Two southern Indiana cooperatives – Premier Ag Co-op Inc. in Seymour and White River Cooperative in Loogootee – completed a merger on Sept. 1, with the combined company operating under the Premier Companies name.
“This merger of cooperatives who shared similar cultures and unique understanding of agriculture and energy markets will enable us to offer ever-growing expertise and offerings to our customers,” said Harold Cooper, Premier Companies CEO. “Today, going forward as Premier Companies, we are proud to remain locally owned by our neighbors here in southern Indiana, and we will return earnings locally to our member-owners.”
Premier said the combined cooperative will organize in two separate divisions. Premier Ag will offer integrated agronomic and agricultural services, including crop inputs, grain marketing services, and pork facilities management through SwineLink. Premier Ag also includes Truterra LLC, the sustainability business of Land O’Lakes Inc. that was formerly known as Sustain.
Premier Energy will offer premium fuels, heating oil, and propane from CountryMark Fuel, a farmer-owned refinery in Mount Vernon, Ind., that processes 30,000 barrels of local crude oil per day. Both Premier and White River have ownership stakes in CountryMark Fuel.
Cooper said White River was an attractive partner for Premier because of its similar culture, its shared access to the Ohio River, and the fact that Premier and White River were two of only three cooperatives in Indiana that are involved in livestock production.
“Co-ops have seen the need to gain size and scale to remain relevant and competitive in agriculture,” Cooper said. “In this geography, we can compete with anyone on a peer-to-peer basis, and really make sure that a farmer-owned choice and a farmer-owned influence is always in the market.”
Premier Ag Co-op was the first agricultural cooperative formed in Indiana, launching in 1927 and growing to more than 3,000 members from Indiana locations in Greensburg, Hope, Trafalgar, Seymour, Cortland, Brownstown, Crothersville, Boggstown, Salem, Corydon, and Harrison, Ohio. White River provided products and services in seed, fertilizer, crop protection, swine operations, propane and petroleum, and grain from feed mills and facilities in Loogootee and Worthington.