Moose Jaw co-op is buying Prairie Plains Agro, a crop input and protection business based in Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw co-op general manager Geoff Anderson said this gives the co-op an opportunity to build their agricultural sector services by working together with a locally owned business.

“The owners of Prairie Plains Agro are exiting that business,” said Anderson. “They’re certainly going to remain in the community but they gave the Moose Jaw Co-op an opportunity to look at their business.”

There was a lot of work behind the scenes as the purchase took five months to make sure it’s the right fit for both Prairie Plains Agro and the Moose Jaw Co-op.

“I’m pretty excited that we have the opportunity to work together,” Anderson said. “Certainly, looking at Prairie Plains Agro’s vision, along with Moose Jaw Co-op’s vision, which is we put people first in the delivery of value and excellence, is exactly the kind of success they’ve seen with our producers and customers.”

Prairie Plains Agro was able to offer a total value package to their producers, in particular about crop planning and ensuring the success of farms. That was important to the Co-op, Anderson said.

The growth and development team at the Federated Co-op looked into the possibility of acquiring the Prairie Plains Agro team.

“Certainly we’re in a lot of different business lines with food, with petroleum, with crop supplies, and certainly our C stores are another big piece, along with a lot of other commodities including pharmacy,” Anderson said. “For us to be able to go out and work with producers and being able to provide crop planning advice and crop input advice... along with any other service we can provide, really is going to benefit the Moose Jaw Co-op members as a whole, which is why we felt that this was exciting for our community.”

This fills the need for the Co-op to have a significant presence in the ag supply segment of the economy, and it provides an opportunity to provide extra value to their members.

The acquisition will complement the existing Agro Centre, which has small equipment, farm hardware and bulk fuel to producers.

Mark LaRoque and Lisa Martin of Prairie Plains Agro, have committed to provide a smooth transition for their team as well as the co-op and a new location manager that will be hired.

If all conditions are met, the purchase will go through March 1.