An £800,000 deal has been signed to move a weekly livestock market to the national agricultural showground at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.
Some 250 farmers have made a personal contribution of £2,000 each to complete the switch from Rugby which will take place in the New Year.
The remaining financial input has come from the regional development fund of Advantage West Midlands (£200,000), the Royal Agricultural Society of England (£100,000) and Howkins and Harrison, auctioneers at Rugby Livestock Sales (£50,000).
The move has become vital for Warwickshire farmers following the decision to redevelop the market in Rugby which has been the home of livestock sales since the 19th Century.
The money will be used to overhaul a 4,500sq metre building at the Royal Agricultural Showground.
When the building is completed in April it will have capacity for 1,000 cattle and 1,500 ewes.
In return for their investment, each farmer will receive a share in the Rugby Farmers Mart LLP, which has been set up by Richard Heckford.
Mr Heckford, who has a cattle and sheep farm between Rugby and Daventry, said: "The creation of a Livestock Market at Stoneleigh will act as a business and social magnet for farmers from all over the region - and that is extremely significant for the industry.
"The lease on the Rugby livestock market site expired a year ago, but the landowner's failure to sell it resulted in a stay of execution. We can now move forward in a much more positive frame of mind.
"If we had not had this new site, the nearest market to Rugby would have been 50 miles away. The new site will mean less travelling and improve animal welfare."
He said farmers had felt the need to secure the future with a move to a prime and central site for buying and selling livestock at the heart of England.
The new market would not be a threat to Stratford Auction Sales at Clifford Chambers, he added. Legal advice throughout the negotiations was provided by David Lodder, a specialist agricultural lawyer and senior partner of Warwickshire law firm Lodders.
He has co-ordinated the complex legal package with the new co-operative over the past nine months. He said: "There were many lengthy legal issues to be resolved with the large number of shareholders involved, but we are now ready to sign the contracts. We are delighted because commercially the site will be second to none.
"It should provide a strong boost to the agricultural economy in Warwickshire and the West Midlands. We will be able to start building work immediately once contracts have been signed.
"We all see this as an opportunity to establish a permanent base for buying and selling livestock at the heart and the showpiece of Britain's agricultural industry. It will be a significant bulwark against decline - the industry having lost Lichfield, Banbury, Northampton, Henley, and the former Stratford Livestock market in recent years.
"I think it is also a healthy sign to discover that the new generation of farmers in the West Midlands are prepared to work together. Co-operatives make sense in a tough business environment."
