United Farmers of Alberta

Agriculture companies of Canada

With over 110,000 members, UFA Co-operative Ltd. is one of Canada’s largest and most dynamic agricultural organizations. UFA operates over 35 Farm and Ranch Supply stores and over 120 Petroleum locations throughout Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Our offering includes a variety of products and services for the rural population. UFA is committed to understanding the needs of our customers - farmers, ranchers, commercial businesses, acreage owners and contractors - and providing these customers with suitable products and services.

And we are proud to go beyond our product and service offering in sustaining our communities – as an employer we offer progressive benefits and balance, and as a neighbor we offer support through our Community Investment program.

We have a strong vision and mission statement and set of core values that are the driving force behind our organization. They describe what we want to be, where we want to go, and how we plan to get there. And by committing ourselves to representing our vision, mission and values in all that we do, we ensure success for UFA and our member-owners.

Vision
UFA is a thriving and progressive co-operative with a passion for agriculture and an affinity for rural life. We are committed to being a market-driven organization that is recognized as the leading provider of quality products, services and solutions that support agriculture and serve the rural community.

Mission Statement
We are a progressive co-operative with a mandate to create value for our owners and customers through our unwavering commitment to strong financial performance; relevance to agricultural producers; and connection to the rural community.

Core Values
Performance
Collaboration
Accountability
Respect
Integrity
Progressive thinking\
Agility

UFA is a co-operative organization. The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) defines a co-operative as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise.” In other words, it is an organization owned by the members who use its services. At UFA that means that our customers are also our owners. Our member-owners are united by three pillars:

• Co-operation
• Common Principles
• Community

Co-operation
A co-operative is based on co-operation; a realization that member-owners can benefit from working together with other members.

Common Principles
Our members are united by a passion for agriculture and a desire to build their communities. Beyond this, all member-owners are united by the ICA’s principles for co-operatives:

• Voluntary and open membership
• Democratic member control
• Member economic participation
• Autonomy and independence
• Education
• Training and information
• Co-operation among co-operatives
• Concern for community

Community
At UFA, our commitment to communities has been at the heart of our co-operative for nearly a century. Our community investment strategy, “Learning and Living in the Country”, enables UFA to focus our support in areas that are most important to our employees, customers and member-owners.

Canada Business Directory @ January 17, 2009