US: Agricultural cooperative partners to expand

12-Nov-2019 - Last updated on 12-Nov-2019 at 13:00 GMT

Superior Ag, a feed producing and grain merchandising cooperative active in parts of Indiana, Kentucky and along the border of Illinois, seeks to expand its regional grain market and feed footprint with a Kentucky-focused partnership, says CEO.

The organization is partnering with Central Kentucky Grain, LLC., a grain storage and handling facility, located in Lebanon, Kentucky, which provides an alternative way to move, store and manage corn, soybeans and wheat, and has established markets for livestock feed and in bourbon production.

The agreement between the two companies establishes Superior Ag as a partial owner, said Barry Day, president and CEO, Superior Ag.

“We’ll actually have an employee in there, and we’ll run a lot of the back-office stuff, as far as safety, the HR and accounting," he told this publication.

Central Kentucky Grain, though, has the knowledge of that local market and long-established relationships with growers and customers there, he said. Something, Superior Ag can leverage.

Following the establishment of the partnership, Mark Boone, Central Kentucky Grain CEO, will continue to lead that business:

“Our partnership with Superior Ag provides security for our marketing arm to keep local producers, distilleries, and other markets connected. It brings financial support and marketing expertise, as well as [a focus on] business collaboration to create immediate growth for our company," commented Boone.

Prior to this alliance, Superior Ag had some presence in Owensboro, Kentucky, but none in the Lebanon region.

Ag Superior sees growth opportunities for its feed business and corn marketing in the region, he said. “We’ve already made some contacts on our energy business, and have been moving bulk propane into that space; there are opportunities on seed crop protection and for our crop nutrient business as well,” he added.

The partnership also expands Superior Ag’s storage capabilities to more than 7m bushels across eight grain elevators.

The current grain storage capacity at Central Kentucky Grain is 320,000 bushels, and the facility is in the process of being expanded, to enable storage of an additional 160,000 bushels, according to Superior Ag.

The facility handles multiple grain and feed components including corn, soybeans and wheat, said Day. “A lot of the soybeans typically move to a processor in the Owensboro area,” he added.