WAUPUN — One of Waupun’s oldest businesses, the Farmers Elevator Company, is closing this year after 120 years in business.
An announcement was made to the Farmer Elevator Company Facebook page back in June, announcing that feedmill operation was shut down and they would not be renewing or taking new contracts as they wound down business by the end of summer, before selling assets.
Farmers Elevator Co Limited of Waupun was founded on March 11, 1906. Since its inception it has been a shareholder company and as of today there are 10,000 shares among about 300 shareholders.
For the last six years, Farmers Elevator has been managed by David Buiter, and most previously by Byron Mulder who served as the manager for about a decade prior.
Buiter said he worked for Farmers Elevator in the 2000s but moved on to other opportunities before coming back and working as a salesman for the feed mill. The board then asked him to take a management position, which he was proud to do what he could.
Despite Farmers Elevator doing well as a business, with many assets and strong community ties, it became increasingly unclear whether a small operation would be able to survive in the modern farming economy—not because they didn’t have enough clients or couldn’t make ends meet, but because of a skilled labor shortage.
“Essentially, we’re fighting a labor market that isn’t there,” Buiter said. “We were down to eight employees, we needed specialized people and we ran short. I need a CDL, and then I need a hazmat certificate, a tanker certificate, a commercial spray license. These are unique—it’s not just an average guy. We need average people for labor, but the specialized jobs were difficult to hire for.”
“I’m 58 years old, and there’s only one person that was working here that was younger than me. So, what’s gonna happen in the next five years, they’re going to retire, and I got nothing coming up underneath to do the work.”
With it being harder to attract talent as a small operation, business management grew concerned they would be physically able to continue meeting contracts without the labor to do it.
“I’d rather not do the work than fail our customers by not getting it done—so, as the board of directors decided, it’s time to just cease operations,” Buiter said. “It’s sad, because it’s one less competitor that’s out there, but it is the way this business is going. The farms are bigger, the operations are bigger, everything is conglomerates. So that’s kind of how we came to where we are. We can sell all the assets off, and it’ll take us another year to finish the books, but then any remaining cash will be back to the shareholders.”
Buiter said they will likely be working through October to finalize contracts and financials after the auction. Once all work is complete, the properties and any remaining assets will also be sold off.
“Honestly, it was going to happen now or later—so, let’s be on top of it,” he said.
All of the clients for Farmers Elevator were farms within 25 miles of Waupun.
Farmers Elevator owns several properties in Waupun, including downtown properties that have been owned by the business since it opened in 1906.
Their principal office is located downtown at 2 W Main St, along with several grain storage and other buildings between the railroad tracks and N Commercial Street. These properties are the original founding location of the business, having been originally built to serve the trains that went through town before semi-truck shipping over the American highway system became standard.
Two properties are across the street at the former Marshland Pet & Lawn Care at 16 N Commercial St, which is currently Tails-a-Waggin Dog Groomers, and the neighboring garage.
They also own four large lots located at the west end of town on Main St and 1350 W Brown St. These include a storage facility, a large grain silo, and an office and garage. The gas and diesel station VP Racing is also located there, at W7231 W Main St.
An additional lot with a truck scale can also be found at N2763 Fond du Lac St, north of the Waupun Utilities Water Treatment Facility and neighboring W & D Navis.
All properties are currently for sale, along with all business assets which are being sold off in an online auction through DPA Auctions. An open house for the auction was held Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22 for bidders to view the lots before auctions close on August 27.
The auction includes all assets such as trucks, tractors, farm equipment, general tools, antique signs, and more. More information about the auction can be found here: https://waupunpioneer.com/2026/08/09/sponsored-farmers-elevator-co-of-waupun-holding-complete-dispersal-auction-ending-august-27/
