Farmers Ranchers Cooperative and Central Valley Ag (CVA) will officially unite into one cooperative June 1, 2020.
After a series of informational meetings, accounting firm Gardiner + Company certified the owners of Farmers Ranchers approved the merger with CVA by a majority of 88%. The unified cooperative will retain the Central Valley Ag name and be headquartered in York, Neb. with Carl Dickinson serving as President/CEO.
Initial merger discussions between the cooperatives began in January 2020, with the respective boards individually approving the merger in February after a successful merger study was reviewed. Farmer Ranchers voting took place by mail in ballot and the final tally of votes was completed April 1.
“We are pleased that Farmers Ranchers members have voted to unify. Both Boards felt strongly that unification would make us stronger and bring additional value to the members of both cooperatives. The results of the Farmers Ranchers vote support this,” said Dave Beckman, CVA Board Chairman in a news release. “Central Valley Ag has built a foundation, ensuring a promising future of service and value to its members in agriculture.”
Farmers Ranchers Co-op is a supply cooperative which serves farmers, ranchers, and residents of an 11 county region in North-Central Nebraska and South-Central South Dakota. The Cooperative has three divisions which serve customers; Agronomy, Feed, and Energy.
“We are confident that together, we will become an even stronger cooperative for our member-owners with the ability to maintain local farmer-ownership for generations to come,” said DJ Hladky, Farmers Ranchers Board Chairman. “Thank you to all the Famer Rancher members that voted. We are excited for what the future holds for our cooperative.”
