LEXTRON, INC. was originally incorporated under the name of Great Plains Chemical Company, Inc. in Greeley, Colorado on May 16, 1967. The founders of the Company were Park L. Loughlin and Robert C. Hummel who remain the major stockholders today.
During the 1970's the Company continued to grow and expand. Additional branches were opened in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Idaho and Iowa. Elco Veterinary Supply in California and Arizona and Parker Livestock Supply in Nebraska and Montana were acquired. In 1978, the Micro Tech Machine Division was opened and Lextron introduced its private label products.
The Company continued its growth in the 1980's by acquiring Brawley Cattle of Dumas, Texas and Life Services of Florida. In 1988, the Company entered the veterinary channel with a start up company, American Veterinary Supply in San Antonio, Texas, and the acquisition of Intermountain Veterinary Supply in Denver, Colorado in 1989.
The 1990's brought about more growth as a result of the ConAgra Animal Health acquisition when the ProVet Companies located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Seattle, Washington, joined the veterinary side of the business. WindRiver Animal Health of Greeley, Colorado and Donnell Ag Products of Graham, Texas were also part of the ConAgra acquisition.
A centralized warehouse and an outbound TeleSales Department were opened in North Kansas City, Missouri. Larson Distributing Co. in South Dakota, Poultry Health Services in Florida and Georgia and Desert Dairy Services were also acquired in the 90's.
In 1994, Aspen Veterinary Resources, Ltd. replaced the Lextron label on the private label products, and today the Cooper's Best label is also used as a result of the Poultry Health acquisition.
In the 2000's, the C.W.T. organization in Gainesville, Georgia was acquired and the Company opened Lextron Dairy Services in Dublin, Texas after purchasing the assets of Dairy Tex. Lextron also became a part owner of Desert Dairy Services in Chandler, Arizona.
Precision Logistics, an integrated management distribution company located in Liberty, Missouri, was established in the fall of 2002 as a division of Lextron Marketing to provide logistics, warehousing and redistribution of branded products to Lextron Animal Health branches and other marketers.
In order to provide premier grain conditioners and a family of silage inoculants, the Company purchased the assets of a division of Loveland Industries and formed Animal Feed Technologies, LLC in 2003. In 2004, the Company sold its interest in the ProVet Division to Webster Veterinary Supply, a division of Patterson Dental.
The various separate Corporations were consolidated into one Corporation and the name was changed to LEXTRON, INC. The various companies have continued to operate as Divisions of the parent Company.
