Historic Temple

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Above: Larry Alley.
Below: Glenn Cathey, Erroll
Wendland, and Richard Schneider
with patented One ‘N Only TM
horse feed.
From the 1960s onward, the plant was
modernized and expanded by new feed lines,
automatic bagging, increased ingredient storage,
larger pellet mills, a feed block press, and
computer-controlled manufacturing. By the
mid-1980s, capacity had reached 250 tons per
shift, with dealers throughout central and south
Texas and Louisiana.
W. Larnce (Larry) Alley joined the company
as vice president in 1973, moving to Temple
with his wife Thelma, and bringing over forty
years’ experience in the grain and feed industry.
He became the first non-family stockholder and
eventually general manager.
Over the years, company leaders showed
strong commitment to civic service through
membership in professional organizations. Bill
served on the board of the Southern Seedsmen’s
Association. Bob and Erroll Wendland and Larry
Alley all three served at various times as president
of the Texas Grain and Feed Association and were
active participants and officers in several regional
and national associations, an unusual level of
industry-wide commitment from a single
relatively small company.
After the death of Bob in 1981, Erroll became
president of the company. A new grain elevator
was added after a 1984 fire. Continuing
innovations in production techniques included
new machinery to meet the growing demand for
pet and fish food.
In 1990, thanks to groundbreaking research
by company nutritionists under the leadership
of Larry Alley, the company patented its new
high-fiber horse feed One ’N Only, a
complete self-fed diet that can be put out in a
trough, relieving the burden of twice-daily
feedings especially for recreational horse owners
and those in cold climates. The new feed was
tested at the company’s research farm north of
Temple under the supervision of farm manager
Glenn Cathey. It found buyers in places where
roughage for horses had previously been
shipped in long-distance, such as Hawaii,
Guam, and a naval base in Norfolk, Virginia, for
onward shipment to Guantánamo.
As the company’s management began to
reach retirement age, Erroll, Larry, and family
stockholders considered offers from
multinational agribusiness corporations, but
chose to pass the company on to another familyowned
business, with the aim of ensuring that
the long tradition of quality local service would
continue unbroken. Wendland’s Farm Products,
with its popular trademark Wendland’s Feeds,
was sold in 1995 to Dennis Jupe, becoming
a division of Jupe Feeds. The Jupe family
now manages the Temple plant as well as the
original Jupe feed mill in San Antonio, formerly
Louis Feed.
Dennis and Rose Jupe moved to Temple with
their son Darren and his wife Claudia, and both
Rose and Claudia worked in the business for
several years. Dennis and Darren have
continued their membership in the Chamber of
Commerce and remain committed to local
ownership and operation. Civic service has also
continued, with longtime accounting manager
Richard Schneider serving as president of the
Temple Civic Theatre.
The company still manufactures Wendland’s
Feeds and has added Jupe Feeds to its list of
available livestock, pet, and poultry foods, with
customers remaining loyal to both labels for
generations. Central Texas farmers, ranchers,
and pet and livestock owners still benefit from
the company’s traditional values of personal
integrity, fair dealing, freshly manufactured
feeds, and local involvement.
The Wendland commitment to serving the
community has remained strong for decades.
Bob and Erroll Wendland and Larry Alley all
served as president of the Temple Rotary Club;
Erroll also served as Rotary district governor
and led scholarship campaigns. Under Bill’s
86 ✦ HISTORIC TEMPLE