Spokane Valley-based AFCO Distribution & Milling continues to grow since its former parent company, Aslin-Finch Co., was acquired over a decade ago by a West Side agricultural co-operative. 

Lloyd Campbell, AFCO’s director of wholesale, says the company now operates as the manufacturing and distribution division of Skagit Farmers Supply, which is based in Burlington, Washington.

Although Campbell declines to disclose the company's annual revenue, he says, “AFCO has seen double-digit growth in the last five years, with the pet side of the business leading the way.”

AFCO has about 65 employees. Campbell says the employee count has been steady in recent years, even as production is on the rise. “We’ve been able to add technology without adding personnel,” he says.

He says pet food and supplies make up 70% of AFCO's business, with farm feeds and supplies making up most of the balance. The company operates a 175,000-square-foot distribution facility at 11016 E. Montgomery Drive, in Spokane Valley. Its distribution network serves hundreds of retail stores in eight states along the Interstate 90 and Interstate 5 corridors, such as Wilco Farm Stores, an Oregon-based 25-store chain.

While the bulk of the distribution consists of products made by other manufacturers, production at AFCO’s mill at 5702 E. Sprague also is growing.

The mill produces roughly 10,000 tons of equine and chicken feed annually. Its products include the LMF line of feed for the performance horse market. All feed produced at the mill is packaged in bags with an average weight of 50 pounds.

Since 2019, the company has been shipping products to Japan, China, and Hong Kong in addition to its domestic network, Campbell says.

The company is investing several million dollars in ongoing improvements at the mill, he says.

Skagit Farmers Supply originally leased the facility upon its acquisition of Aslin-Finch in 2013, and the co-op purchased the 19,200-square foot mill site in 2017.

“On the manufacturing side, we started moving to automate this facility three years ago,” Campbell says.

AFCO will add automated bagging lines this year and complete its automation systems in 2025.

Yeti Construction & Concrete LLC, of Elk, has been the contractor for much of the improvements, and the Spokane office of TD&H Engineering designed them.

The mill currently operates four days a week as production must continue while the improvements are being phased in, Campbell says.

“We can’t just shut down because our customers expect product,” he says.

The mill likely will operate seven days a week when improvements are complete, and production capacity will more than double, Campbell says.

“Tonnage will go up immensely,” he says.

Feed manufactured at the AFCO mill is made primarily of corn, oats, barley, and other ingredients sourced mostly from Inland Northwest farmers, including Palouse, Washington-based Dugger Farms LLC and Tekoa, Washington-based Seeds Inc.

“We take pride in buying from local farmers and getting consistent-quality grains,” Campbell says.

Aslin-Finch was founded in Spokane in 1937 and had grown to include several retail stores and a wholesale network at the time Skagit Farmers Supply acquired it from co-owners Jay Allert and Fritz Wolff in 2013.

Subsequent to the acquisition, Skagit Farmer’s retail division absorbed Aslin-Finch’s retail side of the business and has rebranded all of its retail operations under the Country Store name. The co-op’s retail division has eight Country Store locations in Washington and Montana, including its Inland Northwest stores at 5605 E. Sprague, in Spokane Valley, and in Colville.

The Aslin-Finch name lives on in a private-label brand of farm feed manufactured by AFCO and sold exclusively at Country Store outlets.

In addition to its retail and manufacturing divisions, Skagit Farmers Supply has two other business units: its agronomy center and its energy division.

The agronomy center provides fertilizer and chemical support to farmers.

The energy division sells bulk fuels and propane. According to Skagit Farmers Supply’s website, the energy division launched the co-op in 1934, as farmers were converting from horse-drawn equipment to tractors, and members needed reliable sources of diesel.

Today, the co-op has over 3,000 members.

“Working for a co-operative has been a great experience,” Campbell says.

He says member-owned Skagit Farmers Supply’s mission is to support local agriculture, and its diversity of business units gives the cooperative strength.

Campbell has been with Aslin-Finch and AFCO for 42 years. “To see where it has come from to where it is today is a lot of fun,” he says.