St. Paul, Minn.-Land O’Lakes Inc. reported a 35 percent increase in net earnings for the first quarter ending March 31, 2009, to $82.7 million on sales of $2.9 billion, compared to the year-ago $61.3 million and $3.3 billion, respectively. LOL’s seed business reported very strong sales and earnings, with sales of $775 million and pretax earnings of $86.5 million versus the year-ago $627 million and $43 million, respectively. In terms of volumes, soybean seeds were up 3 percent, corn down 4 percent, and alfalfa down 11 percent. LOL reported strong early-year seed shipments and solid per-unit margins. The agronomy segment, which is mainly the crop protection business, reported a $7.8 million pretax loss versus a year-ago loss of $9.2 million. It is traditionally a slow quarter for crop protection. Sales were down, at $408 million, from the year-ago $487 million.
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