At its annual meeting Feb. 3, the Farmington Farmers’ Union reported strong financial results for 2025, approved another substantial patronage distribution to shareholders and reelected members to its board of directors.

The meeting took place at Trinity United Methodist Church on Farmington Falls Road, where 23 shareholders and directors gathered for the organization’s regular February session. The Union, a cooperative retail outlet founded in 1912 that returns a share of profits to members based on their purchases, voted to approve a 16.75 percent trade allowance for the sixth consecutive year.

The trade allowance, a form of patronage dividend, means that for every dollar spent by a shareholder in 2025, 16.75 cents will be returned in a check. The payout percentage is recommended by the board of directors and approved by shareholders at the annual meeting.

Lance Bean, the Union’s certified public accountant, presented the financial results for the year. He said gross profit increased by more than $1.4 million and cost of goods sold reached approximately $2.46 million. Total expenses rose by about $116,000, and the Union recorded a pre-allowance profit of $453,000. Bean noted that shareholders accounted for 71.01 percent of total sales.

Incumbent directors Rupert Pratt, of Strong, and David Archer, of Chesterville, were reelected to three-year terms on the board. Shareholders also reelected Jeffrey Wright, of Farmington, as clerk. Craig Jordan, of Farmington, was reelected president of the board of directors, and Archer was chosen again as vice president.

The Farmington Farmers’ Union, originally organized as the Maine Central Produce Exchange in 1912 and renamed in 1917, operates as a member-owned cooperative. It sells farm and garden supplies, hardware, feed, seed and related products. Shareholders receive a portion of net profits annually based on their purchases, a practice that remains central to the cooperative’s structure more than a century after its founding.