NEPM: Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange

It’s time for another #localherospotlight with Monte, Kaliis, and Claire on NEPM! This week, the crew heads to Greenfield, to visit with Jeff Budine, manager of the Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange.

The farmer-owned business was started in 1918 in Greenfield with $50. Eventually, the farmers built a warehouse at the East Deerfield rail yard. They have a board of directors that are elected by membership to oversee the operation of the store, and has been run this way throughout its history. The original business was dependent on the railroad, and farmers created buying groups, or co-ops, to keep costs lower, order at the same time, and then unload the rail cars as orders arrived. As trucking took over transportation for large inputs like animal feed and fertilizer, local farmers moved to a storefront location at 283 High Street in Greenfield.

Today, the Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange continues to serve the local farming community. Their membership includes local farmers, but the geographic restriction of Franklin county has been lifted; they serve farmers from Connecticut to Vermont.

Their number one department is bag feed, agricultural feed, for horses, cows, sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, pigs. For home owners, gardeners, and pet lovers, the co-op’s second largest department features pet food and supplies, mostly for dogs and cats, but also for bunnies, guinea pigs, and ferrets. The garden department fills with seeds at this time of year, and plants will follow.

Listen to the interview to learn more!

Photos courtesy of NEPM. This episode aired on NEPM on 3/4/26.