Ceres Solutions acquires Monticello Farm Service

Crawfordsville-based Ceres Solutions is adding to its portfolio ahead of a major merger. The agricultural cooperative has acquired Monticello Farm Service in White County, though financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.

Monticello Farm Service was founded in 1978 and provides a variety of services to farmers, including fertilizer, crop protection, custom application, seed treatment, soil sampling, and GPS mapping.

The company has operations in Monticello and Francesville. Ceres said in a news release that Monticello’s nine employees will join the Ceres team as a result of the acquisition.

″As we look forward to this new era of service for Monticello area customers, we also greatly appreciate the past leadership that has built this business into the success it is today,″ Ceres Solutions CEO Jeff Troike said in the release. ″We’re honored these leaders have put their trust in the Ceres team, and we’re committed to the success of our new customers.″

Ceres Solutions is a 100% farmer-owned cooperative and operates ag retail locations in Indiana and Michigan.

The news of the acquisition comes just over a week after members of Ceres and Indianapolis-based Co-Alliance Cooperative Inc. approved a merger between the two co-ops to create Keystone Cooperative.

The merger is slated to take effect on March 1, and the combined organization will serve 20,000 farmer owners, operate 195 locations with 1,700 employees and $3.1 billion in combined sales revenue.