FCEC members vote to merge with Kanza

Grain Elevator (Journal photo by Lacey Newlin)

Members of Farmers Cooperative Elevator Company, Garden Plain, Kansas, approved a proposal to merge with the Kanza Cooperative Association during a special meeting in Cheney on May 23. The vote received the required two-thirds majority required by Kansas law—180 affirmative and 85 dissenting.

The organizations will officially be combined into one entity on Sept. 1.

Based on the latest full fiscal year, the combined cooperative’s agronomy, grain, energy and feed business Is projected to generate $407 million in sales with $285 million in total assets. The combined entity will operate from 31 locations and employ 204 full-time personnel. The administrative headquarters of the combined cooperative will remain Iuka, and it will retain the name Kanza Cooperative Association.

Alan Woodard will continue as the CEO, and Rusty Morehead, the current FCEC GM, will hold a key leadership position.