CHS Inc., St. Paul, Minn., announced on Sept. 23 that it has agreed in principal to join United Prairie LLC, a full-service agronomy retailer with multiple location in central Illinois, as a new partner and owner.
Formed in 1996, United Prairie is headquartered in Tolono, Ill., and is owned jointly by Premier Cooperative and Topflight Grain Inc. United Prairie offers seed, fertilizer, crop protection products, custom application, crop scouting, and GIS services from Illinois retail locations in Tolono, Ivesdale, Pierson, White Heath, Dewey, and Jamaica. The company is managed by a board of directors comprised mainly of local growers.
“CHS as a new partner will allow us to bring additional services and cutting edge technologies to our customers,” said Tim Hughes, United Prairie general manager. “As a locally owned company, we are always focused on bringing better services and offerings to our patrons. Adding CHS to our ownership group accomplishes that mission and more. This is a real win-win for the patrons and employees of United Prairie and CHS.”
Other terms of the potential partnership were not disclosed. Scott Docherty, United Prairie director and general manager of Topflight Grain, said the new ownership group would still be locally controlled while benefiting from CHS’s resources. Roger Miller, United Prairie board president and CEO of Premier Cooperative, said adding CHS to the ownership group “will give our patrons the improved purchasing power that a company with the size that CHS brings.”
CHS called the investment “an important part of our strategic growth plans on behalf of our farmer-owners.” Lynden Johnson, executive vice president, Country Operations division of CHS, said the company is “always looking for opportunities to strengthen local resources that ultimately help our owners and other customers grow their operations.”