Arden Hills, Minn.-Land O’Lakes Inc. (LOL) reported record net earnings for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009, despite the global economic downturn. Net income was $205.3 million on sales of $10.4 billion, compared to 2008’s $175.5 million and $12 billion, respectively. LOL reported cash returned to members of $108 million in 2009, a record high. Although net sales were down 14 percent, due mainly to changes in across-the-board commodity prices, they were still the second highest in company history. The 2009 revenue highlights were found within LOL’s food businesses. Crop inputs, which include seed, crop protection, and retail agronomy, reported a 15 percent drop in 2009 pretax earnings, at $136.8 million from the year-ago $161 million. Crop input results for 2009 included $11.1 million in unrealized gains, while 2008 included unrealized hedging losses of $14.5 million. Crop input sales in 2009 were $3.3 billion, down from 2008’s $3.5 billion. Volumes in both seed and crop protection were down due to a combination of reduced acreage planted in some segments and higher-than-expected customer carryover from a strong 2008. Crop inputs included a $28.2 million loss in agronomy, primarily due to LOL’s part ownership of Agriliance LLC. LOL said Agriliance’s repositioning has been largely completed, and that it expects to reposition the remaining assets in the first half of 2010. LOL-wide, fourth-quarter net income was $48.6 million on sales of $2.5 billion, versus the year-ago loss of $32.5 million and $2.67 billion.

Santiago-Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) reported a 35 percent drop in net income for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009, to $327.1 million ($1.24 per ADR) on sales of $1.44 billion, down from 2008’s $501.4 million ($1.91 per ADR) and $1.77 billion. Fourth-quarter earnings were off 37 percent, to $75.4 million ($.29 per ADR) on sales of $387.7 million compared to the year-ago $120.3 million ($.46 per ADR) and $397.9 million. Specialty Plant Nutrition (SPN) revenues for the year were off 34 percent, to $648.7 million from 2008’s $978.9 million. However, the fourth quarter saw improvement, off only 12.7 percent to $167 million from $191.4 million. SQM said that it observed a positive SPN trend throughout the year, which it expects will continue into 2010. It said fundamentals remain strong and should continue to drive the market medium-to-long term. It expects markets should reach pre-global economic crisis levels by the end of 2011.

Santiago-Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM) said Feb. 23 that it has suspended operations at its El Toco and Pampa Blanca mining facilities. The decision is in response to decreased global demand for nitrates and iodine. Lower sales volumes over the past 15 months have translated into increased inventories. “The year 2010 will be a transition year in terms of volumes for specialty fertilizers and iodine,” said SQM CEO Patricio Contesse. “We project that sales volumes will increase compared to 2009, reaching, by the end of 2010, growth rates similar to those observed during the beginning of 2008. We believe these higher growth rates will mean continued and consistent volume recovery in the future years.” He said SQM’s installed capacity and available inventory will allow it to respond quickly and efficiently in the event that demand recovers at faster rates than originally projected. As a result of the suspensions, SQM nitrate production for the year 2010 should decline slightly compared to 2009. Sodium nitrate production will decline as a result of the El Toco suspension and will be partially offset by the operations of the new potassium nitrate facility in Coya Sur, scheduled to begin operating during the second half of 2010. This plant, with state-of-the-art technology, will process nitrate salts from mining operations, with production costs estimated to be significantly lower than current costs. SQM expects 2010 iodine volumes to be similar to 2008, and 2010 production to fall about 20 percent compared to 2009. As for expansion plans for Salar de Atacama, Contesse said the projects have moved forward according to plans. SQM expects potassium chloride production this year to be slightly higher than 1.4 million mt, compared to about 1.1 million mt (potassium chloride and potassium sulfate) produced in 2009. Contesse said future investment plans are in line with this trend, and total production should reach 1.8 million mt during 2012.

