MRGA Patron Announcement
Feb 06, 2024
Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC was formed in 2004. The company was a merger between Prosper Farmers Cooperative Elevator, Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator and AGP Grain Ltd out of Omaha, NE. AGP owned the north elevator in Casselton, and with the merger in 2004 Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC broke ground on a new shuttle loading facility in Casselton. In 2017 Chaffee-Lynchburg Farmers Elevator and Prosper Farmers Elevator merged into Maple River Coop, which has a majority ownership of Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC (MRGA).
In early December, AGP approached MRGA, LLC with interest that they would like to be bought out of their minority ownership of the LLC so they can focus on their core business of soybean crushing and exporting soymeal out of Gray’s Harbor in Washington state. The past month and a half the Maple River Coop board and MRGA Management have been working on potentially buying out AGP. It is with great pleasure that the MRGA board and management team can announce that the deal closed on January 31, 2024, and Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC will be 100% owned by Maple River Coop.
So, the big question is what will change at MRGA, LLC? The simple answer is not a lot on the day-to-day level. There will be no staffing or management changes. One advantage to being completely owned by our local cooperative (Maple River Coop) will be some tax benefits from the Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD). To do this, we will eventually dissolve MRGA, LLC and operate the coop under Maple River Coop dba MRGA. Our goal is not to rebrand but to continue using the MRGA moniker. Along with the tax benefits to the Cooperative and Patrons, all proceeds from operations will be allocated to our local patrons.
Once again, the MRGA, LLC board and management team are excited to go through this transition to becoming a 100% locally owned cooperative and continue serving our patrons with the exemplary service and products they have come to expect.
-MRGA, LLC Board and Management Team
In early December, AGP approached MRGA, LLC with interest that they would like to be bought out of their minority ownership of the LLC so they can focus on their core business of soybean crushing and exporting soymeal out of Gray’s Harbor in Washington state. The past month and a half the Maple River Coop board and MRGA Management have been working on potentially buying out AGP. It is with great pleasure that the MRGA board and management team can announce that the deal closed on January 31, 2024, and Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC will be 100% owned by Maple River Coop.
So, the big question is what will change at MRGA, LLC? The simple answer is not a lot on the day-to-day level. There will be no staffing or management changes. One advantage to being completely owned by our local cooperative (Maple River Coop) will be some tax benefits from the Domestic Production Activities Deduction (DPAD). To do this, we will eventually dissolve MRGA, LLC and operate the coop under Maple River Coop dba MRGA. Our goal is not to rebrand but to continue using the MRGA moniker. Along with the tax benefits to the Cooperative and Patrons, all proceeds from operations will be allocated to our local patrons.
Once again, the MRGA, LLC board and management team are excited to go through this transition to becoming a 100% locally owned cooperative and continue serving our patrons with the exemplary service and products they have come to expect.
-MRGA, LLC Board and Management Team