Following months of study and preparations after initial discussions began one year ago, the Boards of Directors of both Central Valley Ag Cooperatives (CVA) and United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) have unanimously approved and entered into a Letter of Intent to finalize an Agreement and Plan of Merger, which, if approved by the members and stockholders of the respective cooperatives would result in the merger of the two cooperatives into one entity.
Board Chairman for Central Valley Ag, Dave Beckman, recognizes the value this proposal would bring to member-owners. “The merger of CVA and UFC is a tremendous opportunity to position two financially strong cooperatives to meet the needs of our patrons for many years to come,” said Dave. “Agriculture continues to change and evolve at a rapid pace, which in turn requires our cooperatives to have the vision to change and expand our abilities to compete in a global market place for the benefit of our membership”
Doug Moon, Board Chairman for United Farmer’s Coop agrees that this merger is the right move for both cooperatives. Doug said, “I think this merger is very good for the patrons of CVA and UFC because we have two strong, successful cooperatives combining resources to be even more prepared to meet tomorrow’s challenges in agriculture. It will allow us to better serve our customer’s needs today and remain relevant as we explore new opportunities to create additional value.”
United Farmer’s Coop serves patrons in 22 counties in Nebraska and Kansas from 32 locations by a team of more than 235 fulltime employees. UFC strives continuously to fulfill their mission, “to provide innovative products, services and information that grows stakeholder value.”
Adding value to member-owners is extremely important to Carl Dickinson, CEO of United Farmer’s Coop. “As a Cooperative, we continually focus on creating and adding value for our owners. In my career, I have never seen a potential opportunity such as this merger for increased savings, expanded services and facilities and equity redemption for the farmer owners of both CVA and UFC. This merger will position the new CVA to create value for our owners long into the future.”
Central Valley Ag’s mission also focuses on the importance of its customers: “Dedicated professionals providing innovative solutions that yield profit for our customers.” CVA has a team of 494 employees to provide grain, agronomy and feed services to customers at 34 locations throughout 27 counties in Nebraska.
Central Valley Ag’s CEO, Doug Derscheid also realizes the benefits this merger would bring to customers. “It’s all about meeting and exceeding our customer/owner expectations. Successful companies continually reinvent themselves to keep current with an ever-changing market place and the changing needs of their customers. Cooperatives should be no different,” states Doug. “This combination will drive our quest to be of the size and scale to compete in the global market place for the benefit of our member-owners.”
