The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) has presented it prestigious Director of the Year Award to GROWMARK Chairman of the Board and President John Reifsteck. “John’s dedication and service to the GROWMARK Board over the past 24 years has been paramount to the success of our cooperative system,” said GROWMARK CEO Jim Spradlin. “He is an outstanding leader who …
Sugar Cane Growers Mourn Passing of Founder
The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida is mourning the loss of its founder George H. Wedgworth, 88. “George left his mark on every facet of our business, Florida agriculture as a whole and the entire Glades community,” said Cooperative President and CEO Tony Contreras. “He was a great friend, mentor, a true leader and a man of the highest …
Happy National Co-op Month!
National Co-op Month has been celebrated annually in October across the United States for more than half a century and this year’s theme is “Cooperatives Build.” “The cooperative business model continues to perform strongly,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “While the model has long been one of the hallmarks of rural economies, its reach has greatly expanded to include almost …
Agworld Offers Farm Management Program
All the precision tech in the world isn’t going to do much good unless a grower can get them to work together. That’s were Agworld comes in. The global provider of farm management software and applications has introduced Collaborative Farming Solution (CFS), a cloud-based platform that allows growers and retailers to work together. Most farm systems were developed for specific …
#DeleteToFeed Hungry People with Land O’Lakes
Here’s a creative idea to help feed hungry people. Land O’Lakes has created the Delete to Feed campaign. Their announcement says that there are 1 in 6 U.S. kids facing hunger and more than 42.2 million food insecure people across the country. That’s a large challenge right there. So how does Delete to Feed work? To start with, during this …
New Deadline for GROWMARK Essay Contest
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 …