The countdown is underway for the merger of Agland and Martin Deerline to take effect with the combined entity to be known as Horizon Ag and Turf.
The rebranding will take place on July 31, following the joint company announcement in May to join forces with a combined 13 dealership locations to better serve customers in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
"The biggest thing is we hadn't grown in decades," said Agland general manager Cam Kay who will be the CEO of Horizon Ag.
"We looked at this opportunity to have some long term growth and try to cover ourselves off the next 40 to 50 years so that we're sustainable and relevant to the marketplace" said Kay.
"Just like any business these days, the cost of business has increased; the complexity of the business has increased. Our producers' complexity has increased and they expect more out of us."
Going forward, Horizon Ag will have expanded inventories, more product specialists and the ability to provide more timely innovation solutions.
"It gives us an opportunity to stock a lot more parts that maybe we wouldn't have stocked before and we can just provide a better level of service for our customers," said Kay.
He says both companies have a successful history in the agricultural, construction and turf (lawn and garden) business, so the decision to merge with a combined board of directors made sense.
Cam Martin, the current CEO of Martin Deerline in Edmonton and Darren Lindsay, the current operations manager in Lloydminster will serve as operations managers for their respective Horizon Ag dealer locations.
Martin Deerline is a 10 location privately owned family business like Agland which provides three dealership locations to the merger.
"I'm very excited. I've been friends with that family for 60 years," said Kay.
Horizon Ag will also benefit from decision by Agland before the merger announcement, to purchase a 62-acre parcel of land directly behind the dealership on Highway 16 for equipment expansion.
Kay says with the amount of equipment and size these days, it's become very difficult to be able to house all of the equipment on site.
"When we're running headers or moving air drills, the stuff is so big now that you just need a big area to move that stuff around or turn it around even— 130 ft. augers and things like that.
"We were just out of space here for the equipment. We're actually putting 16 acres into a fenced compound."
Kay says the site, currently being excavated, will create a safer environment to work in.
The bigger footprint at Agland is also expected to lead to the hiring of new technical personnel going forward as Horizon Ag and Turf.
"Finding technical staff is hard in the industry," said Kay due to changes in equipment technology.
"It's changed who we're hiring. We used to hire people out of high school with training on the job.
"But a lot of jobs now, we need more people with more specialized training, whether it's electricians or people with agronomy degrees and things like that."
Kay says the merger will allow them to service a bigger geographic area and minimize equipment downtime for farmers with more specialized technicians and a business as usual approach.
"The staff stays the same; we're still local decision making—community support. Customers can still walk in and talk to us and get things figured out," said Kay.
"We still want that small dealership feel, but have the scale to give them more."
The rebranding activities including signage will be a work in progress with the priority on helping farmers get their crop in.
"Right now, a lot of customers are spraying their crops and there's a lot of haying going on.
In six weeks, we'll be taking the crop off with combines," said Kay.
As for the weather Kay says it was a little dry at the start of the spring season.
"We've had some decent moisture but we need a lot more to finish the crop so hopefully we can keep the rains coming," he said.
Kay says Ag is a strong sector in Alberta and Saskatchewan and a rewarding sector too for Agland and Martin Deerline.
"We're working with the land and farmers. It's a lot of fun. The crop goes in every year and the cattle get fed every year so, it's a pretty good business to be in," he said.
Read more: Agland Martin Deerline form horizon ag turf
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