Land O'Lakes Inc. Annual Report 2002

As one of the nation's top egg producers, MoArk remains in a good strategic position to take advantage of any market rebound—and there were indications of positive momentum in the fourth quarter—and continues to look for opportunities for increased market penetration. One of 2002's bright spots was the better-than-anticipated performance of LANDOLAKES branded eggs in key test markets.

Land O'Lakes continued to generate positive earnings in Seed in 2002, driven primarily by the growing strength of our CROPLAN GENETICS brand. This is a tribute to the approximately 1,000 local cooperative dealers who carry CROPLAN GENETICS Seed and are increasingly making seed an integral part of the livestock- and crop-production package they offer to member- customers. Land O'Lakes is now the nation's number-four farm seed company, and is committed to delivering performance appropriate to this size and scale.

The Agriliance agronomy joint venture continued its commitment to leveraging its position as the nation's number-one crop input marketing organization into improved performance and enhanced customer service. Despite challenging crop nutrient markets, this joint venture, established in 2000, achieved improved earnings in its most recent fiscal year, driven, in part, by internal cost reductions. Agriliance remains dedicated to building the nation's premier agronomy company—not only in terms of volume and market share, but also in performance and customer service.

photo of seed bags Additional 2002 highlights for Agriliance included implementation of the new IMPACT information system, which improved interaction with customers, and the dramatic growth of Agriliance's AgriSolutions proprietary brand of crop protection products.

Going forward, Land O'Lakes Ag Services remains dedicated to building continued success on the strength of its people, the depth of its commitment to Our Values and cooperative principles and the intensity of its focus on performance.