Land O'Lakes Extends and Expands Contract with E-Markets for Online Seed Ordering System

Sep 13, 2000 - Arden Hills, MN - Land O’Lakes has announced that it will expand and enhance its “SOAR21™” Internet-based seed ordering system through an extension of its contract with E-Markets, a leading provider of online ordering tools.

Land O’Lakes SOAR21 online seed ordering system has been powered by E-Markets®’ enterprise solution technology, Ag Order, since 1998. This new contract is an extension of two previous annual contracts between Land O’Lakes and E-Markets.

“Our partnership with E-Markets has enabled our member cooperatives to do business more effectively and more efficiently,” said Dave Seehusen, vice president of seed for Land O’Lakes. “Automated seed ordering has been extremely beneficial to our business. To ensure that more of our local cooperatives have an e-commerce advantage, we have expanded SOAR21 to all Wilfarm sites.

SOAR21 simplifies the administrative process of ordering by notifying users instantly as to whether a product is available. It also improves inventory management, customer service and communication for member cooperatives. In addition, users are able to enter, access and analyze plot yield data and to compare yields and other performance measures between Croplan Genetics seed and competing brands.

“Two years ago, Land O’Lakes had the vision to bring innovative e-business solutions to its 1,500 member cooperatives. We’re proud to continue our productive partnership with a company that’s clearly committed to being a leader in this area,” said David Abbott, president and chief executive officer of E-Markets. “Together, we have developed a successful product with proven results. We will continue to build on the technology and deliver more value to SOAR21 users.”

E-Markets creates online tools for the $500 billion agrifood industry. The company is a pioneer in agrifood e-commerce, having introduced the first online grain production contracting system in 1997 and the first Internet-based input ordering system in 1998. E-Markets tools are at work in more than 3,000 grain elevators in 10 states, representing more than 50 percent of the grain produced in the Midwest. The company’s e-commerce transactions accounted for an industry-leading $500 million in 1999. E-Markets’ other applications include an online grain-pricing tool called Decision Rules for Contracts™, an online production-contracting tool and an online grain bid-posting application.

Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a national, farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative, with approximately $6 billion in annual sales. Land O’Lakes does business in all fifty states and more than fifty countries. It is a leading marketer of a full line of dairy-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products across the U.S.; serves its international customers with a variety of food and animal feed ingredients; and provides farmers and local cooperatives with an extensive line of agricultural supplies (feed, seed, crop nutrients and crop protection products) and services.

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