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Review AccountOsceola Location Manager Retires
Jun 11, 2025
Come July, things will look a little different at Federated’s Osceola location. For the first time in 30 years, Tim Stelter won’t be working there as he moves into retirement.
Stelter joined Federated in 1995 soon after he and his brother decided not to continue with their family’s Osceola dairy farm “because 100 cows couldn’t support two families.”
He began with the co-op “like many others,” he said, as an applicator, spraying and spreading fertilizer and chemicals. That was back when GPS and other technologies weren’t in place, he said, so “we had to look out the window and pick a mark down at the end of the row to aim for” to keep spraying/spreading in a straight line!
In 1997, Stelter moved into location management during one of the mergers that led Federated to be a strong co-op in this region. “I always thought I’d be able to do [management], since I’d run the dairy farm, so I applied,” said Stelter. Tim Kavanaugh, the general manager back then, “took a risk and hired me,” he added.
Stelter grew up in Osceola, and living and working in his own community gave him a unique perspective on farming. He said the hardest thing about his job was learning how to manage people, but he also said the people were his favorite thing through the years. He said, “I really liked helping farmers grow good crops.”
“I always got some satisfaction helping farmers get better yields … have cleaner fields,” he said. He appreciates the long-term customers and the shared loyalty: “They are loyal to us, and we are loyal to them.”
Much has changed around the co-op since Stelter first joined its ranks – technological advances not the least of those changes – but he said the “personal involvement” and the “connection with the community” remain the same. He hopes that holds true as the co-op continues to serve area growers beyond his tenure at Federated.
“We have a lot of local people at the different stores,” he said, noting how that makes a difference in a world of agricultural mergers and acquisitions. And, for a local kid-turned-successful-co-op-manager, that’s a big deal.
When asked what he plans to do in retirement, Stelter said, simply, “Less.” His version of “less” will include some travel around the U.S. in the “little motor home” he and his wife Joan bought. And maybe “less” will be simply enjoying time with friends and former customers in his hometown.
Over the years, he said he’d looked at different career opportunities here and there but always concluded that “they didn’t seem like they would be any better.” So, he stayed at Federated. For 30 years!
To the customers he leaves behind, Stelter offered a heartfelt “thank you.” And Federated Co-ops says thank you, too, Tim Stelter, for sticking around and for doing your job very well. Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy doing “less”!
Ryan Peterson, another local guy who has been watching and learning from Stelter for many years, assumes the role of Osceola location manager in July, leaving his post as Federated’s custom application manager.
Stelter joined Federated in 1995 soon after he and his brother decided not to continue with their family’s Osceola dairy farm “because 100 cows couldn’t support two families.”
He began with the co-op “like many others,” he said, as an applicator, spraying and spreading fertilizer and chemicals. That was back when GPS and other technologies weren’t in place, he said, so “we had to look out the window and pick a mark down at the end of the row to aim for” to keep spraying/spreading in a straight line!
In 1997, Stelter moved into location management during one of the mergers that led Federated to be a strong co-op in this region. “I always thought I’d be able to do [management], since I’d run the dairy farm, so I applied,” said Stelter. Tim Kavanaugh, the general manager back then, “took a risk and hired me,” he added.
Stelter grew up in Osceola, and living and working in his own community gave him a unique perspective on farming. He said the hardest thing about his job was learning how to manage people, but he also said the people were his favorite thing through the years. He said, “I really liked helping farmers grow good crops.”
“I always got some satisfaction helping farmers get better yields … have cleaner fields,” he said. He appreciates the long-term customers and the shared loyalty: “They are loyal to us, and we are loyal to them.”
Much has changed around the co-op since Stelter first joined its ranks – technological advances not the least of those changes – but he said the “personal involvement” and the “connection with the community” remain the same. He hopes that holds true as the co-op continues to serve area growers beyond his tenure at Federated.
“We have a lot of local people at the different stores,” he said, noting how that makes a difference in a world of agricultural mergers and acquisitions. And, for a local kid-turned-successful-co-op-manager, that’s a big deal.
When asked what he plans to do in retirement, Stelter said, simply, “Less.” His version of “less” will include some travel around the U.S. in the “little motor home” he and his wife Joan bought. And maybe “less” will be simply enjoying time with friends and former customers in his hometown.
Over the years, he said he’d looked at different career opportunities here and there but always concluded that “they didn’t seem like they would be any better.” So, he stayed at Federated. For 30 years!
To the customers he leaves behind, Stelter offered a heartfelt “thank you.” And Federated Co-ops says thank you, too, Tim Stelter, for sticking around and for doing your job very well. Congratulations on your retirement! Enjoy doing “less”!
Ryan Peterson, another local guy who has been watching and learning from Stelter for many years, assumes the role of Osceola location manager in July, leaving his post as Federated’s custom application manager.