Tennessee Valley Cooperative

BY COREY ESPY

As of Jan. 1, 2021, Limestone Farmers Cooperative, Lawrence County Exchange and Lauderdale Farmers Cooperative will merge to form the Tennessee Valley Cooperative. This new partnership comes after intense planning from the managers and board of directors along with great support from the members of each Co-op.

This partnership stems from the ever-changing landscape of agriculture in North Alabama where these Co-ops reside. As many Alabamians know, the area is experiencing large economic growth with many industries moving into Huntsville and surrounding areas. This is great for jobs, but has caused great loss of prime farmland.

“Although economic development is good, it can have a negative impact on production agriculture acres,” said John Curtis, General Manager of Tennessee Valley Cooperative. “By combining the assets of these three counties, we will offer more services to our customer and streamline our purchases.”

The management of Limestone Farmers, Lawrence County and Lauderdale Farmers along with their respective boards of directors put their collective heads together and felt that joining forces, and building upon an already outstanding working relationship, would help the Cooperative continue to thrive for future generations.

The idea was supported by the membership of each Cooperative because of the trust in the leadership. John Curtis (Limestone County), John Holley (Lawrence County) and Reggie Shook (Lauderdale County) are not rookies to the Co-op. These managers have 122 years of combined total experience – that’s at least 40 years each. This experience, along with feedback from other successfully merged Cooperatives and with support from Alabama Farmers Cooperative, Inc. (AFC) personnel such as Al Cheatham, Chief Operating Officer, and James Fudge, Vice President of Management Services, has led to a successful planning and execution process. Limestone Farmers Cooperative has experience in merging Cooperatives as they grew from their Athens, Alabama, location to the addition of the Pulaski and Lynnville, Tennessee, locations in 2011. These factors culminated in a smooth process that is now coming to fruition.

The new Tennessee Valley Cooperative will consist of eight locations. These include Alabama locations in Moulton, Courtland, Florence, Elgin, Oakland and Athens; and Tennessee locations in Pulaski and Lynnville. Each of these sites has something that make them unique, yet they all complement each other well. Moulton, Courtland, Florence, Oakland and Athens are heavy row cropping areas, but also serve cattle producers. Pulaski is an even balance between agronomy and livestock production, while the Elgin and Lynnville locations have a larger concentration of livestock production, with Elgin offering a poultry equipment department.

The intended effect of this new Co-op is to increase the ability to buy in bulk, then divide the product among each location to get the best value possible on products, which is then passed on to the customer as savings. The benefits do not stop with the customer. This new Co-op also helps the location agronomy departments by allowing them to keep improving their technology in spreading/spraying machines to better serve customers more effectively and efficiently. This support comes through the partnership with their main agronomy supplier, Greenpoint Ag, LLC. These improvements allow Tennessee Valley Cooperative to be more efficient from an administrative standpoint by streamlining logistics and transportation or products.

The partnership of these successful Co-ops is yet another example of becoming stronger together. Though there may be a new Co-op in town, the same great customer service is here to stay. It was what each of these locations were built on, and they plan to keep that identity for many years to come while also making strides to stay ahead of the times in order to successfully serve the customer in every way possible.

Lauderdale County Co-op, Florence, Alabama

Lawrence County Exchange, Moulton, Alabama

Limestone County Co-op, Athens, Alabama