Agtegra is the name of the new cooperative formed by the merger of North Central Farmers Elevator and Wheat Growers.

“We knew we needed to choose a name that allowed us the ability to adapt to changes in the ag industry,” says Wheat Growers CEO Chris Pearson, who has been chosen to lead the new cooperative. “We knew not to limit ourselves to a geography, or to just one commodity crop or another. We also heard from our members through this process that to them, strength, stability and dependability are key characteristics they value from us. They want us grounded in agriculture, and they want us to stand together with them for the long haul — always holding a connection to our past and looking into the future.”

Pearson says Agtegra Cooperative reflects all that. “That’s a lot to pack into one name. But we believe Agtegra is a name that grounds us in agriculture, and points to the high level of integrity and dependability that we will seek to achieve serving our member-owners today and into the future.”

“In the end, we listened to our members and allowed their input and opinion to guide us through this process,” Pearson says.

Wheat Growers and North Central employees have been focused on building a new cooperative committed to delivering value to its members.

AIMING HIGH: The cooperative’s new logo and name was designed to reflect the high level of integrity and dependability the cooperative seeks to achieve.

 “We’re combining two legacy-rich organizations into one. We are preparing to create new efficiencies, expanding the use of new technologies, creating new opportunities for our employee team – all aimed at creating more value for our members,” Pearson says. “We’re excited about the progress we’ve made and looking forward to introducing this new farmer-owned cooperative to our members in a few weeks.”

The new Agtegra Cooperative that will begin operation Feb. 1 will be a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative, headquartered in Aberdeen, S.D. It will have 900 employees in North and South Dakota serving more than 60 communities and about 7,850 member-owners and 22,600 equity holders. In addition to offering grain and agronomy services, the cooperative will offer its members aerial application services, fuel, animal feed, and precision ag hardware and software products and services.

“Merging two strong cooperatives into one gives us the ability to expand the services and capabilities we offer our member-owners,” Pearson says. “Our purchase of the Kimball fertilizer plant from Gavilon and our plans to expand the North Central aerial application service across our entire trade area, are two great examples of the high-quality products, services and efficiencies that we can provide our members from this new cooperative.”

Source: Agtegra