Landmark Services Cooperative and Countryside Cooperative, two regional co-ops based in Wisconsin, announced on March 1 that they have officially merged. Countryside members voted to support the merger last August after the boards of directors of both organizations agreed in March 2020 to pursue unification (GM March 6, 2020). The boards and CEOs had earlier signed an official Letter of Intent on Oct. 24, 2019, to explore a merger.
“Landmark and Countryside are committed to proactively facing the challenges in the marketplace and helping our members and employees thrive,” said Jim Dell, Landmark CEO and President, who will hold the same positions with the new cooperative. “The board and employees of the new cooperative will live the mission of ‘advancing our customers through innovative and responsible solutions’ while focusing on our vision ‘customer success powered by engaged employees,’ and all while adhering to our values of safety, integrity, passion, accountability, and financial responsibility.”
The new cooperative is headquartered in Cottage Grove, Wisc., and will continue to maintain operations and staff at more than 50 locations, serving over 26,000 members across southern and west-central Wisconsin, northern Illinois, eastern Iowa, and eastern Minnesota. The combined business will employ more than 800 full-, part-time, and seasonal workers, and will generate annual sales in excess of $600 million.
The boards highlighted numerous advantages for the merged business, including increased size and scale for greater purchase volumes and negotiation opportunities; efficiencies gained through lower operational and production costs and the sharing of agronomy assets; improved logistics to reduce delivery issues; backup feed mill options and increased grain marketing opportunities; expanded input financing options for members; enhanced product and service offerings; and the ability to attract and retain employees by offering competitive salaries and benefits.
“As we focused on the benefits the merger would bring, we quickly realized that growing together would only make us stronger,” said Landmark Board Chairman Jim Lange. “The board is excited for what the weeks, months, and years to come will look like for the new co-op.”
The new cooperative is working with an external marketing agency to develop new branding and a new trademark name and logo, which will be announced later this year. For now, the business will be co-branding digital platforms and documents such as statements.
“The boards of directors feel positive about this decision to merge two strong organizations,” said Countryside Board Chairman John Creaser. “This decision allows the new cooperative to compete within the ag industry while being profitable and protecting our members’ equities.
Landmark operates grain, agronomy, animal nutrition, energy, and retail divisions from more than 20 locations in south-central Wisconsin and northern Illinois. The company also provides agricultural financing and ag insurance products and services through its Verity Business Solutions LLC. Countryside, which was formed in 1998 through the merger of Durand Cooperative and Mondovi Co-op Equity Association, operates agronomy, feed, grain, energy, retail, and convenience store divisions from some 30 locations in west-central Wisconsin.
A comparison chart provided by the two co-ops earlier in the merger process said the combined organization would have budgeted 2020 volumes of 167,800 tons of dry fertilizer, 69,547 tons of liquid fertilizer, 3,793 tons of ammonia, 172,080 tons of feed, 29.2 million bushels of corn, 7.7 million bushels of soybeans, and 965,000 bushels of oats, wheat, and barley. In the energy division, combined 2020 budgeted volumes were identified at 5.6 million gallons of gasoline, 28.4 million gallons of fuel oil, and 27.7 million gallons of liquid propane.