Top Stories of 2017: PNW, Co-Ag announce merger

Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative (PNW) and Cooperative Agriculture (Co-Ag) announced a merger of the two agricultural companies at the beginning of 2017.

PNW, which operates its corporate office in Genesee and another office in Colfax, and Co-Ag voted on the merger in December, 2016.

“Both companies’ members voted, and there had to be a super majority on either side for it to pass,” said Bill Newbry, chief executive officer of PNW.

Co-Ag operates its corporate office in Rosalia and also has offices in Oakesdale and Fairfield.

The official merger took place June 1. Newbry said both companies’ fiscal years ended on May 31, so the merger started on the first day of the new fiscal year. Newbry said the two companies will work well together.

“The companies really complement each other in their synergies,” he said.

He added that the merger will accomplish “quite a few things.”

“It will lend toward better operational control for the farmers, better diversity for the Co-Ag,” he said. “The processing facilities at PNW are second to none, and PNW has a great field presence. We have the overall umbrella set in place, and the Co-Ag structure just fit nicely into that umbrella.”

Co-Ag was established in 1998 by a merger of three cooperatives: Oakesdale Grain Growers, Rosalia Producers and Fairfield Grain Growers.

The company formed in 2008 with the merger of Genesee Union Warehouse and Whitman County Growers.

Newbry said Co-Ag has “struggled over the last several years,” and when its manager was discharged, some fiscal issues emerged.

“Their division team members ran the company for about six months, and they just said, ‘this is crazy,’” Newbry explained. “PNW and Co-Ag do the same thing. They said, ‘let’s join forces and get stronger.’ It will strengthen both companies.”

The current Co-Ag offices, he said, will stay open, and some of the administrative functions of PNW will also move into the Rosalia office.

“The Co-Ag farmers have already been doing business with PNW, and they will now be able to be even better served by the additional staff PNW has and just the marketers overall,” he said. “We have a deeper staff, and PNW has been a very profitable company year-in and year-out.”

In a 2016 newsletter, Co-Ag announced the possibility of the merger and stated it was excited for what was to come.