WattAgNet: Land O’Lakes looks to sell Moark egg operations

Land O’Lakes informs stakeholders it wants to divest of the layer division due to financial losses over the last three years

Release Date: 2014-04-28

Citing Moark's significant operating losses over the past three years, Land O’Lakes is seeking to sell its Moark egg operations. The decision for Land O’Lakes to get out of the layer business was revealed in the recently released Land O’Lakes 2013 annual report.

“The Layers segment, conducted through Moark LLC, had pretax losses in 2013 of $25 million, a $14 million improvement over 2012. While the company was challenged in 2013 by supply issues and high feed prices relative to egg prices, an extensive focus on cost savings and improved operational efficiency drove the improvement in 2013. Most important, the decision was made in 2013 to explore options to divest of this business,” the Land O’ Lakes 2013 annual report stated.

Moark LLC was formed in 2000. In 2006, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes. Moark has 16.1 million laying hens and produces about 126 million eggs weekly.