Limagrain was founded almost 60 years ago as a cooperative of local farmers in central France and has since grown to become the fourth largest seed company in the world. That’s amazing when you consider that ourmembers operate small farms averaging 200 acres. That’s not even a small field in Canada or the US. These farmers knew they were too small to survive on their own, so they built this cooperative in order to maintain their independence while working together to achieve common goals.
To this day, Limagrain is proudly farmer-owned and farmer-led. Our unique governance model reflects this by placing farmers at the heart of all our decisions. At every level — from our business units to our divisions to our subsidiaries — Limagrain is helmed by a combination of a salaried CEO and a farmer-chairman who represents the interests of Limagrain’s 1,500 farmer members.
As a farmers’ cooperative, we have our destiny in our own hands. Not only are our members deeply involved in Limagrain’s decision-making process and long-term strategy, they also regularly visit our businesses. In addition, our board spends a great deal of time travelling the world to learn about the local needs of farmers across the globe. This is what I mean when I say we are farmer-owned and farmer-led.
In my 37 years with the company, I’ve come to believe that a key benefit of being led by farmers is long-term vision. Like all farmers, our members think generationally and have the freedom to make decisions without worrying about what the stock exchange is going to do in three months’ time. They can instead make strategic decisions then review them five or 10 years down the road. Companies owned by financial institutions that need a return of X on their investment by a certain date aren’t in a position to do that.
I’ll give you an example of our long-term thinking. Limagrain was able to buy the leading bread company in France for a dollar in 1995 because it was deep in debt. That company wouldn’t break even until 2007. Obviously, we can’t always wait that long to see a return but, in this instance, our members decided that the bread business would provide generations of farmers with a stable market for their grain. If that meant it would take a dozen years to turn a profit, they felt that would be worth it in the long run.
The freedom to make decisions based on what’s best for farmers now and in the future, locally and globally, is paramount to our members. For many years, 30 percent of Limagrain’s business was listed on the French stock exchange. That allowed us to raise the capital we needed to expand worldwide without sacrificing our operational independence or placing the cooperative in jeopardy of a takeover. Once that expansion had been achieved, our farmers decided to delist from the stock exchange, taking back a hundred percent of the business and ensuring their independence for generations to come.
It’s that sort of long-term thinking that sets Limagrain apart and has made us the success we are today.
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