On June 16, the Boards of Directors at Farmward Cooperative and New Vision Co-op announced a letter of intent to form a unification study committee.

The study will seek to determine whether a unification would create benefits for the member-owners and workforce of each organization moving forward. It will seek to answer questions including:

  • How do we take care of employees today and in the future?
  • How do we prepare ourselves to serve the producer of the future?
  • Are we better together than separately?

“With so many external forces impacting agriculture, farmer-owned cooperatives have to continue to find ways to better serve the ever-changing needs of our producers and employees,” said Farmward board chair, Dave Kadlec who farms near Olivia, MN.

“As we launch a study to determine if a unification vote is the right move, we will be asking employees and member-owners for their questions and input as to what they want from their cooperative today and in the long term in order to best position our equity holders for the future,” Kadlec added.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to dig deeper into our two similar cooperatives and look at the operations, processes, and employee cultures to find if there are ways to work together to help us both become stronger together,” said New Vision board chair, Chad Wieneke who farms near Adrian, MN.

“We know this process is going to raise many questions so we’ve created a website where member-owners can submit questions in addition to reaching out to their board,” Wieneke said.

“Our number one goal is to learn more about each other’s team and operations and most importantly, listen to each other.”

Questions may be submitted via a link on each cooperative’s website. The joint website will also provide regular updates.

“Over the next few months, we will come together to decide what is in the best interest of our employees, members, our local communities, and the next generation of producers,” Wieneke added.

At a joint meeting last week, the boards agreed the two organizations had a number of values and capabilities that warranted a study process.

  • The values, mission, and visions of each cooperative align today.
  • New Vision has very strong feed assets and a large grain presence.
  • Farmward has very strong agronomy sales and services. Unlike New Vision, they own/manage an energy business. Farmward also provides producer financing, leasing, crop insurance, and property and casualty insurance through subsidiary companies, AgQuest Financial Services and Northland Capital.
  • Each cooperative could benefit by adding more rail line access for national and global grain markets.
  • Long-term equity strategies for the cooperatives are similar.

The study is slated to be complete before harvest 2023.