CEO: Ag Co-ops Merge to Remain Competitive
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of the newly-formed agricultural and energy cooperative Premier Companies in Seymour says co-ops across the country are seeing the need to gain size and scale to remain competitive with larger ag companies. Harold Cooper says the recent merger of the former Premier Ag Co-op Inc. and White River Cooperative Inc. in Loogootee is a natural fit. He says they align culturally, share a vision and have a regional common bond of the Ohio River.
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, Cooper said merging will help the company battle against bigger players.
“We see from a competitive standpoint, companies like Cargill and Nutrien have international presence, and have a means of scale. And we thought it was important to try to preserve that farmer owned feeling in a market,” said Cooper. “We’re not the size of a Cargill. We’re not the size of Nutrien. Yet in this geography we can compete with anyone on a peer-to-peer basis.”
This was the second major ag cooperative merger in the Hoosier State this year. In February, Avon-based Co-Alliance LLP and Harvest Land Cooperative in Richmond merged and now operate as Co-Alliance Cooperative. Executives told Inside INdiana Business, the two joined forces to have better leverage and share resources.
Premier started in 1927 in Seymour and grew to a membership of 3,000 farmers. Together they served most of southern Indiana.
He says another big driver in the merger is land stewardship and conservation practices in row crop production. Cooper says Premier is partnering with Minnesota-based cooperative Land-O-Lakes on its TruTerra digital platform. The technology helps guide farmers on when and how much fertilizers to apply to optimize yields, but in a sustainable manner.
“It really gives us a chance to assure a marketplace, to assure consumers, that what we do here to bring food and energy and even fiber to a nation. We do it in a sustainable, responsible manner,” said Cooper.
The newly formed company will operate in several divisions, including Premier Ag which will focus on agronomic and grain marketing services. Premier Energy will focus on propane deliveries and its CountryMark Fuel business.
“We are one of the owners of CountryMark, a farmer owned refinery that gets most of its crude right from here in the Illinois Basin,” said Cooper.