Land O’Lakes, Inc. and United Suppliers, Inc. are announcing a merger of their crop inputs businesses. The organizations will provide expanded product offerings, enhanced precision agriculture services, tools and technologies, improved product insights, and consulting services among others.

“This move comes at a time when scale is increasingly important in addressing changing industry dynamics, including rapid consolidation on the supplier, retailer and grower levels, fast-paced technological innovation and the need for increasing and expanded service offerings for customers,” said Chris Policinski, President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc. “We are excited to come together with United Suppliers and expect our members, owners and customers will benefit greatly from this merger.”

The first goal of the merger is to combine the seed and crop protection businesses, followed by bringing together the crop nutrient businesses.  The organizations hope to build on their individual successes and create a single, strong entity.  Both groups will move forward with their existing marketing strategies and will work together to gain better expertise for meeting customer demands.

“United Suppliers is excited to join with Land O’Lakes, Inc.,” said Brad Oelmann, President and CEO of United Suppliers. “We are both experiencing great growth in this industry and together we view this merger as a continuation of that journey.”

Member/owners must vote to approve the merger before the deal is finalized.  Ballots are scheduled to be cast in August of 2015, with closing anticipated for October 2015.