Growmark purchases Southern States’ wholesale business

Growmark acquired Southern States Cooperative’s wholesale fuel and crop business.

The transaction is planned to close Sept. 1 and will allow both agricultural cooperatives to yield increased innovation, growth and returns, according to Growmark.

Growmark will assume the wholesale agronomy and energy (fuels and propane) assets of Southern States, as well as several retail locations that serve farmers in Delaware and Maryland. Southern States’ stores will now buy products from Growmark, as opposed to sourcing them itself.

Growmark will also provide crop inputs, fuels, propane and a variety of customer support and marketing services to Southern States and its member cooperatives. In turn, Southern States will continue to deliver custom solutions with access to Growmark’s product mix and distribution expertise, Growmark says.

“Growmark’s vision is to be the best agricultural cooperative system in North America, and this partnership enables our organizations to further that goal together,” says Jim Spradlin, CEO of Growmark. “We are committed to delivering an unsurpassed customer experience to the patrons we serve across North America. The cooperative model is uniquely positioned to deliver that, so this combination of efforts is great news for farmers invested in our cooperative organizations.”

Jeff Stroburg, president and CEO of Southern States, adds: “We at Southern States are proud to partner with Growmark to extend our combined services to our members. Growmark is recognized as one of the premier cooperatives in the nation, and Southern States is excited to partner with them in strengthening our capabilities to serve our customer-owners and our member cooperatives.”

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