SEYMOUR, Ind. – What was once White River Cooperative and Premier Ag Co-Op is now Premier Companies.

On Sept. 1, the two southern Indiana cooperatives joined forces to bolster their support of agriculture and energy services in southern Indiana, southwest Ohio and central Kentucky.

White River Co-Op, based in Loogootee, Ind., was founded in 1928 and served nine counties. The company had an annual revenue of $161 million and employed 135.

Premier Ag Co-Op, based in Seymour, was founded in 1927 and served three states. The company had an annual revenue between $66-$100 million annually and had 14 retail outlets. With the merger, the headquarters will be at 811 W. Second St. in Seymour. The new cooperative will organize in two divisions: Premier Ag and Premier Energy.

Premier Ag will offer integrated agronomic and agricultural services, including Truterra, the only farmer-owned, farmer-driven food and ag sustainability program in the United States. Through SwineLink, the cooperative provides comprehensive management to family-owned pork facilities, enabling family farms to operative farms in a healthy and environmentally sound manner. Grain marketing services will also be provided, enabling the cooperative to purchase grain from customers.

Premier Energy will provide thousands of customers with much needed quality propane. Also, vehicles from fleets to school buses will be served with fuel from CountryMark Fuel. Its propane business provides for heating solutions for homes and businesses, as well as agricultural structures.

“Premier Ag was formed in 1927 by a group of farmers who saw the need to leverage product availability at a competitive rate and what started with these local farmers grew to more than 3,000 members and a cooperative with multiple divisions open to the public,” said Harold Cooper, CEO of Premier Companies. “This merger of cooperatives who shared similar cultures and unique understanding of agriculture and energy markets will enable us to offer ever-growing expertise and offerings to our customers. Today, going forward as Premier Companies, we are proud to remain locally owned by our neighbors here in southern Indiana and we’ll return earnings local to our member-owners.”

Now, Premier Companies has 11 locations for those needing crop-related help, such as crop protection, plant food and sales.

With the merger of White River and Premier Ag comes 17 Premier Energy Countrymark fueling centers. 

For information about Premier Companies call 812-522-4911.