Three agronomy leaders are joining forces, as Farmland Industries Inc. and Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives continue to move toward a merger.
Farmland Industries Inc., Cenex Harvest States Cooperatives and Land O'Lakes Inc. are teaming up to distribute fertilizer and pesticides, the companies announced Wednesday.
By forming a joint venture company, the partners intend to smooth the way toward a planned merger of Farmland and Cenex, which is expected later this year. Because Cenex already had a partnership with Land O'Lakes for agronomy production, Farmland needed to work out a deal for marketing and distributing materials from all three parties.
"This is the answer," said Sherlyn Manson, a Farmland spokeswoman in Kansas City, Mo.
The joint venture company will be co-owned equally by Land O'Lakes and the new company being formed by the merger of Farmland and Cenex. The venture -- including the current Cenex/Land O'Lakes Agronomy Co., Land O'Lakes' eastern agronomy operations and Farmland's wholesale agronomy business-- is expected to have sales of $3 billion a year.
The partners will continue to hold separate ownership in fertilizer manufacturing operations, and the companies said the arrangement was not expected to effect production levels.
The three cooperatives plan to wrap up the agreement before Farmland and Cenex seek merger approval from their members later this year.
Farmland Industries, based in Kansas City, Mo., is the largest farmer-owned cooperative in North America. It has 600,000 farmer-owners and had $8.8 billion in sales last year in all 50 states and 90 countries. This week it ceased production of fertilizer components at its nitrogen plant in Lawrence, a move that will put 102 people out of work.
Cenex is a producer-to-consumer cooperative system owned by farmers, ranchers and their local co-ops from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest and from the Canadian border to Texas.
Land O'Lakes is a national food and agricultural cooperative owned by farmers, ranchers and local cooperatives in 29 states.
-- Mark Fagan's phone message number is 832-7188. His e-mail address is mfagan@ljworld.com.
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