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).