|
|
A Cooperative
|
|
In 1983, Land OLakes, Inc., a Minnesota corporation, Farmland Industries, a Kansas corporation, and Boone Valley
Cooperative Processing Association, an Iowa corporation doing business only in soybean
processing, entered into a joint venture agreement to form one cooperative soybean
processing company. On August 31, 1983, Land OLakes Inc. and Farmland Industries
combined their soybean processing plants located at Dawson, Minnesota; Sheldon, Iowa; Fort
Dodge, Iowa; Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; St. Joseph, Missouri; and Van Buren, Arkansas into a
new company.
Shortly after the reconfiguration in 1983, the new company name
"Ag Processing Inc a cooperative" was adopted with the corporate logo
AGP® as our company
trademark.
In December 1985, the company acquired additional processing plants at Manning, Iowa
and Mason City, Iowa from American Grain and Related Industries (AGRI).
Soybean Processing
Soybean processing is AGP's primary business. AGP is largest soybean processor in Iowa
and the fourth largest soybean processor in the United States based on capacity.
Additionally, AGP is the largest COOPERATIVE soybean processor in the world. Every month,
AGP plants acquire more than 18 million bushels of soybeans for processing. That’s the
equivalent of the soybeans grown on 16 thousand acres per day. AGP annually purchases
and processes more than 5.5 million acres of members’ soybeans. AGP continues to expand
crushing capacity with the addition of plants in Emmetsburg, Iowa (1997) and Hastings,
Nebraska (1999).
|
Food (Vegetable Oil Refining)
In 1985, AGP began refining soybean oil by purchasing equipment for installation in an existing building located at the St. Joseph, Missouri soybean
processing plant. Refining capacity was expanded in 1991 with the purchase of a Denison, Texas refinery. Then in 1993, the Sherman, Texas refinery
was acquired through a lease agreement. Shortly after the acquisition of the Sherman plant, a new corporation, AGP, L.C. was formed with Archer
Daniels Midland and AGP, having equal ownership of the two Texas refineries. In 1994, the Denison plant production (located 9 miles from Sherman)
was consolidated into the Sherman plant and the Denison plant was closed. In April of 2000, shifting market conditions led to the closing of the
Sherman refinery as well. However, AGP’s refining capacity expanded with the completion of a refinery in Eagle Grove, Iowa during January 1998,
and a new vegetable oil refinery at Hastings, Nebraska, which became operational in January of 2001. AGP currently is the
fourth largest vegetable
oil refiner in the United States.
|
Grain
AGP operates a grain merchandising
division which buys and sells grains on
a regional, national and global basis. Merchandisers work out of the Omaha corporate
office.
The company purchased a grain terminal at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1990,
which was sold to a new corporation,
AGP
Grain Cooperative, effective
February 1, 1991.
AGP Grain Cooperative members voted to
merge the cooperative into a wholly
owned subsidiary of AGP called AGP
Grain Marketing, Inc. on August 31,
2003. On August 31, 2004 the subsidiary
name changed to AGP Grain Marketing,
LLC. AGP Grain Marketing, LLC
serves producers and customers through
its operations,
marketing agreements, and partnerships
in Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, and Kansas.
Another business unit of the AGP Grain
Group was AGP Grain, Ltd., which was
part of an acquisition from
International Multifoods, Minneapolis,
MN.
From this acquisition, a partnership,
AGP, L.P. was formed. AGP, L.P. sold its
grain division to Ag Processing Inc in
July 1994, which was called AGP Grain,
Ltd. This wholly owned subsidiary
consisted of elevators and terminals
located in North Dakota and Minnesota,
including an export facility in Duluth,
Minnesota. AGP Grain, Ltd. also had
merchandising offices in the Minneapolis
Grain Exchange and in Antwerp, Belgium
and Barcelona, Spain. On August 1, 2008,
AGP sold the assets of AGP Grain, Ltd.
in North Dakota and Minnesota to
Columbia Grain, Portland, Oregon. The
sale did not include AGP’s interest in
Maple River Grain and Agronomy, LLC,
located in Casselton, North Dakota.
|
Feed
In 1991, Ag Processing Inc purchased the North American Ag Products Division of International Multifoods, Minneapolis,
Minnesota. This business was comprised of Supersweet Feeds, and a grain operation all in the US, and
Masterfeeds
a Canadian feed manufacturing business. A partnership was formed with Archer Daniels Midland with their contribution
of ADM Feed Company and a pet food division. Two organizations, AGP, L.P. in the U.S. and AGP, Inc. in Canada were
formed. In 1994, AGP, Inc., in Canada, expanded its operations with the purchase of five feed mills located at
Alberta, Canada. In July 2001, ADM acquired the U.S. and Caribbean operations of Consolidated Nutrition, L.C.,
from AGP. As part of the transaction, AGP acquired ADM’s 50 percent interest in AGP, Inc. in Canada, resulting in
Masterfeeds being a wholly owned subsidiary of AGP.
|
Industrial Products
Ethanol:
In 1994, an idle corn ethanol plant located in Jasper, Tennessee was purchased.
The plant was dismantled and relocated to Hastings, Nebraska in 1995.
On November 21, 1995 the ethanol plant began operations. Production
capacity continues to expand.
Methyl Esters:
In 1997, AGP expanded in many areas with completion of a soybean methyl
ester plant in Sgt Bluff, Iowa. AGP markets soy methyl ester products
under the SOYGOLD brand. They are used in a wide variety of applications
including soydiesel fuel, solvents, and spray adjuvants
(used to enhance the effectiveness of agricultural chemicals).
AGP built a new soy methyl ester plant
in St. Joseph, MO that became
operational in the fall of 2007.
|
|
|
|