German cooperatives merge
The German cooperatives Raiffeisen Emsland-Mitte in Klein-Berssen and Raiffeisen Grenzland in Laar (both in West Germany close to the Dutch border) have decided to merge their activities.
The name of the new entity will be “Raiffeisen Ems-Vechte” and for the first time regional borders are crossed between Emsland and the county of Bentheim.
The main reason for merging is to make better use of the production capacities of the two coops. Emsland manufactured about 350,000 tons of feed and the underlying cooperative Grenzland produced 157,000 tons in 2010.
The new cooperative will produce more than 500,000 tons of feed. Main activity will be production and sale of animal feeds with continued use of the regionally-well-known brand names Emskraft and Grenzland Ringfutter.
About one-third of the turnover comes from the sale of seeds, pesticides and from the farmer’s shops and wholesale stores.
After the merger the coop will have more than 4,700 members and employ 335 people.
