A crop adviser for Simplot Grower Solutions helps an Idaho potato farmer inspect his crop. Simplot and other companies are researching way to help farmers cope with a changing climate.

J.R. Simplot Co. has signed a purchase agreement with Quachita Fertilizer Co. for the company’s retail stores in New Iberia and Bunkie, La.

The stores will become Simplot Grower Solutions retail outlets upon closure of the transaction. The deal is expected to close in December. Financial details were not released.

“We are looking forward to expanding our service area in southern Louisiana and to providing products and services to help local growers get the most out of every acre,” Troy Bolt, Simplot Grower Solutions vice president and general manager of retail business, said in a release. “We’re excited to welcome the new employees, customers and partners to the Simplot community and continuing the Quachita Fertilizer culture of delivering exceptional customer service, sound agronomic advice and expertise in precision-placed, suspension fertilizers.”

Boise-based J.R. Simplot Co. is a family-owned food and agribusiness company.

Its Simplot Grower Solutions unit operates 236 stores serving more than 40,000 customers in the U.S. It employs more than 2,800 people including more than 500 agronomic advisers.