All Posts from June 17, 2022

Valley Wide, Bleyhl Farm Service to Pursue Merger

News, News Briefs, Pacific N.W.

Two regional cooperatives in the Pacific Northwest – Valley Wide Cooperative in Nampa, Idaho, and Bleyhl Farm Service in Grandview, Wash. – announced on June 10 that their boards of directors have voted unanimously to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) to pursue a merger.

Both cooperatives said a “robust due diligence” process will continue, with each business calling a meeting of members to vote on the proposed merger later this summer. No other details were provided about the merger proposal.

Valley Wide offers agronomy, feed, fuel and propane, and farm supply products and services from more than 80 locations in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington. The company’s operations include 24 agronomy locations, 18 retail stores, 15 propane plants, and a feed center. Total sales in 2020 were $500 million.

“Our mergers are not about becoming part of a big organization that throws its weight around. It’s about local cooperatives in communities across the PNW working together under one brand, leveraging that brand and unified volume to take the advantage back to all the communities and customers we serve,” said Dave Holtom, CEO of Valley Wide.

“Let’s face it, agriculture and energy are global enterprises. It will take all of us working together to not only compete, but to flourish. We intend to do both, and we look forward to the Bleyhl Co-op being a part of it,” he added.

Bleyhl Farm Service is a diversified, farmer-owned co-op providing growers with agronomy, orchard and vineyard, energy, and retail services and supplies from Washington locations at Grandview, Sunnyside, and Zillah. The company has more than 800 member-owners and over 4,000 customers in south-central Washington, with $75 million in annual revenue.

“By merging with Valley Wide Cooperative, we are positioning our cooperative and its farmer-owners to take advantage of the leverage, scale, and resources of a combined $750 million farm supply organization,” said Joel Marcott, CEO of Bleyhl Farm Service. “This alignment will empower our cooperative with the supply chain, capital, and the network to remain competitive against other agribusinesses while protecting the values associated with the cooperative model. Joining forces creates additional buying power, the diversification of seasonal risk across greater geography, and access to resources to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive industry.”

Valley Wide has been in an expansion mode. Last September the company completed a merger with Ag Link Inc. in Reardan, Wash. (GM July 16, 2021), and earlier last year it acquired Saddle Mountain Supply Co., an ag retail business in central Washington with four agronomy centers (GM Jan. 22, 2021).

Conserv FS Plans Major Expansion in Illinois

Eastern Cornbelt, News, News Briefs

Conserv FS on June 16 announced plans for a major expansion that will double storage capacity at the company’s Caledonia Service Center in Caledonia, Ill. The planned updates include a new 6,000-ton dry fertilizer building, a crop protection products warehouse, and a one-million-gallon bulk liquid fertilizer storage tank.

“At Conserv FS we are committed to serving the farmers of today while planning for the future and the needs of the next generation of farmers,” said General Manager Dave Swigart. “We’ve been serving agriculture for nearly 100 years, and this new project at our Caledonia facility demonstrates our commitment to the future of agriculture in our territory.”

The groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for June 23 at 2:30 p.m., and the expanded facility is expected to be complete in 2023. Conserv said both the dry fertilizer building and the liquid facility will contain automated systems integrated with ordering, operations, and accounting software, which the company said will provide a “greatly streamlined processes and improved flow of information” to customers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

The general contractor for the project in Greystone Construction, which also worked on a $12 million expansion of Conserv’s Waterman, Ill., facility in 2021 (GM Oct. 1, 2021). That project included a new 7,500-ton dry fertilizer building, 72,000 gallons of bulk crop protection product storage, and 1.3 million gallons of liquid fertilizer storage.

“We are honored to be partnering with Conserv FS again,” said Colin O’Brien, Greystone VP of Business Development. “It was a privilege to work with the Conserv FS team on the Waterman Service Center, and we look forward to a successful project in Caledonia.”

Incorporated in 1928 and headquartered in Woodstock, Ill., Conserv FS is an agricultural cooperative offering agronomy, agri-finance, precision agriculture, nutrient management, energy, feed, grain, and turf products and services. The company is part of the Growmark system, and operates 13 service center locations throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

CHS to Expand Grain Facility in Minnesota

News, News Briefs, Northern Plains

CHS Inc. announced on June 14 that it will begin construction this summer on a new state-of-the-art grain facility in Erskine, Minn., with 1.25 million bushels of additional storage capacity. CHS said the facility is slated to be operational in the fall of 2023 and will help the company expand operational capabilities and increase efficiency across its footprint.

“Our people, assets, capabilities, and operational footprint are the strengths of our retail platform, and this important project advances our strategy to expand our customer-focused retail solutions platform, creating value and driving growth for farmers, as customers and owners,” said Rick Dusek, Executive Vice President of CHS Ag Retail Operations. “This facility is a key location in the flow of grain from the Upper Midwest to export terminals in the Pacific Northwest.”

