Southern States Cooperative is is a retail agricultural cooperative serving the agronomy, energy and farm supply needs of its members and customers across eight states in the Southeastern United States. The Richmond, VA-based cooperative serves a wide range of farm inputs including: fertilizer, seed, livestock feed, pet food, animal health supplies, and petroleum products, as well as other items for the farm and home.
The cooperative was founded in 1923 as Virginia Seed Service (VSS) when Virginia farmers were unable to buy seed guaranteed to grow in the Commonwealth and soon expanded to include feed, agronomy inputs, energy and farm supplies. In the early 1930s, the cooperative became known as Southern States. In 2020, Southern States joined GROWMARK to leverage the advantages a broader cooperative system would bring to its members, Southern States continues to operate 87 company-owned retail locations and maintains a working relationship with 44 locally-owned Southern States cooperatives.
