Farmers of North America attempts another run at AgraCity assets
SASKATOON — Farmers of North America is mounting another attempt to acquire the assets of AgraCity after being shut out of the court monitor’s sales process.
AgraCity is a Saskatchewan-based crop input provider that was granted creditor protection by the Saskatchewan Court of King’s Bench on Dec. 1, 2025.
The protection is in place through March 26, 2026. The process is being administered by Ernst & Young Inc., the court-appointed monitor.
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FNA is a business alliance of farmers that uses buying power to change how input markets function. The president of the company is Jim Mann.
FNA members are AgraCity’s largest unsecured creditor group. Farmers are still owed millions of dollars of product they paid for but did not receive.
FNA was excluded from bidding on AgraCity’s assets through the monitor’s sales and investment solicitation process (SISP).
However, the firm recently had a victory in a court hearing allowing it to proceed with a separate process to acquire AgraCity’s assets.
It has been given until March 16 to submit a Plan of Arrangement that will be presented to the court as a possible alternative to the successful bidder emerging from the SISP.
Why it Matters: Many farmers are still owed product by AgraCity.
Mann has hastily arranged town hall meetings where he is trying to convince FNA members to commit $10 per acre to buy AgraCity’s assets.
He is hoping half to two-thirds of the firm’s 3,150 members will sign a letter of commitment by midnight March 12 so FNA can submit a competitive offer.
“It probably won’t be the highest bid, but it would be the best option for the stakeholders because with that, all the members’ debt would, as well as any third-party debt, be paid,” he said.
Mann referred to the task as “mission impossible,” given the tight turnaround time and lingering member distrust due to the current circumstances.
However, he said FNA was previously able to raise $23 million in its failed attempt to purchase an export grain terminal in Vancouver years ago, although that campaign lasted six weeks rather than six days.
“You know me, I don’t give up as long as there’s an opportunity to try and do what’s right for the benefit of members,” said Mann.
Peter Chisholm, senior vice-president of Ernst & Young, said the monitor will not be commenting on the results of the SISP or FNA’s upcoming court application at this time.
However, the Fourth Report of the Monitor details some of the interactions between FNA, AgraCity and the monitor over the past weeks.
On Feb. 24, AgraCity obtained a court order barring FNA and Mann from communicating any information about the proceedings to anyone except their legal and financial advisers.
The restriction order was in response to Mann providing FNA members with “false or misleading information” about AgraCity, its management, the monitor and the SISP, according to the report.
AgraCity claims the misstatements by Mann hampered its ability to carry on business and generated confusion about the SISP.
The firm was specifically concerned about a press release suggesting the monitor refused to allow FNA and Mann to participate in the SISP.
“This statement alone, without additional context, is misleading,” the monitor stated in his report.
The additional context is that the monitor reviewed FNA’s participation letter dated Jan. 16, 2026, and determined it did not provide adequate evidence that FNA would have sufficient cash or credit to purchase AgraCity.
FNA submitted a second participation letter on the Feb. 6, 2026, Phase 1 bid deadline, but it too was deemed inadequate because it was based on “uncommitted capital contributions” from FNA members.
“Accordingly, FNA and Jim Mann did not meet the definition of a qualified Phase 1 bidder and were not permitted to advance to Phase 2 of the SISP,” stated the monitor.
The monitor’s legal counsel sent an email to FNA’s legal counsel on Feb. 27, 2026, advising that it had serious concerns with Mann’s conduct and statements at town hall meetings following the Phase 1 bid process.
The monitor believed Mann was violating the terms of the Feb. 24 restriction order.
However, a judge subsequently lifted the gag order and allowed FNA to proceed with its Plan of Arrangement.
Phase 2 of the SISP bidding process was completed on March 9, but the monitor is declining to announce who the winner is until the court has approved the transaction.
A hearing for approval of transactions is scheduled for March 16.
Source: producer.com