Wilbur-Ellis Acquires First Iowa Ag Retailer

Following a strategic review of its Agrium Advanced Technologies business unit, Agrium has decided to restructure three business units into two, Wholesale and Retail, in the first quarter of 2014.

CHS Inc. plans to build a 26,000-ton fertilizer hub in Lakota, ND, which should be ready to serve area farmers for the spring 2015 season.

Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings, via its subsidiary Jimmy Sanders Inc., has acquired certain assets from a cooperative located in Stuttgart, AR.

Greenway Cooperative, an ag retailer based in Rochester, MN, and CHS Inc. have signed a letter to initiate a preliminary study of a formal business merger.

CHS Inc. is committed to continued growth that will drive economic value to its farmer owners and the rural communities in which they live.

The Andersons has initiated a patent infringement suit related to its dispersible granular fertilizer technology against Enviro Granulation, Plant Science and The Harrell’s.

Among the crop input/service categories, the crop protection sector has suffered the most losses over the past decade. Yet, 2013 was a great year for the segment, thanks in part to the wetter-than-normal season.

More custom application work has meant plenty of equipment purchases by ag retailers, with the gap between the two most popular manufacturers shrinking to an all-time low.

Following last year’s severe drought, many analysts predicted 2013 could be a rougher year for the fertilizer category. And it was.

Following several years of slow to flat growth, the seed category finally regained some lost form in 2013.

Looking ahead to what the next 30 years might hold for the ag retail industry.

Allied Cooperative — ranked No. 42 on the CropLife 100 — is growing its grain business by acquiring three new grain facilities, one in Wisconsin Rapids and two in Blair, WI.

Two new liquid starter fertilizers — XLR-rate and Aventine Complete — are available through CHS Service Centers, cooperatives and crop input retailers.

Rich Sowieralski has joined BRANDT as Territory Sales Manager, Pacific Northwest, for the Specialty Formulations group.

Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings has followed up its recent purchase of Mathis Farm Supply by acquiring Lubbock, TX-based Acuff Farm Supply.

Pinnacle Agriculture Holdings, through its subsidiary Jimmy Sanders Inc., has acquired Mathis Farm Supply.

Next month’s CropLife 100 report is sure to shed some light on the future of the ag retail industry.

MFA, one of the oldest regional farm supply cooperatives in the U.S., is celebrating 100 years in business this month.