History: Synergy, LLC was formed in 1999 for the purpose of providing a large-scale production partner to the emerging nutraceutical and bio-pharmaceutical industries for those companies interested in deriving products from the bovine species. The original partners included Noblehurst Farms Inc., L-Brooke Farms, Dairylea Cooperative, Craig Buckhout of Agri-Invest, and Thomas D. Morris Associates.

Industry Trends: Production of dairy products in the U.S. continues its trend of consolidation – in both the production and processing sectors. Many farms are in transition across the Northeast in order to capture the economies of scale necessary to compete with progressive, well-financed operations in the West.

Synergy Today: Recognizing the need to consolidate, the original partners evolved the Synergy concept in order to further leverage the resources of the Northeast agricultural community. The idea was that by bringing together the strengths and complementary nature of large-scale dairy and field crop businesses, Synergy could capture efficiencies in management, human resources, and the utilization of capital assets. As a result, two dairy farms - Southview Farms and Broughton Farm Operations, as well as two crop farms - Gary A. Swede Farms and R.L. Jeffres & Sons joined Synergy as partners in the fall of 2004.

Bottom Line: While Synergy remains focused on the development of 'value-added' projects, the ability to control a large volume of high-quality milk while maintaining a strategic alliance with like-minded, complementary businesses brings a significant competitive advantage to the table.