Land O’Lakes, Inc., profits rebounded and sales increased in the third quarter of 2012.
 
The Arden Hills-based cooperative reported earnings of $18 million for the third quarter that ended in September—representing a substantial improvement from the $30 million loss that it experienced during the same period last year. (Last year’s third-quarter loss was attributed, in part, to “investments in growth, recent declines in dairy markets, and the timing of administrative expenses. . .”)
 
Meanwhile, revenue for the third quarter of this year totaled $3 billion, up 11.1 percent from $2.7 billion during the same period in 2011.
 
Land O’Lakes President and CEO Chris Policinski said in a prepared statement that the co-op’s strong third-quarter results were driven by its dairy foods and animal feed businesses.
 
Year-to-date, the co-op’s sales totaled $10.4 billion, up from $9.7 billion during the first nine months of 2011. Earnings for the first three quarters of the year, meanwhile, totaled $150 million compared with $138 million in 2011.
 
Policinski added that the holiday season tends to have a positive impact on the co-op’s financials and said he expects to end the year strong. Land O’Lakes’ pesticide and herbicide business, WinField, is on track for “a record year,” he added.
 
With $12.8 billion in 2011 revenue, Land O’Lakes is among the nation’s top-grossing U.S. co-ops. It is perhaps best known as a marketer of dairy-based food products for consumers. But it also offers local cooperatives and agricultural producers across the nation various agricultural supplies, along with production and business services.