White Cloud Grain Co., a 45-year-old enterprise in northeastern Kansas, has decided to exit the grain business and focus exclusively on crop inputs and agronomy. The company, headquartered in Hiawatha, Kan., completed the transition in early August with the sale of its three grain elevators to Fairview Mills of Seneca, Kan.
White Cloud also announced that it has changed its name to Advanced Agronomics to better reflect its new mission. The company has full service fertilizer facilities in White Cloud, Robinson, Huron, and Troy, Kan., and eight anhydrous ammonia terminals throughout its trade area. Also under the company umbrella is Advanced Agronomics Kiro, located in Silver Lake, Kan.
“Production agriculture continues to move forward, and so will our business as we are going to focus all resources on crop inputs and agronomics,” the company said. “We are very excited about the direction of production agriculture and Advanced Agronomics.”
Under the Advanced Agronomy banner, the company’s services include storage capacity for both dry and liquid fertilizer products; four Certified Crop Advisors; custom applicators and GPS application equipment; grid sampling and variable rate applications; crop scouting; and a full line of seed varieties and crop protection products, including inoculants, fungicides, and insecticide seed treatments.
The transition involves no personnel changes at the business, a company source told Green Markets, and future plans are to expand its agronomy services in the area. In a recent letter to customers, the company touted Fairview Mills as a “very good family owned business that will be a good fit for our long-time grain customers.”
Advanced Agronomics said storage obligations and all contracts with White Cloud Grain will now be assumed by Fairview Mills. “Our management feels that Fairview Mills can offer our customers more opportunities for grain marketing than we can,” the letter said.