Madison, S.D.-Helena Chemical Co. has acquired the fertilizer and chemical division of Domestic Seed and Supply, which company officials say fits nicely with plans for growing the company’s north business unit. “It just adds to our retail presence in the north where we’re a pretty large wholesale chemical distributor and helps us to continue to grow that business,” Randy Parman, business unit vice president, told Green Markets. Parman said there are no plans right now for “brick and mortar expansion” in Madison, but he wouldn’t rule it out for the future. “The main thing we’re looking at is expanding services to the customer base. There are no plans for expansion this point, but we would look at it eventually.” Helena’s north business unit already operates 60 retail sites and another 20 wholesale locations in the Colorado-Ohio business area, which includes the eastern third of the Dakotas. Helena is not actually adding a division in the regular sense, but a single Domestic Seed location that currently employs 10 full-time and about 17 part-time workers. Branch manager for the fertilizer division Jody Bergheim has agreed to stay on, as have all the other employees. Ben Fox, a salesman who said he looks forward to working with Helena, described the Madison operation as a typical fertilizer and chemicals facility handling mostly bulk and application of dry and liquid products. These products include urea, DAP, and potash in an area that spreads over a 40-mile radius, taking in Sioux Falls, Mitchell, and Brookings. “Helena will bring efficiency to the agronomy department that will be beneficial to customers,” offered Terry Schultz, president of Domestic Seed and Supply. “This will allow us to excel in seed research and spend more time expanding our Mustang Seed business.” A special meeting was scheduled for last week at the Madison VFW to introduce Domestic Seed customers to Helena and provide information about Helena’s approach to agriculture inputs.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain