Each summer, the Midwest Association of State Departments of Agriculture gathers in the home state of the current chair for a regional meeting. This year, Missouri Agriculture Director Chris Chinn gathered the group in Chesterfield, Missouri, June 24 and 26. During this regional meeting, Land O’Lakes’ Purina Animal Nutrition Center welcomed the attendees to Gray Summit, Missouri, to showcase their pioneering research facility. 

The Midwest Association of State Departments of Agriculture (MASDA) convenes 13 states including: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Commissioners of Agriculture and their key staff from many of these state departments were in attendance as well as other industry partners and sponsors, with around 120 people in attendance. 

Land O’Lakes, Inc. is a sponsor of MASDA and the umbrella organization, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). During the visit, Troy Wistuba, Vice President of Feed and Additive Technical Innovation hosted the attendees at the 1,263-acre facility, which originated in 1926 and includes a 300-cow dairy operation. 

This is a unique facility within the feed industry, as it is staffed with more than 150 nutritionists, veterinarians, and animal care workers. It currently includes nine homes on the property where employees live and are available to provide care after hours. The staff evaluate over 3,000 animals on an annual basis in the Beef, Swine, Dairy, Equine and Companion Units. 

They are also a fully operational farm: they sell milk, dairy beef calves, finished market cattle and hogs, and horses. Additionally, they sell to their employees and donate thousands of farm-fresh eggs from the “back-yard” flock. 

In attendance from Land O’Lakes, Senior Vice President of Animal Nutrition Chris Pearson joined the tour and commented, “There is no other research facility like it anywhere. The team here collects over 4 billion data points every single year. It fills me with pride to know that these visitors have witnessed the unique Purina Animal Nutrition Center, which has been a hub of pioneering animal research for nearly a century. The groundbreaking work conducted here and throughout the Animal Nutrition business is a foundational element that distinguishes us in the industry.” 

During his remarks, Chris highlighted the importance of our partnership between the private sector and policymakers to support the agriculture and the animal feed industry. Land O’Lakes is a leader on several policy issues impacting the ag industry, such as the Innovative FEED Act, which would streamline the regulatory pathway for substances added to animal food or drinking water that function in the gut of an animal. 
In addition to Chris Pearson, Matthew Wohlman, Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs for Land O’Lakes, Inc. And Pete Kappelman, Senior Vice President of Member and Government Relations for Land O’Lakes, Inc. joined the tour group. 

SVP Pete Kappelman shared about the ongoing policy work that Land O’Lakes is engaged in to support farmers and producers nationwide, such as reauthorizing a vital tax structure that benefits farmer-owned cooperatives, Section 199A. 

Following the tour, Pete noted, “Each member of MASDA has a cooperative or farmer in their state that is part of the Land O’Lakes cooperative network affiliated with this facility. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of farmers, ranchers, and producers throughout the country rely on our animal nutrition insights and feed that were researched and improved right here at this research facility. We are proud to welcome these state agricultural leaders to our facility and thank them for the work they do to support the ag industry and farmers across the Midwest.” 

The attendees learned about the pioneering work of the research facility and saw firsthand the data collection that drives innovation in animal nutrition for the entire industry. This was an incredible opportunity for ag leaders throughout the Midwest to learn more about Purina Animal Nutrition and to collaborate and partner on how to support this industry together. