America’s second largest cooperative, Land O’Lakes, has struggled to keep up with its record 2014 sales year. On Tuesday, Arden Hills-based Land O’Lakes released its third quarter results ending September 30 with a year-to-year sales drop of $480 million.
 
Over the three-month period, the dairy and food producer reported $2.62 billion in net sales, which brings its total sales for the year to $9.74 billion. Comparatively, in 2014, Land O’Lakes net sales reached $3.1 billion in the third quarter, and its year-to-date sales were $11.4 billion.
 
Overall profits increased from $5.8 million in 2014’s Q3 to $8.2 million this year, which was driven by a strong performance from Land O’Lakes’ animal nutrition business, Purina.
 
As a private company, Land O’Lakes did not disclose separated figures for each of its business segments. It did, however, make mention of its Winfield Solutions division, which produces farming, turf and agriculture maintenance products. In its release, Land O’Lakes said that lower commodity prices and a challenging grower environment have resulted in Winfield’s underperformance.
 
The products Land O’Lakes is best known for, its dairy foods, have had a slight sales turnaround after a falling global demand for milk and cheese products. Yet, Land O’Lakes said continues to struggle with the “epic declining milk powder” market.
 
“While cyclical commodity prices continue to affect our overall results, Land O’Lakes Inc. is extending and growing our business both here in the U.S. and now globally,” said CEO Chris Policinski in a statement.
 
Last week, Land O’Lakes announced news of its first commercial investment in Africa by acquiring majority ownership of a crop protection business. Policinski has previously stated that “Africa will be everyone’s great growth market,” while a Land O’Lakes representative told TCB the acquisition was the company’s “next logical step” moving forward.
 
Land O’Lakes currently employees almost 10,000 employees and posted 2014 sales exceeding $15 billion. Its products can be found in all 50 states and in more than 60 countries.