Casablanca, Morocco, and Cranbury, N.J.-Morocco’s OCP S.A. and Innophos Holdings Inc. jointly announced Feb. 24 that Innophos’s Mexican subsidiaries – collectively, Innophos Mexico – and their phosphate rock supplier, OCP, had reached agreements fully settling the previously announced commercial contract arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France. Under the agreements, OCP and Innophos Mexico resolved disputes concerning 2008 and 2009 prices and quantities of phosphate rock, and agreed upon 2010 prices and quantities for phosphate rock purchases and sales until the existing agreement expires in September. Representatives of OCP and Innophos said that the terms of the settlement were confidential, that neither OCP nor Innophos Mexico admitted liability, and that each was entering into the settlement solely in order to avoid the costs and burdens of continued arbitration.

Wilmington, Del.-Fertilizer produced by Ashland Hercules Water Technologies (AHWT), a commercial unit of Ashland Inc., is now available exclusively through Blue Water Agronomy. Fertilizer blenders and formulators will find the product available in chip, granular, and powder form. “This is a well-established product in the turf and ornamental industry and we are very pleased that Blue Water Agronomy has agreed to be our exclusive agent for our products,” said Brine Ranson, AHWT global business manager, fertilizer products. Ashland’s fertilizer is used in golf course turf management, horticulture, lawn and garden, and specialty agriculture applications. The established products, sold as bluAgro?äó Chip, bluAgro Granular, and bluAgro Powder, are for time-released nitrogen application. New fertilizer product introductions, expected later this year, include a liquid product line, bluAgro h2o, and a new urea form technology, bluAgro Live. Products can be ordered by contacting Mary Walker, Blue Water Agronomy, at 1-866-609-2387 or mwalker@bluewateragronomy.com. AHWT is a global producer of papermaking chemicals and is a specialty chemicals supplier to the pulp and paper, industrial and institutional, mining, and municipal markets.

Muscle Shoals, Ala.-The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) has announced the launching of a global research initiative, to be called the Virtual Fertilizer Research Center (VFRC), to create the next generation of new and improved fertilizers and production technologies to help feed the world’s growing population, provide sustainable global food security, and protect the environment. Initial financing will come from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Dr. Jimmy Cheek, chancellor of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and former senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources at the University of Florida, has agreed to chair the advisory board of the VFRC. Cheek envisions VFRC developing a new suite of crop nutrients that will revolutionize agriculture in the developing world. He commented, “I am proud to be associated with the effort and recognize its urgency and importance.” With the food, fertilizer, and fuel price crises abating only temporarily with the global recession, IFDC officials determined that now is the time to act. IFDC President and CEO Amit Roy cautioned that the underlying causes remain, and that it is likely that these problems will re-emerge with economic recovery. Roy emphasized, “These are global issues and they require global solutions. Therefore, IFDC is creating the VFRC as the most rapid, economical way to tap the world’s intellectual capacity to generate this critically needed fertilizer research.” He said the Center will partner with universities, public and private research laboratories, and the global fertilizer and agribusiness industries to bring together the best scientific, business, and government minds to create a research system producing more food with fewer wasted resources and a reduced environmental impact. “Because of these crises, new and innovative research is needed to help feed the world. The time has come for developing practices and technologies to improve the use of land and labor resources, reduce emissions into the air and water, and conserve natural resources,” he said.

Pavilion, N.Y.-Jeffres Ag Service is completing a $250,000 expansion of its facility here, which has some parts that date back to the 1800s. Since they took over in 2003, the Jeffres brothers, prominent farmers in the area who also own a restaurant and other ventures, have seen the ag business show steady growth, with fertilizer sales increasing from 6,000 tons seven years ago to 13,000 tons last year. They expect to add another 600 to 700 tons with the modernization. “The original building was built in the late 1800s and has been added to and expanded many times since then,” Tom Jeffres told Green Markets. He said a new 10-ton dry mixer has been added to operate along with the old 8-ton mixer and more than double the throughput there. The two liquid blenders have been reconditioned, a new concrete containment area built, and a new tank added for the relocated liquid plant to increase holding capacity substantially. “We rebuilt the truck loadout and hopefully we’ll be getting more product moving through this area,” Jeffres reported. “We also refurbished part of the existing plant for a new office area and turned the old office into a break area for the help.” Jeffres has seven employees during peak season. Dick Copeland, who was with former owner JD Buckley & Sons, is manager; Deb Donneley is account manager, and Jeff Finch has been hired as a new salesman.