News
Farm Bureau Negotiates Purchase
by Ag Link, Inc.
Columbia County Farm Bureau
The Board of Directors of Columbia County Farm Bureau, Inc. (CCFB) has reached tentative agreement for the Farm Bureau cooperative to be sold to Ag Link, Inc. of Reardan, WA. According to CCFB Manager Joe Bush, the agreement will be presented at the Cooperative’s annual membership meeting February 27th for consideration and approval by the members. Ag Link is a farm cooperative with four locations in other eastern Washington towns and services similar to CCFB.
The proposed agreement calls for Ag Link to purchase all of CCFB’s inventory, property and equipment. Under the agreement, Ag Link will also agree to spend approximately $350,000 on new agronomy equipment for the Dayton operation over the next few months. In addition to the monetary terms, the agreement requires that two seats on the Ag Link Board of Directors be reserved for former CCFB members.
“The Farm Bureau board had two important objectives in negotiating the terms of the sale,” says Bush. “Protection of members’ equity and preservation of a viable, locally-controlled farm cooperative in Dayton. With these terms, we feel both objectives have been met.”
The CCFB’s Board Chair, Earle Marvin, says that under the agreement with Ag Link, the operations of the local cooperative will remain virtually unchanged. “No employees will lose their jobs,” he says, “and we will continue to offer the same services our customers have been accustomed to.”
Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay CCFB members for approximately 57% of their back equity, which amounts to about $465,000. Ag Link will assume the remaining 43% of members’ equity, approximately $350,000, which will be paid out to CCFB members on the same schedule as Ag Link patrons are paid.
Bush says that the sale of CCFB was made necessary by a combination of a lack of local profitability in the cooperative’s operations and a severe tightening of credit requirements by banks. CCFB’s total sales grew from less than $3 million in 2002 to more than $9.3 million in 2008. Bush attributes much of that growth to higher fuel and fertilizer prices. The cooperative’s local net loss reached $280,000 in 200
For more information on the Ag Link purchase of Columbia County Farm Bureau, contact Joe Bush at (509) 382-4743.