NEW Cooperative, Inc
Fort Dodge, IA
NEW Cooperative, Inc. was founded in 1973 by farmers in Northeast Webster County, creating its acronym name. The new business was a merger between one cooperative with rail capabilities and one with additional grain for the outgoing trains. Since then, NEW Cooperative has grown to 60 locations in 19 counties in north, central and western Iowa. The cooperative offers grain, feed, energy and agronomy services.
NEW Cooperative is a founding member of ACWA, with the cooperative’s leaders understanding the importance of healthy soil and clean water for their customers and neighboring urban residents. NEW Cooperative’s membership is essential as it can connect ACWA’s messages with thousands of its members and customers.
ACWA’s Code of Practice for Nitrogen Fertilization, which has been reaffirmed annually since the organization’s founding, is a priority for the employees at NEW Cooperative. The Code of Practice is an agreement between ACWA members to delay fall anhydrous application without a nitrification inhibitor until soil temperatures are 50 degrees F and trending lower. This keeps nutrients in the fields longer and less, entering Iowa’s waterways.
Agronomists at NEW Cooperative are working with an ACWA conservation agronomist to help their customers install edge-of-field practices, such as bioreactors and saturated buffers, as well as add cover crops to their acres. These practices help improve water quality and have cost-share funding available, guided by the conservation agronomist. For farmers and landowners, having experts in both agronomics and environmental stewardship is a win-win.
NEW Cooperative believes their customers can be profitable while they farm sustainably, and their membership in ACWA is a testament to this belief. The company’s representatives have served as officers on the ACWA board, demonstrating leadership in both ACWA and NEW Cooperative. Being able to serve their customers agronomically and environmentally is important to all NEW Cooperative staff.