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Winfield US enters into agreement with Southern States Cooperative

The chief operating officer (COO) of a leading seed and crop protection business says an agreement with a regional cooperative will help them stay competitive in an era of consolidation.

Winfield United Suppliers (US) COO Mike Vande Logt tells Brownfield an agreement to exclusively provide a majority of crop inputs for Southern States Cooperative is being finalized.

“When we take a look at the way the marketplace is developing right now; the national chains like Helena and Agrium have been getting stronger and stronger.  So if you’re an independent co-op or an independent retailer, at the end of the day you’re going to need size and scale to be able to survive in the marketplace.”

Winfield US plans to take over full wholesale responsibility for Southern States Cooperative by September first.

Vande Logt says deals like this ensure co-ops and retailers remain independent.

“And that’s a really important point, because if you take a look at the information from the Purdue University Buyers Survey that they do every five years-farmers continue to say that they want to buy local.  Basically, all agronomy is local and they like to have that local accountability.”

The Southern States network consists of 1,200 retail locations across 23 states serving 200,000 farmers.

Vande Logt says Winfield US is looking forward to bringing its portfolio of products to a new customer base.