Crawfordsville, IN-based agricultural cooperative Ceres Solutions has announced the finalization of a planned financial investment in United Prairie LLC, an agricultural supply business operating in Illinois. In the arrangement, which has been in negotiation since February, Ceres Solutions now holds 20% ownership in the United Prairie partnership. The investment was made effective September 1, 2022, and both organizations are looking forward to the immediate advantages. Both Ceres Solutions and United Prairie will continue to operate independently in their customer-facing segments.
“This action benefits both Ceres Solutions and United Prairie,” said Jeff Troike, CEO of Ceres Solutions. “We value United Prairie as a strategic partner.” Curt Miller, CEO of United Prairie LLC, agreed, noting, “We look forward to utilizing the strengths gained from the Ceres investment to continue serving local farmers with products, services, technologies, and innovation.”
As Ceres Solutions becomes 20% owner of the operation, existing stakeholders in United Prairie reduced ownership percentages accordingly. United Prairie is an agronomy LLC with 13 locations in Illinois. Ceres Solutions joins existing UP partners Danvers Farmers Elevator (Danvers, IL), Topflight Grain, Inc., (Monticello, IL), Premier Cooperative (Champaign, IL), and CHS Inc., (St. Paul, MN).
