With a desire to kick some grass moving into turf markets, The McGregor Co. has purchased HydroGro LLC, an Arizona-based company that specializes in the manufacturing of grass seed-nutrient products.

With the acquisition, the Colfax, Washington-based seed and agriculture supplier now has close to 350 total employees, says Leslie Druffel, McGregor’s outreach coordinator. The company’s headquarters are located at 401 Airport Road, a few miles southwest of Colfax, and it has retail offices in more than 35 locations across the Pacific Northwest. 

HydroGro’s eight Phoenix-based employees will continue working there under the HydroGro name, according to a news release announcing the acquisition. The companies decline to disclose financial terms of the transaction.

McGregor credits HydroGro with making inroads in micronization technology, which is the use of important fluids to help manipulate seeds to help improve growth and use less water.

The two companies previously partnered to develop HydroGro’s SeedStart line of products.

Ian McGregor, president of The McGregor Co., says in the release, “This partnership has allowed us to bring a unique product to the market and really build the seed applied nutrition space from nothing to now an instrumental way that growers in our region apply micronutrients.”

The acquisition puts The McGregor Co. in a growth position in the micronutrient market and provides an opportunity to partner with top retailers in the turf and golf course markets, he says.

Druffel claims McGregor, founded in 1895, now is one of the largest independent fertilizer, agrichemical, and ag equipment dealers in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.