Valley Wide, Bleyhl logos

Idaho-based Valley Wide Cooperative will gain locations in agriculture-rich central Washington while Bleyhl Farm Service will have access to more resources when they merge on Oct. 1.

Bleyhl fields Washington retail and energy locations in Sunnyside, Zillah and Grandview, where the cooperative also has its headquarters, agronomy operation and fertilizer plant.

Nampa, Idaho-based Valley Wide will add them to its current 80 locations on Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Sales for Valley Wide, which has just over 3,200 members, totaled $598.8 million in the fiscal year ended Aug. 31. Segments include farm supply, energy, agronomy and feed.

Bleyhl has over 800 members and more than 4,000 customers in south-central Washington. The combined cooperative will employ more than 1,300. Valley Wide said it will add the Bleyhl locations and maintain all other operations and staff at existing Valley Wide sites.

Bleyhl, by merging into Valley Wide, is positioning itself and its farmer owners “to take advantage of the leverage, scale and resources of a $750 million farm supply organization,” CEO Joel Marcott said in a release. The merger will “empower our cooperative with the supply chain, capital and network to remain competitive against other agribusinesses while protecting the values associated with the cooperative model.”

He said other benefits include greater buying power and seasonal risk diversification across a larger geographic area and “access to resources to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive industry.”

Valley Wide’s mergers “are not about becoming part of a big organization that throws its weight around,” CEO Dave Holtom said, but rather “local cooperatives in communities across the PNW working under one brand, and leveraging that brand and unified volume to take the advantage back to all the communities and customers we serve.”

In global agriculture and energy enterprises, “it will take all of us working together to not only compete, but to flourish,” he said.

Valley Wide will increase its board of directors to 12 members by adding one from Bleyhl. The Valley Wide board added three members last year in its merger with Ag Link, a northeast Washington cooperative with seven locations.

The Bleyhl merger is a “natural step” following the Ag Link merger, Erica Louder, the Valley Wide communications director, told Capital Press. It substantially increases service opportunities in the Yakima Valley, and “we can serve a lot more of ag.”

She said Bleyhl’s orchard and vineyard supply segment provides a new opportunity for Valley Wide.

Bleyhl and Valley Wide members recently voted to approve the merger by 95% and 87%, respectively. Financial details were not released.