Farmers Commodities Corporation (FCC) and Saul Stone and Company came together to form one of the nation’s largest volume commercial grain brokerage firms on July 1, 2000. The organization is now called FCStone Group, Inc.

A Brief History:
In 1924, Mr. Saul Stone, a door-to-door egg wholesaler, formed Saul Stone and Company.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, formerly the Chicago Egg and Butter Board, afforded Saul Stone and Company the ability to implement risk adverse hedging. In the 1930’s, as one of the first clearing members of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Saul Stone and Company became users as well as brokers.

FCC’s roots can be traced back to 1955, when a company called Farmers Grain Dealers Association of Iowa first purchased a seat on the Chicago Board of Trade.

In 1968, Farmers Grain Dealers Association began servicing its members with futures based hedging services.

Throughout the years, Saul Stone and Company diversified, traded and hedged all kinds of agricultural commodities including eggs, butter, meats and grains. In the early 1970’s, Stone became one of major innovators on the International Monetary Market, bringing financial futures to the forefront of the industry.

In 1978, a new entity called Farmers Commodities Corporation was formed to accommodate the needs for grain hedged brokerage services.

Farmers Commodities Corporation became a clearing member of the Kansas City Board of Trade in 1983 and in 1985 purchased its first seat on the Chicago Board of Trade.

In 1988, Farmers Commodities Corporation gained full clearing-member status at the Chicago Board of Trade, while expanding back office operations in Chicago to facilitate the rapidly growing volume of trades.

By 1990, Saul Stone and Company had expanded its clearing operations to include all major futures exchanges in New York. Having member status and full back office operations at these various exchanges afforded Stones’ wholesale, institutional and retail customers full service clearing and execution.

Farmers Grain Dealers, Inc., now known simply as FGDI, LLC, was established in 1991 to assist our members in their cash grain merchandising needs.

On July 1, 2000, Farmers Commodities Corporation purchased Saul Stone and Company forming a new company called FCStone LLC, which is now a subsidiary of FCStone Group, Inc. Currently there are four entities servicing our customer base.

In 2005, the firm became a privately held company owned by employees and 550 Agriculture Cooperatives.

In 2007, FCStone completed their initial public offering, or IPO, and is traded on the NASDAQ as FCSX.