Landus, Iowa’s largest farmer-owned cooperative and the seventh largest grain company in North America by storage, announced on Nov. 21 that industry veteran Bruce Vernon has joined the executive leadership team to lead a wholly owned subsidiary, Landus Conduit LLC.
Landus said Landus Conduit will extend the company’s intellectual capital and capabilities into new markets and geographies, and will connect farmers and aligned agriculture and grain organizations with collaborators to “streamline supply chain and access incremental value.” Collaborations will benefit from new service options through the Landus GROW Solutions Center and financing partners to create new capabilities and channels for sustainability across all segments, the company said.
“At Landus, we continually explore ways to bring value to our farmer-owners,” said Matt Carstens, Landus President and CEO. “The opportunity to add someone like Bruce to our team and engage collaborating companies through Landus Conduit adds increasing value for progressive farmers looking for leadership and engagement from their strategic partners.”
Vernon joins Landus after almost eight years as CEO of The Equity, Effingham, Ill., the largest independent agricultural cooperative in Illinois, where he and his team led the organization to record sales and income. Prior to that he served as Vice President, Fertilizer, with Viterra’s AgriProducts Group in Regina, Sask., and as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mid-Kansas Cooperative (MKC) in Moundridge, Kan. Before joining MKC in March 2007, Vernon was Director of Crop Nutrient Marketing and Risk Management Services for Agriliance LLC in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.
“It’s a tremendous opportunity to apply my career experience and wide network to an innovative and agile company like Landus that is redefining the meaning of a cooperative,” Vernon said. “As we work through the possibilities for applying Landus’ core offerings through adjacent partners, we recognize numerous opportunities to create more value for our farmer-owners and partnership network. It’s an exciting time to be a part of this organization.”
Initially reporting to Vernon will be grain teams from Consus, which formed a grain partnership with Landus in September, and the Landus cross-country trading team. He will lead Landus Conduit from the company’s Kansas City, Mo., office and can be reached at Bruce.Vernon@Landus.Ag.