Skyland Grain LLC, Johnson, Kan., and United Prairie Ag LLC (UPA), Ulysses, Kan., announced on Aug. 19 plans to merge, effective Sept. 1, 2019. The new company will operate as Skyland Grain LLC. David Cron, current CEO of Skyland Grain, will be the CEO of the combined company. Skyland will have their corporate office in Ulysses, with regional administrative offices in Johnson and Cunningham.
The new Skyland will have over 87 million bushels of storage capacity in 36 locations in three states – Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Sales for the combined company will be in excess of $400 million. Skyland will employ 250 employees with the addition of UPA.
The company told Green Markets that it will have ten full-service agronomy locations: nine in Kansas at Johnson, Syracuse, Big Bow, Lakin, Ulysses, Hugoton, Moscow, Ryus, and Cunningham, and one in Colorado in Walsh. It also has a few seasonal locations.
“The merger of UPA into Skyland Grain is just another way we are connecting our producers to the service they deserve,” said Wade Tucker, Skyland Board Chairman. “We are excited about the talented employees in each company working together to serve our producers and their needs.”
“I believe that this merger is happening at the right time,” said Clifford Alexander, Cropland Co-op Board Chairman. “Both of these companies are good, financially strong institutions, making this a great opportunity for all of our producers.”
UPA was formed in January 2006 and is a joint venture between Cropland Co-op Inc. and ADM Grain Co. It is a full-service agriculture partner, offering grain operations, agronomy products and services, refined fuels, and marketing expertise. UPA operates elevator facilities in nine communities, with a total of 30 million bushels of storage capacity. UPA is also the managing partner for Santa Fe Grain Terminal, a jv with Skyland Grain and ADM.
The legacy Skyland Grain has cooperative roots dating back to 1915 and began operations in 2004 with Johnson Cooperative Grain and ADM Grain Co. as founding parent companies. In 2010, Syracuse Cooperative Exchange also became a part of the jv, followed by The Cairo Cooperative Equity Exchange in 2015.
The three co-ops came together in 2017 to form Skyland Co-op Inc. Skyland brought to the merger grain receiving facilities at 27 locations across Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado, with total licensed grain storage capacity of over 56 plus million bushels. Additionally, it has a full-service agronomy department that provides bulk liquid, dry, and anhydrous ammonia fertilizers, chemicals, and seed, as well as custom application for fertilizer and chemicals. Earlier this year, Skyland purchased Mid-America Sprayers in Johnson, Kan., which is now called Skyland Aerial LLC.