AgCountry Farm Credit Services and United FCS will merge July 1. The new company will be called AgCountry Farm Credit Services, and the headquarters will be in Fargo.

The new organization will operate in 65 counties through 38 offices in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. It will serve nearly 18,000 customer-members and have approximately $7.2 billion in assets.

In a statement announcing the merger, Greg Nelson and Brad Sunderland, who serve as board chairmen for AgCountry Farm Credit Services and United FCS, respectively, said they believed that the culture, values and vision of both cooperatives made the merger a natural fit. “We would like to thank the stockholders from both organizations for their participation in the voting process and recognizing that this merger will help us better serve agriculture and rural America.”

AgCountry Farm Credit Services is an independently owned and locally governed lending association that provides credit and financial services to more than 12,000 farmers and ranchers in 18 counties in eastern North Dakota and 25 counties in northwest and west-central Minnesota. AgCountry also provides agribusiness loans and leases nationwide. It has nearly 400 employees and 26 offices.

United FCS is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture and the nation’s rural economy. Serving over 6,000 customer-members, United FCS has a primary focus in a 22-county service area in west-central Minnesota and north-central Wisconsin. It provides loans, leases and a wide array of financial services through 12 branch offices. It has 190 locally based employees.

“Since merger discussions began last year, our goal has been to build on the strengths of both organizations to best serve the needs of our members,” said Bob Bahl, AgCountry CEO. “In merging these two associations, we are positioned for even greater success and a strong, bright future.”

Source: AgCountry Farm Credit Services and United FCS