The United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) and Central Region Cooperative (CRC) Boards of Directors are pleased to announce they have agreed to explore opportunities for further collaboration and will conduct a merger study. A team of employees from the two cooperatives will meet this month to conduct an in-depth review of each company and explore opportunities and benefits of a potential merger. The boards of directors and management staff of both organizations will oversee the merger study.
The goal of the merger study is to identify potential opportunities for further collaboration, building on each organization’s strengths, existing operating and geographic synergies, and our mutual long-standing commitment to serving patrons and customers now and in the future.
UFC and CRC currently work together through an agronomy joint venture, Agronomy Solution Partners LLC (ASP), in Brownton, Minn. Each cooperative owns 50% of the agronomy complex, which provides customers of both cooperatives with dry and liquid fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, plant health products, crop protection products, and seed. This joint venture was formed in January 2024 and had a very successful first year of operations.
About CRC
Central Region Cooperative, Sleepy Eye, Minn., is a full-service, member-owned cooperative with five business units — agronomy, energy, grain, feed and BCA products (an ice melt and lawn fertilizer packaging business). CRC has 12 locations throughout south central Minnesota and 170 full-time employees.
About UFC
United Farmers Cooperative, Winthrop, Minn., offers its member owners and customers agronomy products and services, energy and fuel, grain, feed, precision agriculture, parts, shop services, and equipment sales. It has 12 locations across south central Minnesota and 150 full-time employees.