WESTERN PRODUCER — Crop input supplier AgraCity has confirmed rumours that it is unable to fulfil its commitments to customers this spring.
“AgraCity has experienced some cash flow issues and has been in a process to refinance our business,” the firm said in its message to farmers.
“The process has unfortunately taken much longer than expected and has resulted in product availability issues this spring.”
As a result, the firm will be unable to deliver outstanding product to its customers in a timely manner this spring.
“All outstanding product orders are being cancelled and being converted into a product credit,” AgraCity told its customers.
“We want to inform everyone that the sales team worked tirelessly to the best of their ability to meet the needs of their customers and was caught off guard, as we all were, by the delay of the refinancing efforts.”
Orders not delivered
A farmer from the North Battleford, Sask., area, who requested anonymity, told the Western Producer that he prebought $54,000 of glyphosate from AgraCity that was supposed to show up on his farm during the winter months.
It did not.
“I got calling my representative in the spring and there was no chance of any glyphosate showing up,” said the grower.
“They were hoping for new crop chemical, is what I was told.”
He also purchased $27,000 of glufosinate from the company in the fall of 2024 that never arrived, he alleges.
He has given up on receiving any of the herbicide that he ordered and paid for.
The farmer is speaking to a lawyer about what steps he can take.
A scan of the Better Business Bureau website shows this isn’t the first time customers have claimed the company left them high and dry.
An anonymous complainant says they ordered $34,000 of product from AgraCity in April 2022 and then immediately cancelled the order.
“The product was charged to our credit card and has yet to be reimbursed,” the person stated in the complaint.
AgraCity responded to the complaint, saying that it was in the process of issuing a full refund.
The complaint status is listed as “unresolved” by the bureau.
‘Portfolio of lawsuits’
AgraCity is owned by James Mann and Jason Mann, who are listed as equal shareholders in the company, according to court documents.
The two brothers are directors and officers of AgraCity, with Jason responsible for the day-to-day management of the firm.
James is also the sole registered shareholder of Farmers of North America, although Jason claims to have an ownership stake in that firm.
The two companies are intertwined because AgraCity sells agricultural crop inputs but historically has done so only to farmers who are members of FNA.
The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan says the two brothers and their companies have been embroiled in a “portfolio of lawsuits” against one another dating back to 2017.
“Most parts of this litigation have yet to reach a conclusion, whether through trial or otherwise,” the court stated in a March 5, 2024, decision.
Stopped deliveries news to Mann
In a statement released June 8, James Mann said he learned on June 6 that AgraCity had stopped delivering prepaid product to producers.
“By court order, I have not been in charge of AgraCity since 2017. Since that time I have been concerned about various issues with the management of AgraCity and have been fighting these issues in court,” he said in the statement.
“In April of last year, I brought an application to have a neutral third party manage or inspect AgraCity’s finances. This application was heard on March 13 of this year, and we are still waiting for the court’s decision.
“I want to assure our members that Farmers of North America will do everything in its power to protect and help them.”
Awan Khurrum, a Regina lawyer who has represented AgraCity, said the litigation between the Mann brothers remains before the courts.
He is not aware of any receivership or creditor protection proceedings against AgraCity.
AgraCity has been operating for 20 years and claims to have saved farmers millions of dollars a year on their crop input bills.
Jason is also the president of Genesis Fertilizers, a company that is proposing to build a nitrogen fertilizer production and distribution plant in Belle Plaine, Sask.
—Updated June 9 to include comments from James Mann.
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