MEMBERS APPROVE THE MERGER OF LUCKEY FARMERS, INC. AND MID-WOOD INCORPORATED:

WOODVILLE, Ohio, Oct. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The members of Luckey Farmers, Inc. (Luckey Farmers), Woodville, OH and Mid-Wood Incorporated (Mid-Wood), Cygnet, OH have approved the merger of their cooperatives at each of their special meetings held October 1, 2024.  The effective date of the merger will be February 1, 2025. 

After Luckey Farmers and Mid-Wood leadership and board representatives held a series of informational meetings, both Cooperatives were pleased that the memberships approved the board's recommendation for the merger. From the onset of the merger discussions, the directors from both cooperatives were closely aligned in what they envisioned the outcomes of a potential merger could bring to the members of both Mid-Wood and Luckey Farmers.   There is a high level of confidence from both boards that together this merger will result in an even stronger cooperative that will be better positioned to improve on their already strong portfolio of products and services that are offered to customers.  Both cooperatives have employee teams that take pride in their work and will continue their strong culture of service and commitment to their work with customers.

Each cooperative met their individual Bylaw requirements for a successful cooperative merger vote.  For both Luckey Farmers and Mid-Wood, the current Bylaws state that a quorum necessary for any vote or other action by the members is at least 10% of the members in the association participating in person or by absentee vote.  If the association has more than 500 members, 50 Members participating in person or by absentee vote constitute a quorum. Ohio Cooperative Law requires approval of the merger by at least 60% of the member votes cast. 

Luckey Farmers had 406 members cast eligible votes, with 80% voting in favor of the merger. Mid-Wood had 288 members cast eligible votes, with 72% voting in favor of the merger.  The ballot counting of both memberships had oversight and was tabulated by representatives of each cooperative's audit firms that were present at the special meetings.

This merger vote highlights the members' request for their cooperative to do more working together than either business could do separately. The leadership team genuinely values the members' confidence in a combined cooperative as they prepare for integration and execution.

Together, the combined organization will have 20 locations across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan providing products, programs and services through its grain, agronomy, energy, and feed divisions to meet the needs of agricultural producers across its footprint. 

The initial board of directors will consist of 16 directors with representation from each geographical district. More information and further updates will be provided in the coming months as integration plans are finalized.

SOURCE Luckey Farmers, Inc.