During this time, it was common for the Benson’s to build the bins themselves as the business expanded.
Neighbors, too, would lend a hand.
“They were just good friends and good customers,” Donnie says. “I could name off a lot of people that have
helped us build bins over the years.”
Rink adds, “The loyalty of the customers seemed to grow right with me after my dad passed away. There has to
be some outside success for this thing besides just me, and that has to be with the people that live in this area.”
While many of those customers have since passed on, Rink credits them with the success his business has
realized over the years.
During the 60s, Donnie and Danny found themselves working at the elevator through high school.
Donnie recalls Rink tossing he and Danny into railroad cars to clean them. They often encountered hobos, and
Rink insisted on his wife providing a meal for them. Of course, she obliged.
Expansion came to Hassard in 1971 by way of a building project along the south side of the operation’s
property.
After high school, Donnie
worked as an electrician and later at
the elevator, while Danny attended
college at Northeast Missouri State
University in Kirksville where he
studied general agriculture. He
returned to the family business in
1975.
With drought plaguing the
area, the 1980s brought especially
challenging times to Hassard.
Rink’s brother Buck also passed
away in 1980. He was just 62.
“It was tough,” Rink notes. “I
really don’t know how we survived
Rink Benson (center) is joined in conversation by employees Denny Benson (right)
other than we had the loyalty of
and Jack Campbell (left). Communication is key to Hassard Elevator's ability to
our customers.”
adapt to changes in today's ag world.
Donnie adds, “We took our
equipment down to nothing. We were down to junk, just trying to survive. We couldn’t hardly fix anything. We
certainly couldn’t buy anything.”
Donnie and another one of his brothers left the elevator for a time, taking other jobs. “We just cut the expenses
right down to just nothing, and somehow we made it,” he says.
“We got through that, and I think the droughts and high interest were the two main things that stick in my
mind,” Danny says.
Amid the economic obstacles, two more 50,000-bushel bins were added for storage in 1980 and 1984.
the expansion era
Anxious to leave the trials and tribulations of the 80s behind, a new decade fired tremendous growth for Hassard
Elevator.
1990 became a huge turning point for the business. Danny ran across an article in a farm magazine where he
learned about Grain Service Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia.
HEARTBEAT | SUMMER 2018 9