Pacific Ag, which operates the nation's largest crop residue supply chain, has acquired Calagri, a leading regional agricultural residue and hay harvesting company.

The transaction further solidifies Pacific Ag's ability to ensure cost-competitive, year-round supply and more streamlined harvesting and delivery of forages and other crop residues to customers across the Pacific Northwest, western Canada and Asia, the announcement said.

Kerry Calaway of Calagri will join Pacific Ag's executive leadership team, lending decades of experience to Pacific Ag's expanding national reach. Pacific Ag founder and chief executive officer Bill Levy believes the company is further strengthened by its retention of the entire Calagri team.

"For nearly two decades, we've watched and admired what Kerry and his team at Calagri have accomplished in the region," Levy said. "Combining their grower and customer base in the upper Columbia River Basin with ours in the lower (basin) will help us increase efficiencies and provide better service. We are really looking forward to Kerry and his staff joining our team."

As a result of the transaction, Pacific Ag will manage the harvest and logistics of more than 300,000 tons annually of forage and residue in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

The nation's largest builder and operator of supply chains for agricultural residue, Pacific Ag offers a high-quality product, delivered via professional logistics at an affordable and predictable price to domestic and export protein markets, including dairies and feedyards, mushroom operations and erosion control industries, as well as biorefineries.

With 20 years of experience and operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Iowa and North Carolina, the company has developed trusted relationships with hundreds of growers representing nearly half a billion tons of agricultural residue.

Calagri was founded in 1987 and, with the exception of Pacific Ag, is the largest forage and crop residue harvest company in the Pacific Northwest with operations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. In addition to being a harvest and transport service provider, Calagri has a strong history of providing crop management for those customers that prefer one source for crop and harvest management.

"It's an exciting time to join forces with Pacific Ag," Calaway said. "New markets for forage and crop residue are growing across the region and the country, and farmers are increasingly looking for ways to sustainably generate additional income per acre. Together, we will create more opportunities for farmers while providing better service to our customers."

Matching grower needs to responsive harvest capabilities since its founding in 1998, Pacific Ag has become the nation's largest builder and operator of sustainable supply chains to meet the demand for forage crops for beef and dairy markets, for mushroom and erosion control markets, and for the production of cellulosic biofuels and bio-based chemicals. The company owns and operates the single largest fleet of biomass harvesting equipment in the U.S.