Today Land O’Lakes, Inc. announced that it entered into an agreement with ABI Alfalfa, Inc. to purchase substantially all of its assets.  The parties contemplate that the sale will close on or around August 1, 2005.  ABI Alfalfa is a vertically integrated alfalfa breeding, seed production, and seed marketing company that markets seed under the America’s Alfalfa ® brand.  The current ABI Alfalfa business will be operated by Forage Genetics Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes. 

“ABI Alfalfa is one of the oldest and most successful alfalfa breeding programs in the world,” said Forage Genetics President Mark McCaslin.  “America’s Alfalfa is one of the most widely respected alfalfa brands in the industry.  We are excited about the potential synergies between ABI Alfalfa and our existing alfalfa business.”

Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a national farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative with annual sales of more than $7 billion.  Land O’Lakes does business in all 50 states and more than 50 countries.  It is a leading marketer of a full line of dairy-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products across the United States; serves its international customers with a variety of food and animal feed ingredients; and provides farmers and ranchers with an extensive line of agricultural supplies (feed, seed, crop nutrients and crop protection products) and services.