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GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) More than 1,000 farmers in central Montana
must decide by Jan. 18 whether to merge their local cooperatives with
giant Cenex-Harvest States.
Supporters of the merger say it will help the cooperatives gain
financial stability and protect members investments. But critics
fear the merger will lead to a loss of control of the local co-ops
that have successfully served their small communities for decades.
The way I look at it, youre dealing with small business
versus big business, and I think small business generally pays
attention to the needs of the area more, said Bing Von Bergen, who
farms north of Moccasin and is a member of Moore Farmers Oil.
Co-op members will mail their ballots or cast their votes at
meetings in the towns involved Jan. 18.
A yes vote would combine the three local cooperatives the
Winifred Farmers Oil Co., Moore Farmers Oil Cooperative and the
Central Montana Cooperative in Denton and Geraldine with Cenex-Harvest
States.
The result would be a locally controlled division of Cenex-Harvest
States stretching from the Yellowstone River to the Missouri River.
If farmers approve the merger, a local board will govern the new
division, making day-to-day and long-term business decisions.
Two board members from each cooperative would serve on the regional
board.
Richard Owen, a Geraldine farmer and longtime member of the Central
Montana Co-op, insists the local board would control the co-op, and no
employees would lose their jobs.
Owen, who also serves as a Cenex-Harvest States board member for
Montana and Wyoming, noted however that under the merger proposed,
Cenex-Harvest States is offering less than what his cooperative is
worth.
Farmers established many of Montanas co-ops in the homestead
days to operate their own grain elevators, supply stores, repair
garages and other services. They own shares in the cooperatives,
receiving dividends from any profits each year and a payout when they
reach retirement age.
But as the family farm struggles to make ends meet, small country
cooperatives have suffered.
For Winifred farmers, its going to be a good move, said
Shirley Benes, manager of the Winifred Farmers Oil Co. Just like
all other things, you have to get bigger or you dont survive.
Winifred Farmers Oil lost money for the first time this year, after
several years of breaking even.
Even for the Central Montana Co-op, which made nearly $500,000 in
fiscal year 2000, the merger is appealing.
Especially when you start looking at the amount of (Conservation
Reserve Program) acres that are going in. Especially in the Geraldine
community, said General Manager Paul Clark. Less land in production
means less business for cooperatives.
Cenex-Harvest States was formed in 1998 through a merger of Cenex
Inc. and Harvest States Cooperatives. It has more than 44,000 farmer
members and reaches from the Upper Midwest, across the Northern,
Central and Southern Plains states and into the Pacific Northwest.
Of Montanas 85 farm co-ops, some 52 are co-op members, or affiliates
of Cenex-Harvest States. |