The new shuttle elevator will bring total capacity at the Erskine location to 4.55 million bushels of storage. CHS said the expansion will also complement existing CHS grain, agronomy, and energy assets and offerings for area producers. Vigen Construction of East Grand Forks, Minn., is overseeing the project.

“Along with expanding our grain handling capabilities and value to area farmers, the new facility will create advantages for our employees, farmers, and community,” said James Hardy, Manager of CHS Northern Grain, a CHS business unit with 11 grain facilities in northwestern Minnesota. “Improved traffic flows, better operating conditions, advanced equipment, and the latest safety advances are just some of the innovations to help us provide a better customer experience. We want to get producers in, out, and back to the field as quickly and safely as possible.”

Marcus Construction – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Northern Plains

Marcus Construction, Willmar, Minn., on June 10 announced an exclusive relationship with Steve Swift as a Project Adviser focused on the design of liquid fertilizer storage and chemical and seed warehouses. Marcus said after spending the past 30 years with Kahler Automation, he brings substantial knowledge to the Marcus Construction team and will provide an incredible benefit to their customers in helping them discover the most efficient solution for their business and operational needs.

“At Marcus we are constantly looking for ways to grow and enhance our building solutions,” said David Klima, Vice President of Marcus’ Agricultural Division. “With the addition of Steve as a resource, we just elevated the knowledge specific to liquid fertilizer, chemical and seed storage, and process plumbing immensely for our customers. A customer can truly make one phone call to Marcus, and we have the expertise to turn-key both their dry fertilizer storage as well as their liquid fertilizer and chemical storage needs.”

Marcus Construction is a complete general contractor that design-builds dry fertilizer storage, warehouses (chemical, seed, liquid fertilizer, bulk, and packaged products), office and training centers, and complex renovation projects.

LSB Industries Inc. – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Southern Plains

LSB Industries Inc., Oklahoma City, announced on June 15 that Brian Jensen has joined the company as Director of Corporate Development, effective June 14, 2022. In this newly created position, he will be dedicated to evaluating project investments, cultivating business development partnerships, and identifying and pursuing potential merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities, among other responsibilities.

“We are very pleased that Brian has joined our senior leadership team as our Director of Corporate Development,” said Mark Behrman, LSB’s President and CEO. “We believe his knowledge and experience will enable us to leverage our operational performance and financial position, which are the strongest in Company history, in order to propel LSB into our next phase of growth in profitability, cashflow, and shareholder value. I’d like to welcome Brian to LSB and look forward to working with him.”

LSB said Jensen has more than 15 years of experience in corporate development and investment banking with global organizations. Most recently, from 2017-2022, he was Director of Corporate Development for China Road and Bridge Corp., a global transportation, engineering, and construction company, where he performed a critical role in driving M&A, investment projects, joint ventures, and other corporate transactions.

From 2006-2016 he was with BMO Capital Markets, where he was a Vice President in the firm’s investment banking practice. In this capacity, he was responsible for identifying, evaluating, negotiating, and executing mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, and transaction financing, with a focus on the industrials and infrastructure sectors.

Jensen holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. He also served in the U.S. Army.

ResponsibleAg – Management Brief

Management Briefs

Tim McArdle, immediate Past Chair of ResponsibleAg and retired COO with Brandt, Springfield, Ill., will serve as ResponsibleAg Industry Ambassador, according to Gary Vogen, Board Chair and Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at Yara International ASA, Oslo.

“Tim will work with agribusinesses and organizations throughout the industry to ensure all stakeholders understand ResponsibleAg’s purpose, as well as the individual and collective benefits its initiatives provide to help improve compliance and safety throughout our industry,” said Vogen.

“Tim is a well-respected industry veteran and committed volunteer supporting ResponsibleAg since its beginning. He has a wealth of knowledge about the needs and operations of the ag retail industry and is a valuable resource for the organization,” Vogen continued. “We’re excited he will continue to support ag retail by helping even more businesses achieve ResponsibleAg. McArdle, who will be working part time from Illinois, will be at industry events in coming months.”

ResponsibleAg is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2014 to promote the public welfare by helping agribusinesses comply with federal environmental, health, safety, and security rules related to the safe handling and storage of fertilizer and crop protection products. The organization provides participating businesses with a federal regulatory compliance assessment regarding the safe storage and handling of fertilizers and other crop inputs, makes recommendations for corrective action where needed, and offers a robust suite of supporting resources. For more information, go to www.responsibleag.org.

AdvanSix – Management Brief

Management Briefs, Northeast

AdvanSix, Parsippany, N.J., said on June 15 that Willem Blindenbach, Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain, provided notice of his resignation from this role effective July 1, 2022. The company said in connection with his departure he will receive severance benefits consistent with the terms of the company’s Executive Severance Pay Plan, contingent on his execution of an employment separation agreement and his execution and non-revocation of a release of claims, if any, against the company.

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