2002 Ad

Rural Cooperatives, July-August, 2003 by Patrick Duffey

"Our future success lies in the strength of our members and the ability to meet the ever-changing needs of customers," Ag Processing (AGP) CEO Marty Reagan told members attending the Omaha-based cooperative's 19th annual meeting. As a result, the soybean-processing cooperative "continues to be profitable, paying patronage and revolving equity to members," he said.

For fiscal 2002, AGP produced a record volume of refined oil and had sales that topped $1.8 billion; returned $16.5 million in cash in patronage, equity redemption and component premiums; expanded destination markets for members' grain, including beginning construction on a new West Coast vessel-loading facility, and exported 20 percent of its soybean meal production, mostly to Canada and the Pacific Rim. Members' equity in AGP stands at nearly $403 million.

"Every business unit we operated last year had capital dollars invested in them, with most of the money earmarked for improved efficiencies, increased capacity and marketing opportunities," Reagan said. Mike Knobbe, group vice president for grain, said the future for AGP Grain will be enhanced by a pair of developments in fiscal 2002: creation of a new partnership with Farmers Cooperative Co. at Hinton, Iowa, and expanded destination markets made possible by the purchase of 14 grain elevators in the Texas panhandle.