1st Farm, AgStar and Badgerland merger moving forward with Farm Credit Administration approval

Following approval from the Farm Credit Administration, 1st Farm Credit Services, AgStar Financial Services and Badgerland Financial are moving forward with their planned merger and expect to conduct stockholder votes in April.

All three organizations are member-owned cooperatives, so the merger proposal must be approved by each company’s stockholders. With the Farm Credit preliminary approval, which like all Farm Credit merger requests is conditional, the organizations can progress to those votes.

Each cooperative is sending out disclosure packets to their stockholders and all three plan to hold informational meetings for their stockholders this month. A release from 1st Farm Credit Services expressed the commitment of all three organizations to ensuring clear communications on the merger and its process in the run up to the votes.

If the merger is approved, the cooperative's plan for it to be effective as of July 1. The merged organization would bear a decentralized structure, and no local offices would close. It would be based in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and lead by AgStar Financial Service President and CEO Rob Hebrink. The merged organization’s board of directors would comprise three outside appointed directors and 14 directors from the member cooperatives, organized in proportion to the number of stakeholders from each.