Sustaining Sponsor Spotlight: GROWMARK/FS
The Ohio AgriBusiness Association is pleased to feature our Sustaining Sponsors in the 2023 Spotlight Series. This week, the focus is on Platinum Sponsor: GROWMARK/FS.
Location (Main Headquarters): Bloomington, Illinois
Year started: 1927
Number of employees: 7,000
Type of services offered: GROWMARK is an agricultural cooperative serving almost 400,000 customers across North America, providing agronomy, energy, facility engineering and construction, and logistics products and services, as well as grain marketing and risk management services. Headquartered in Bloomington, Illinois, GROWMARK owns the FS trademark, which is used by member cooperatives. GROWMARK also owns and operates SEEDWAY, LLC, the largest full-line seed company in the United States. More information is available at growmark.com.
Company history: In the late 1920s, Illinois Farm Bureau members formed county cooperatives to: Assure dependable supply of inputs, reduce cost of purchases, provide competitive grain marketing, and assure local ownership and control. In 1927, nine counties came together to form Illinois Farm Supply. Other counties soon followed. The FS trademark was adopted in 1955. In 1962, Illinois Farm Supply and Farm Bureau Service Company of Iowa merge to form FS Services, Inc., In 1965, Wisconsin Farmco Service Cooperative merges with FS Services, Inc. Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin represent the three legacy states of the GROWMARK System.
How has your company changed over the years? GROWMARK has changed significantly since its founders created the original cooperatives that make up the GROWMARK System today. GROWMARK was formed in 1980 from a merger of Illinois Grain Corporation and FS Services, Inc. The name comes from GROWing and MARKeting, two ways the new cooperative serves its members. GROWMARK acquired the assets of United Co-operatives of Ontario, in 1994 expanding its footprint into Canada. And in 2002 GROWMARK acquired assets of Agway Agronomy and SEEDWAY, LLC in the northeastern U.S.
GROWMARK partnered with COFCO International, the world's largest importer of grain, in 2017 to give GROWMARK members access to international markets. Also in 2017, Legacy Farmers Cooperative became the first FS member cooperative in Ohio. In 2020, GROWMARK and Southern States Cooperative combined efforts to yield increased innovation, growth, and returns for their farmer-owners. GROWMARK does business across North America.
How do you see your company growing in the future? Everything we look at is for the benefit of our members. We are always looking for opportunities to scale our operations and drive the long-term profitability of our member owners.
Interesting tidbits about your business: Legacy Farmers Cooperative, headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, offers agronomy, agri-finance, precision agriculture, nutrient management, energy, feed, grain, and turf products and services through its locations across Northwest Ohio. More information is available at www.legacyfarmers.com.
GROWMARK, Inc. and Legacy Farmers Cooperative in 2019 formed a joint venture to purchase and operate a grain facility west of Defiance, Ohio. Together, GROWMARK and Legacy Farmers Cooperative will form a new Retail Grain Unit called Apex Grain Marketing, LLC
How has OABA helped your business or the agribusiness industry? OABA has benefited GROWMARK by serving our co-op partners and ag retailers. One of the biggest benefits is the responsiveness to issues and opportunities. To have open lines of communication to seek action and information critical to business is invaluable. OABA builds and maintains relationships with policy decision-makers. Those relationships allow us to be at the table for critical negotiations resulting in successful support of Agri-Business.
Interested in becoming a Sustaining Sponsor in 2024?
Click here to learn more about the program or contact Lauren Prettyman at lprettyman@oaba.net. Sustaining sponsors will automatically be promoted as such at all 2024 OABA events and will not be approached for sponsorship opportunities throughout the year.
Note that because the OABA Educational Trust is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, sponsorships related to this trust are separate from OABA.