ARDEN HILLS, Minn. —Land O’Lakes is shut ting down its whey production operation at Perham, Minn., Land O’Lakes vice president for Dairy Foods Operations and Supply Chain Fer nando Palacios recently announced. “In today’s highly competitive, and consolidat ing, dairy foods industry, operating efficiency is es sential to our ability to effectively serve customers and generate appropriate returns for our member owners,” Palacios said. “Therefore, we are continu ally evaluating all of our facilities, processes, and policies, with an eye to achieving maximum effi ciency. “Land O’Lakes has a long history in Perham, and this was a very difficult decision,” he continued. “However, in terms of industry economics, Land O’Lakes strategic direction, our system’s long-term success, and our commitment to serving the inter ests of our members, this was a very appropriate de cision.” When evaluating production facilities, Land Dairylea , DFA Northeast Council To Host Young Cooperators * Conference SYRACUSE, NY Dairylea Cooperative Inc. and the Northeast Area Council of Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA) announced that this year’s Young Cooperators’ Conference will take place March 14 -16, at the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre. The annual conference is open to members of Dairylea, DFA, and affiliated coopera tives and their key farm personnel between the ages of 18-40. The Young Cooperators’ Conference is designed to provide members with valuable information, as well as an opportunity to socialize with their peers. Topics for the conference sessions include industry and cooperative updates, cow comfort, farm safety and legislative news. In addition, speaker and humorist, Jolene Brown will provide entertainment at the banquet and lead an interactive workshop titled, “Top Ten Stupid Things Families Do to Break up Their Farm Opera tions.” Conference registration is free. The conference kicks off on Friday, March 14, with a pizza party. Informational sessions will begin Saturday morn ing. Scheduled events conclude on Sunday with lunch. To receive a registration form, or for more in formation on the conference, call Jan Peterson at (800) 654-8838, extension 5524. The deadline for Land O’Lakes Cl •ses Minnesota Facility FromAmund O’Lakes looks at a wide range of factors, including plant age and condition, plant capacity and current production levels, overall efficiency, market trends and customer demands, and regional milk supply and milk production trends, Palacios said. The Perham facility, which was built in 1942, has been operating at less than full capacity, a situation complicated by market trends and the cost of trans porting whey to the facility for processing, he ex plained. Perham’s whey processing volume will be trans ferred to Land O’Lakes facilities in Pine Island, Minn., Speocer, Wise., and Kiel, Wise. Milk pro curement and hauling will not be affected, since the Perham plant has not been receiving raw milk. The plant has forty-six employees and severance packages will be provided. Perham employees will also have the opportunity to pursue available em ployment opportunities at other facilities within the Land O’Lakes system. Md. & Va. Co-Op Acquires Maola RESTON, Va. Maryland & Virginia Milk Pro ducers Cooperative has reached an agreement with North Carolina-based Maola Milk and Ice Cream Company to acquire all of the stock in the 68-year old independent dairy processor. Maola will retain its name and brand identity and will operate as a separate business of Maryland & Virginia. Founded in 1935, Maola processes and packages fluid milk, packaged ice cream, ice cream novelties, juice and other drinks at its plant in New Bern, N.C. Maola is the only independent milk processing plant in eastern North Carolina. The plant pro cesses 80,000 gallons of milk per day and 1.5 million gallons of ice cream annually. Maola employs over 400 people in New Bern and 13 distribution centers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Maryland & Virginia and, previously, Carolina Virginia Milk Producers have supplied Maola for nearly 20 years. In addition, Maryland & Virginia’s Marva Maid plant, in Newport News, Va., is stra tegically located to generate synergies by working closely with Maola. With common customers and overlapping delivery routes, the two operations will (Turn to Page A 43)
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