2017 is the 24th year for the essay contest sponsored by GROWMARK and participating FS member cooperatives. The contest is for active high-school FFA members in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri. “Essays will be due now at the end of October, instead of in the spring like we’ve done in the past,” said Karen Jones, GROWMARK Youth and Cooperative Education …
The Andersons Sell Facilities to MaxYield Co-Op
The Andersons, Inc. has completed an agreement to sell eight grain facilities located in Iowa to MaxYield Cooperative. “We have referenced performance issues in our western grain assets during several recent investor calls. We anticipate this sale will improve our prospects and provide a pathway to profitability for this area of our business,” said CEO Pat Bowe. “We believe MaxYield …
Merger Means Finalization of Landus Cooperatives
The final merger between Farmers Cooperative Company (FC) and West Central Cooperatives has been completed. Landus Cooperative is officially established. The new farmer-owned agricultural cooperative is headquartered in Ames, Iowa. They have more than 725 full-time employees in more than 70 locations with approximately 7,000 members. “While today’s signing ceremony to formalize Landus Cooperativeze is historic for our employees, our communities and …
New Cooperative Formed in Merger
The merger between Farmers Cooperative Company (FC) and West Central Cooperative has been officially approved by a vote of the members. The merger will become effective on April 1, 2016. “In this merger vote, our members were presented with a rare opportunity to combine two strong, financially-stable cooperatives in a merger of equals to maintain local ownership for generations to …
Ag Co-ops Set New Income Records
October is National Cooperative Month and USDA traditionally releases its annual report on cooperatives to coincide with the observance. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the nation’s farmer, rancher and fishery cooperatives posted record income and revenue in 2014, previewing a USDA report to be released later this month that shows cooperatives earned $6.5 billion in net income and …
Friend of @GROWMARK Honored
Dr. Robert A. Easter, University of Illinois President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus, was honored with the “Friend of GROWMARK” award at the GROWMARK annual meeting in Chicago today. Dr. Easter assumed the presidency of the University of Illinois July 2012. He spent his entire 40-year career as a senior administrator and faculty member on the Urbana-Champaign campus, where he earned …
GROWMARK Reports Estimated Year-End Financials
At the GROWMARK annual meeting in Chicago today, CEO Jim Spradlin reported the estimated year-end financial results for the cooperative to stakeholders in attendance. For fiscal year 2015, the unaudited, estimated sales for GROWMARK are reported to be $8.8 billion with pretax income is estimated at $140 million. An estimated $61 million in patronage refunds will be returned to GROWMARK …
“Ahead of the Curve” Theme for @GROWMARK Annual
As one of the nation’s largest, oldest, most profitable and most respected farmer cooperatives, GROWMARK has always been ahead of the curve, so it is an appropriate theme for this year’s annual meeting, coming up August 27-28 at the Hilton Chicago. “We do think that GROWMARK and the FS System are ahead of the curve,” says GROWMARK Corporate Relations Manager …
Priority Issues for GROWMARK
There is never any shortage of legislative and regulatory issues that could impact agricultural producers, which is why GROWMARK Executive Director for Corporate and Government Relations Chuck Spencer is a busy guy. I just happened to catch him in the office when I stopped by GROWMARK headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois this week and was able to chat with him about …
Farmers to Decide on CentraGro Cooperative
The Boards of Directors for North Central Farmers Elevator (NCFE) and Wheat Growers (WG) have reached an agreement to join the two cooperatives. Now it is in the hands of the members to ratify the decision and become member-owned, locally governed CentraGro Cooperative. “The vote on the Unification Agreement taken by our Board members reflects the overall support we’ve heard from …
