Landus and Heartland Co-op have reached an agreement whereby Landus will purchase the Rippey and Panora grain and agronomy assets from Heartland, and Heartland will purchase the Woodward and Earlham grain, agronomy, and feed assets from Landus. All locations are in Iowa.
This decision follows extensive discussion between the two cooperatives around how each could better use their staff, facilities and other resources to improve operational efficiencies in service to their members served by these locations.
Matt Carstens, president and CEO of Landus, and Tom Hauschel, CEO of Heartland Co-op, together announced they are finalizing details for an early March planned transition of ownership of these sites.
This decision was driven by both teams’ desires to do what’s right for the employees and farmers of these communities in the long run.
This move creates better strategic fits for both cooperatives, which in turn will enable improved investment and service to area producers going forward.
As Heartland and Landus navigate this transition, both companies will continue to work in close cooperation to ensure no disruption to farmer service. All grain contracts to any of these locations will be honored by the incoming company.
Pre-pay agronomy business will not be disrupted and will continue to be serviced by the cooperative the contract was originally written with. The teams will also work to ensure seamless feed service out of the Earlham feed mill as the business transitions to Heartland.
Farmer equity in either cooperative is not impacted by this change in asset ownership.
