NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM, MNP, EXPANDS AGRICULTURE OFFERING WITH AGRONOMY PRACTICE

 MNP and Six Leading Agronomy Companies Join Forces to Benefit Canadian Agriculture Market

CALGARY, AB, July 15, 2024 /CNW/ - MNP, one of Canada's largest national professional services firms, is pleased to announce that it will join forces with six leading agronomy companies (4R Agronomy, Annex Agro, Arrow Crop Management, Elite Ag, Max Ag Consulting, and Sure Growth Solutions), effective September, 2024. The move will see 8 partners and 27 team members join MNP in one of the largest agronomy consolidations that Canada has seen.

Each of the companies excels in farming expertise, technology management, and crop planning. Between them, they currently have more than 1.5M acres of farmland under management across more than 300 farms and, in joining MNP, will offer Canadian farmers a comprehensive solution for optimizing operations and profitability.

Founded in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1958, MNP has grown to more than 125 locations across Canada and delivers a wide range of services and specialized expertise in every sector and area of business. The firm is widely regarded as one of Canada's leading firms when it comes to providing professional services to agricultural clients, with many of its partners and team members having family farm backgrounds or operating a farm of their own.

Marvin Slingerland, MNP's Senior Vice President, Agriculture, explained that the creation of a new agronomy practice at MNP demonstrates his firm's commitment to supporting the long-term success of Canadian farmers:

"We're constantly looking for new ways to bring Canadian farmers the expertise they need to succeed not just today, but for tomorrow and into the future," said Slingerland. "What these companies are doing is at the leading-edge of agronomy practices and they are all recognized as essential partners for innovative, future-focused farmers. We are delighted to be adding these specialists to our team, all of whom combine personalized, face-to-face interactions with transformative digital tools, and enable us to offer farmers in Canada a comprehensive solution for optimizing operations and profitability."

Warren Bills, CEO and Co-Founder of Convergence Growth – an organization based in Calgary dedicated to helping agricultural businesses across the world – will join MNP as a partner and the leader of MNP's agronomy practice. Bills had already been speaking to the six companies about joining forces when the opportunity to work with MNP came about:

"There are more than 34,000 farms in Canada that exceed 1,120 acres in size, many of which need specialized agronomic advice," explained Bills. "Less than 20% of these farms have access to professional agronomic advice services and so our aim was to build Canada's largest professional ag and technology consulting firm; a team that empowers agricultural prosperity and intelligence through the succession and generations of both farms and agriculture professionals."

"All six companies share the same values and approach to client service and we were already aligning on how to best work together. When the opportunity then came to do that as part of MNP – Canada's leading firm in this space - we all saw the huge potential to quickly scale up our agronomy services and provide even more Canadian farmers with the critical support they need to succeed. We expect to grow the agronomy practice over the coming years and these mergers are just the start, rather than the destination, of our journey."

Tanya Knight, MNP's Executive Vice President, Clients and Services, noted that the geographic spread of the merging-in firms is part of MNP's strategy to reach businesses wherever in Canada they might be based:

"Our business model has always been designed to support clients in the communities where we live and work regardless of the size of a city or town," said Knight. "That's a strategy that we believe differentiates us. These mergers are really about helping us to reach and support more Canadian farmers with their journeys and so we're delighted to welcome all six businesses into the MNP family."

All of the agronomy companies joining MNP will remain in their current locations and connect with MNP's 125 offices across the country – including 47 in the Prairies.

About MNP LLP

National in scope and local in focus, MNP is one of Canada's leading professional services firms — proudly serving individuals, businesses, and organizations since 1958. Through the development of strong relationships, we provide client-focused accounting, consulting, tax, and digital services. Our clients benefit from personalized strategies with a local perspective to fuel success wherever business takes them. For more information, visit www.mnp.ca

SOURCE MNP

For more information, please contact: Robin Ashford, Vice President, Marketing & Communications, MNP, at [email protected]; Warren Bills, CEO and Co-Founder, Convergence Growth, at [email protected]