By Todd Neeley
DTN Staff Reporter
OMAHA (DTN) -- The members of two Iowa farmers cooperatives approved a merger Friday that will create a company -- Landus Cooperative -- that will be among the largest cooperatives in the country.
The members of Ames, Iowa-based Farmers Cooperative Company and West Central Cooperative based in Ralston, Iowa, approved the merger set to take effect April 1, 2016.
In the past full fiscal year, Farmers Cooperative Co.'s agronomy, grain and feed businesses grossed $675 million in sales and reported $292 million in total assets. FC has 414 full-time employees at 49 locations, according to the company.
West Central's agronomy, grain, feed and dairy nutrition product line grossed $633 million and had $300 million in assets during its last full fiscal year. The cooperative has 275 full-time employees in 24 communities.
According to 2014 USDA data, the merger creates a cooperative with about $1.5 billion in business volume. The resulting cooperative would rank in the top 20 nationally among the top 100 cooperatives, according to USDA, http://www.rd.usda.gov/….
Farmers Cooperative has more than 5,000 members across a trade territory of more than 3 million acres. West Central Cooperative's agronomy, animal nutrition and grain businesses include 24 locations in 12 Iowa counties.
According to World Grain magazine's Grain and Milling Annual, Landus Cooperative will become the seventh-largest grain company in North America based on storage capacity and shuttle-loading access on all seven major Iowa rail lines.
Landus Cooperative will be led by current West Central President and Chief Executive Officer Milan Kucerak and headquartered in Ames. The board of directors will consist of nine directors from each of the cooperatives.
Kucerack said the merger shows farmer members are willing to do what it takes to secure the future and improve cooperative services.
"Our members' voices were heard in this merger process," Kucerack said. "Not only in the results of the vote, but in each and every member meeting and coffee shop conversation. This merger showcases our members' request for their cooperative to do more together for their operations than either business could do separately. We take our members' confidence in a combined cooperative seriously as we prepare for integration and execution."
Each membership met state voting requirements for a merger, according to a news release. To approve a merger, Iowa law requires at least 50% of each membership (plus one) to vote, with two-thirds of those casting ballots voting in favor of the merger.
"In this merger vote, our members were presented with a rare opportunity to combine two strong, financially-stable cooperatives in a merger of equals to maintain local ownership for generations to come," West Central Board Chairman and Paton, Iowa, farmer Sue Tronchetti said in a statement.
Jim Chism, chief executive officer for Farmers Cooperative, said the merger will allow the new cooperative to "become an even stronger cooperative and be better positioned to help improve the economic well-being of our member-owners."
Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @ToddNeeleyDTN
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