Land O'Lakes, Inc. reports record sales of $16bn

This compares with net sales of $14bn and net earnings of $266m in 2020.

"Land O'Lakes 2021 performance was most directly the result of the incredible work and resilience of our teams,"​ said Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Within the Land O'Lakes businesses, crop inputs saw volume increases as farmers leveraged insights from ag-tech platforms and invested in their crops given improved commodity market pricing driven by short supply globally.

Crop inputs also benefitted from improved product mix in crop protection and higher margins in crop nutrients. At the same time, the business realized supply chain efficiencies from strategic actions including location consolidations and structured deliveries that provided offsets to increased transportation and handling costs.

Dairy foods retail volumes remained elevated from pre-pandemic levels and the company said foodservice volumes saw a strong recovery as the economy re-opened in 2021. Dairy earnings were below prior year levels due to higher supply chain costs, partially offset by improved margins on both cheese and non-fat dry milk.

Animal nutrition continued to grow its lifestyle feed volumes but overall earnings were below prior year levels, also due to higher supply chain costs, in addition to higher ingredient costs.

"We move into our next 100 years with confidence for the future, our business positioned for the long-term, continuing to serve our members and advocate for their communities,"​ Ford said.