E-Markets powers Ag2Ag site for Cooperatives

Ames, Iowa - February 5, 2001 - E-Markets is involved in a new electronic commerce initiative for the Federated Cooperative system. Ag2Ag (http://www.ag2ag.com/) is a private electronic marketplace designed exclusively to support the cooperative system and its businesses. At Ag2Ag.com local cooperatives can access online information and applications offered by the product and service marketing groups of the cooperative system.

E-Markets is the major provider of electronic commerce services for Ag2Ag.

"We are pleased to be involved in the Ag2Ag venture," said Dave Abbott, CEO of E-Markets. "We have provided an electronic ordering platform to CROPLAN GENETICS for the last three years, and we look forward to deploying similar applications for other parts of the cooperative system."

Over time Ag2Ag will add new capabilities and further enhance its services in order to become local cooperatives' preferred choice for their e-business solutions.

"We're utilizing Internet technology to do things more efficiently and serve our customers better," said Bob Honse, Farmland president and CEO. "That's what Ag2Ag is all about - improving supply chains, adding efficiencies and increasing profits for the cooperative system. Ag2Ag will enable the cooperative system to apply our existing business principles to the world of the Web."

At the helm of the new venture is Mark Wilberts, Land O'Lakes vice president of eBusiness. He said Ag2Ag will operate with a small staff, serving as a non-profit, shared service provider to the cooperative system.

"The local co-op managers and producers who participated in planning sessions said rather than spend millions of dollars to re-invent the wheel, Ag2Ag should provide an umbrella to the best of the federated cooperative system online," Wilberts said. "That's exactly what we're building."

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