Prairie Farms Dairy, Swiss Valley Farms to merge

Prairie Farms Dairy and Swiss Valley Farms officials announced plans Friday to merge the farmer-owned dairy cooperatives.

Carlinville, Ill.-based Prairie Farms will combine the assets of Swiss Valley Farms of Davenport into Prairie Farms Dairy Inc.

Swiss Valley operates five manufacturing plants that produce cheese and whey powder in Luana, Iowa; Shullsburg and Mindoro, Wis., and Faribault and Rochester, Minn.

Chris Hoeger, Swiss Valley Farms CEO, will continue to oversee the plants.

The combined company will operate under the name Prairie Farms Dairy. The terms of the merger agreement must be approved by each company's co-op members.

In a news release, Ed Mullins, executive vice president and CEO of Prairie Farms, said the deal was driven a commitment to build value for his cooperative's members and is consistent with its growth strategy.

'Swiss Valley's contributions will allow us to diversify our product portfolio and expand into new markets,' Mullins said.

If approved by the members, the deal is expected to close in 2017.

Prairie Farms has more than 600 farm family members, 5,700 employees, 35 manufacturing plants, more than 100 distribution facilities and annual sales of more than $3 billion. Prairie Farms's distribution footprint covers over 30 percent of the United States.

Swiss Valley Farms has 400 dairy producer members in Iowa, Wisconsin, northern Illinois and southern Minnesota. The company operated a plant in northwest Cedar Rapids that did not reopen after it was inundated by floodwater in June 2008.

The Cedar Rapids plant, which employed 47, was the cooperative's primary plant for the production of cultured dairy products, such as cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt and dips. That production was moved to other Swiss Valley plants.

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