers after forty years of service to the company and agriculture at large. Stephens started his career as a territory sales representative in 1985, and took over as the General Manager Co-operative Feed Dealers in 1991. “It was a unique opportunity to be given such a free hand to do what I thought best,” said Stephens. “CFD just celebrated its 90th anniversary in February, and during my tenure I had the opportunity to lead the company in a few different directions. I appreciated being given the chance to help the company grow in my own way. I worked for nine board members, just a great group to work for and under. We’d have a meeting every month to review the company. We represent a great group of feed dealers and farm supply stores.”
Stephens was no stranger to agriculture before joining CFD. “I was always interested in agriculture, my brother as well,” said Stephens. “I used to work on a farm during the summers in Northern NY,” said Stephens. “I went to Canton ACC for two years, and then transferred to Cornell for a bachelor’s in Ag Engineering.”
CFD and Stephens have a long history with NEAFA as well. “When we first joined, I knew it as the Eastern Federation of Feed Merchants, before they merged with the New England Grain and Feed Council,” said Stephens. “I served on the EFFM board at one point as well. NEAFA has had great leaders along the way. Rick Zimmerman took the association in some good directions as the Executive Director and his lobbying efforts in NYS were always appreciated. It’s very important that this segment of the ag market be represented, and NEAFA is sincere and doing the work. They’re serious in following their mission in education and representation.”
Looking towards the future, Stephens has a message for agricultural leaders and businesses. “Everyone in this industry has to continue to innovate,” says Stephens. “It’s very important, and some may not be able to see it all the time. I’m not a visionary, but if we hadn’t innovated in the 90’s, I’m not sure how successful we would be today. There’s been a lot of consolidation in the market. There are fewer customers and dealers as well. We had to come up with ways to keep our position. One thing for example, we were the first Muck Boot distributor. We got on board with that, and it took us in a lot of different directions. The core is still in farming and agriculture, but it opened markets for us into sporting, casual, and even fishing industries now. We had to innovate and find new products and strategies to bring to our clients so that they can innovate and get into different things. A large part of what I consider successful about my time as the general manager at CFD was that I hired good people, and gave them the space to manage their departments and grow their business.”
Looking to his retirement, Stephens still sees agriculture being a part of his life. “I would like to keep my hand in it to some degree,” said Stephens. “It took me about a month before I stopped worrying about the day-to-day things at the company that I looked after for 34 years. I retired at the end of February, and honestly right now it just feels like the longest vacation I’ve ever had. I am enjoying it, but I would step back into it part time if the opportunity came along.”