LPG Spotlight: Crop Management Co.

From left, John Fisher IV stands with his sons Matt and John. (Photo courtesy of Crop Management Co.)

Before the Fisher family became propane suppliers, they were in the farming business.

The Fisher family has been farming in California since 1945, after Matt and John Fisher’s great-grandfather settled in Delano, California, to lay the foundations of what is now Crop Management Co. It was this farming origin that eventually led the family into propane.

“The farming is what spearheaded the propane back in the day,” says John Fisher, COO of Crop Management Co. and head of trucking/logistics.

In 1991, California experienced what Matt Fisher, CEO and head of farming operations, describes as a historic freeze, when the temperature dropped to an uncharacteristic 8 degrees F. During this freeze, the farm ran out of propane and suffered huge losses.

That freeze was followed by another freeze in 1998, when the farm again ran out of fuel.

After those freezes, Matt and John’s father, John Fisher IV, brought in a partner in 2004 to launch their own propane company, CMC Propane, with the goal of guaranteeing that their own farm would never run out of gas.

“The main driver of it was just to secure our supply,” Matt says. “We really wanted to take care of ourselves.”

And they succeeded. In 2013, the company dealt with another freeze, and it had enough fuel for not only its own operation but for some of its neighbors, as well.

The company’s journey of self-sufficiency led to taking on the mandate to “help your neighbor,” Matt says. “Guys were running out of gas left and right, and they were calling us and saying, ‘Help us out.’ And if we had the ability to and we had extra fuel, we were helping neighbors out.”

The business started out serving the agricultural, residential and commercial heating markets, but eventually shifted to focus on its agricultural customers.

“It’s been going on for 20 years since it started in ’04, and now it’s kind of narrowed down to just servicing ag [agriculture businesses],” John says.

According to the Fisher brothers, many propane marketers that supply propane to agricultural, residential and commercial customers sometimes end up prioritizing residential and commercial customers, not leaving fuel for their agriculture customers. Observing this tendency, the Fishers wanted to focus on helping those agriculturists.

“We wanted to protect our own,” Matt says.

What began as one bobtail and one storage tank has since grown into a company that sells 450,000 gallons a year, on average, according to the Fishers. Today, CMC Propane supplies propane to several orchards, and their trucking operation, which is the sole distributor for TRIARC Tank, delivers propane across the U.S.

The company is faith-based, family oriented, and dedicated to providing and caring for its people.

“Relationships are paramount to us,” Matt explains. “Our primary goal and objective is to care and provide for our people and create an environment where people can become better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers and spouses. And that’s our primary reason why we’re in business.”

Company Profile: Crop Management Co.

Propane business founded // 2004
Headquarters // Delano, California
Annual gallon sales // Average 400,000 to 450,000 gallons
Bobtails // 3
Online // cmcfarming.com