May 1st , 2024

MODESTO, California
Stanislaus Farm Supply (SFS) announces today, that in an effort to better serve its member-owners and to position them for success well into the future, their Board of Directors has voted unanimously to execute a Letter of Intent (LOI) to pursue a cooperative merger with Valley Wide Coop of Nampa, ID.

Nick Biscay, CEO of Stanislaus Farm Supply said, “This merger delivers on years of hard work in growing and developing the farmer-owned cooperative system. This merger creates the opportunity for combined economic participation and cooperative ownership for patrons in six Western States – California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah. This type of merger is a strategic advantage for the cooperative model. The combined businesses lead by Dave Holtom as CEO, will carry the name(s) Valley Wide Coop and Valley Agronomics and will deliver $1 BILLION in annual revenues with diversified earnings across Agribusiness, Energy and Retail. This creates significant leverage, scale, and resources delivering the largest cooperative farm supply organization in the West. Joining forces creates tremendous diversification in revenue, agricultural crops, weather and general risk across a broad geography. It also provides additional buying power and/or leverage for the larger cooperative
enterprise and creates greater access to resources which are needed to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive industry. This merger IS NOT a “buy-out” or “take-over” which maintains that existing & future cooperative members own and govern the business, all while accelerating the funding of past equity revolving funds for legacy members of Stanislaus Farm Supply. This combination will also deliver future strategic run-rate earnings and benefits by leveraging the sale of proprietary manufactured crop nutrition products across the reach of all western agronomy locations and the geographic expansion of the existing energy business into California, one of the largest markets in the United States. Our employees, owner-patrons and communities have a great deal to gain from this
merger which gives everyone something to be excited about!”

Both cooperatives will continue the robust due diligence process in the proposed merger. Each cooperative will call a meeting of the members to vote on the proposed merger in the summer of 2024. Prior to the vote, eligible Stanislaus Farm Supply members will receive a merger disclosure packet outlining the plan of merger as well as financial and other information which impact members.

Stanislaus Farm Supply serves 4,300 patron members owners and over 9,000 active customers located in the agriculturally rich, Central Valley of California and Central Nevada. Stanislaus Farm Supply is a diversified Farm Supply Cooperative serving growers with agronomy, retail stores and supplies since 1949. The cooperative has a strong history of community engagement which it is proud to continue.

Valley Wide Cooperative, also a locally owned farm supply cooperative, has experienced growth and success through several mergers over the past 25 years. It operates by the cooperative principle that more can be accomplished working together than as individuals. They pride themselves on the level of service they offer, top-rated facilities and high-quality employees that make up the Valley Wide team. Valley Wide serves its patrons through +50 locations and the efforts of over 1,300 employees.