Cooperative Elevator

What Cooperative Elevator does

Cooperative Elevator Company is a 110-year-old agricultural cooperative headquartered in Pigeon, Michigan, operating as the largest grain, feed, and bean processing company in Michigan. It serves 1,115 family-operated farms in Michigan's Thumb region (Huron, Tuscola, Sanilac counties), aggregating, storing, processing, and marketing corn, soybeans, wheat, dry beans (Black, Navy, Pinto, Small Red, Organic), and certified organic grains and dry beans on their behalf. Beyond commodity aggregation, it operates a vertically integrated stack of member services including grain and dry bean marketing with forward contracts and farmer-managed pools, a full-service agronomy division (seed, fertilizer, crop protection, custom application), precision-agriculture integration with John Deere/Climate FieldView/Encrica, drone application services, SQF Level III-certified dry bean and specialty wheat processing, and petroleum retail with 24-hour unattended fueling.

The company operates a hub-and-spoke physical infrastructure across nine locations with 21.2 million bushels of grain storage, six rail-capable sites, fertilizer plants, seed plants, dry bean processing facilities, and petroleum stations, plus international reach into Canada (Western Harvest Bean), North Dakota (Alliance Valley Bean JV), and export markets across North America, Europe, Africa, and Central/South America. Technology stack centers on precision agriculture: GPS soil sampling, variable-rate technology, drone-based dry and liquid application, and integrations with leading farm-management platforms. Recent M&A (Organic Bean and Grain in 2016, Scoular Canadian dry bean locations in 2020 rebranded as Western Harvest Bean, ProGene's Dry Bean Seed Production Business in 2024 integrated into CEC Seeds) plus capacity expansions (Colored Bean Plant 2023, Fairgrove fertilizer 2021) reflect a strategy of selective vertical integration and geographic extension within a member-grower cooperative ownership model. Revenue is generated through transaction-based commodity sales on posted cash bids and futures, plus margin on agronomy inputs, dry bean processing, petroleum, and risk-management services — no public revenue figure is disclosed.

Name

Cooperative Elevator

Legal name

Cooperative Elevator Company

Website

https://coopelev.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1915

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cooperative Elevator is a 110-year-old farmer-owned cooperative headquartered in Pigeon, Michigan, aggregating grain, dry beans, and organic crops from 1,115 family farms for processing, storage, and global marketing, with integrated agronomy, seed, and petroleum services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Cooperative Services

NAICS

Farm Product Warehousing and Storage (493130), Other Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers (424590)

SIC

Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150), Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Country & Inland Grain Elevators (Receiving/Shipping) (AFAOAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grain Merchandising & Origination Facilities (AFAOAAAD), Grain & Oilseed Elevator Storage (TLALAIAA)

Keywords

• Grain marketing services
• Agricultural cooperative
• Dry bean processing
• Agronomy services
• Petroleum fuel distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Pigeon

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grain Marketing and Storage: Cooperative purchases grain from member growers, stores it, and markets it to domestic and global customers. Revenue generated through volume-based commodity sales with pricing based on market rates.
2. Dry Bean Processing and Sales: Processes and markets various dry bean varieties including Black, Navy, Pinto, Small Red, and Organic beans. Provides custom packaging options in totes, poly bags, and retail packaging.
3. Agronomy Products and Services: Provides crop inputs including seed, fertilizer, crop protection products, along with application services and agronomic consulting through Certified Crop Advisors.
4. Petroleum Products and Services: Sells fuel products including gasoline, diesel, E-85, kerosene, along with tires, batteries, lubricants, and provides bulk fuel delivery and 24-hour unattended fueling stations.
5. Organic Products: Markets certified organic grains and dry beans including organic black beans, soybeans, blue corn, yellow corn, and wheat following USDA organic standards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cooperative Elevator is an agricultural cooperative that purchases, stores, processes, and markets grain and dry beans from 1,115 member-grower farms in Michigan's Thumb region. It sells CO-OP branded corn, soybeans, wheat, dry beans (Black, Navy, Pinto, Small Red), and certified organic grains to domestic and international end-use customers, and provides supporting agronomy, petroleum, seed, and crop marketing services to its grower-members.

