Apex Ag Solutions, LLC of Jonesboro recently announced plans for a new full-service agricultural retail outlet for seed, chemical and nutritional products.
Last week, Apex completed the purchase of 7.5 acres of land on County Road 680 in Bay (Craighead County), previously owned by Syngenta. The $595,000 deal included more than 50,000 SF of greenhouse, laboratory, office, warehouse and equipment storage space. Apex plans to start moving into the new site later this year after renovating the existing structures.
Syngenta was ordered to sell the land in 2023 after Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin enforced a state law that forbids Chinese-owned companies from owning land in the state. Syngenta is a subsidiary of Sinochem, a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
According to the Craighead County Assessor’s office, Syngenta Seeds LLC sold the land to Moore Sisters Holdings LLC in May for $500,000.
Apex Ag Solutions is one of the largest providers of seed, chemical, and nutritional products in northeast Arkansas, serving more than 75 farmers in the region and currently employing 12 staff members.
Apex CEO Ryan Bane said in a press release the second location will allow the company to offer more services to farmers in the region.
“This acquisition allows us to double and potentially triple the acres we currently serve,” Bane said in the release. He expects to increase staff by 50% in 2026.
Apex is a Beck’s seed provider and has been one of the company’s top six total volume producers nationally for the past three years and among its top producers in soybean and corn seed sales. Beck’s is the largest family-owned retail seed company and the third-largest seed brand in the United States.
The press release stated that the expansion “marks a period of significant growth for the locally owned company.” This year, chemical sales have increased by 300%, and seed sales have increased by nearly 20%.
The new outlet also increases growers’ proximity to a local retailer, Bane said in the release.
“We pride ourselves on our ability to serve our customers, and we want to be the easiest to do business with,” he said in the release. “Now they have local people they know and trust who can provide services that will immediately impact their operations.”
In addition to seed and supplies, Apex provides consulting services for farmers. The company offers crop planning and financing services. This year, Apex has connected local growers who were unable to get traditional bank financing with third-party lenders and will have multiple options going into 2026.
“We try our best to stay ahead of the business and have things in place before they are needed,” Bane said in the release.
Supporting northeast Arkansas growers with a new retail location is “a full-circle moment,” Bane said. He graduated from Arkansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in agronomics with an emphasis on crop production and protection.
For more than a decade, Bane worked with growers in Lake City, Bay and southeast Missouri in sales and consulting roles at Jimmy Sanders, Inc. and BASF.
In 2020, he co-founded Apex with partner Brian French and became the company’s CEO Jan. 1 after purchasing French’s position in the company in late 2024.
“I started my career working with growers in this area,” Bane said in the release. “It is a full-circle moment for me to be fortunate and blessed enough to purchase this land and facilities and start a retail location.”
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