Product overview

Cooperative Elevator Co. is an agricultural cooperative headquartered in Pigeon, Michigan, operating for over 100 years (since 1915) with 1,115 family-operated farms in Michigan's Thumb region. The company operates a multi-product, multi-service platform organized around six core product lines — CO-OP Corn, CO-OP Dry Beans, CO-OP Soybean, CO-OP Wheat, and CO-OP Organic (encompassing organic black beans, soybeans, blue corn, yellow corn, and wheat) — supported by a suite of agronomy services (Advanced Agronomy, Agricultural Drones, Custom Application, Crop Management, and Seed/CEC Seeds), petroleum products and services, and grain/dry bean marketing services. The Grower Portal serves as the primary digital platform connecting growers to all services. Strategic acquisitions (Organic Bean and Grain in 2016, Scoular dry bean locations in 2020 rebranded as Western Harvest Bean, ProGene's seed business in 2024) and the Alliance Valley Bean joint venture have expanded geographic reach into North Dakota, Manitoba, and Canada.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CEC Seeds: Seed Division of Cooperative Elevator Company focusing on dry bean seed production, integrated through acquisition of ProGene's seed business.
• Western Harvest Bean
• Alliance Valley Bean

Products and services

• CO-OP Corn

Quantifiable outcome

• Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level III certification for dry bean and specialty wheat operations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Land O' Lakes (Saxon Fleet Services)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Saxon Fleet Services, offered through Land O' Lakes, provides leveraged buying power with discounts on Ford, GM, and Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles for cooperative members and employees.
• ProGenecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Cooperative Elevator Company acquired ProGene's Dry Bean Seed Production Business. ProGene, based in Othello, Washington, had been a valued partner for over 20 years providing high-quality seed production. The acquisition integrates seed business ensuring reliable supply for Michigan, North Dakota, and Manitoba growers.
• Scoular CompanycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Cooperative Elevator Co. purchased 5 dry bean locations from Scoular Company in Canada to expand geographic footprint for edible beans. The acquired locations were renamed to Western Harvest Bean.
• Central Valley BeancoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2012Cooperative Elevator Co. and Central Valley Bean joined together to form Alliance Valley Bean, which purchased Larimore Bean Company in May 2012. This partnership expanded dry bean operations into North Dakota production region.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Michigan Sugar Company: Michigan Sugar is a grower-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Michigan Thumb region, processing sugar beets and serving grower-members. Directly comparable as a Michigan agricultural cooperative in the same geography with a similar grower-owned business model.
• Star of the West Milling Co. Star of the West is a Michigan-based agricultural cooperative operating flour milling, agronomy, and grain elevator businesses. It is highly comparable as a fellow Michigan cooperative with overlapping grain handling, agronomy inputs, and member-grower structure.

Broad incumbents

• CHS Inc. CHS is the largest U.S. agricultural cooperative, operating grain origination, agronomy, energy, and food processing businesses at national scale. It is directly comparable to Cooperative Elevator on cooperative structure, grain handling, agronomy services, and energy/petroleum product lines, though at vastly greater scale.
• ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): ADM is a global agribusiness giant with grain origination, oilseed processing, and agricultural services across North America. Comparable as a buyer of grain and dry beans from regional cooperatives and as a benchmark for cooperative-vs-corporate competitive dynamics in grain handling.
• Viterra Limited: Viterra is a global grain and oilseeds network with origination, storage, and marketing operations across North America (including Western Canada). Comparable to Cooperative Elevator's Western Harvest Bean (Canadian) expansion as a competitor in cross-border dry bean and grain origination.
• Land O'Lakes, Inc. Land O'Lakes is a large U.S. farmer-owned cooperative with agronomy, dairy foods, and crop inputs businesses. Comparable on cooperative structure and agronomy input distribution, and is also an actual partner of Cooperative Elevator through the Saxon Fleet Services vehicle program.

Direct peers

• The Andersons, Inc. The Andersons operates a large grain elevator and merchandising business across the U.S. Midwest, with commodity trading, agronomy, and specialty crop exposure. Directly comparable to Cooperative Elevator on grain origination, storage, and merchandising, including the dry bean side via its specialty crop investments.
• Scoular Company: Scoular is a major U.S. agricultural commodity trader with grain, feed, and food ingredient businesses. Directly comparable to Cooperative Elevator on grain merchandising and dry bean handling — Cooperative Elevator actually purchased 5 Canadian dry bean locations from Scoular in 2020.
• Growmark, Inc. Growmark is a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative providing agronomy, grain, energy, and retail farm supply services across the Midwest. Comparable as a fellow regional agricultural cooperative with grain handling, agronomy, and petroleum businesses and a similar member-grower structure.
• Central Valley Bean Cooperative: Central Valley Bean is a North Dakota-based dry bean cooperative that partners with Cooperative Elevator in the Alliance Valley Bean joint venture. Directly comparable as a dry bean cooperative in the same industry, sharing origination, processing, and export channels with Cooperative Elevator.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=2LpguymLR98&feature=youtu.be

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cooperative Elevator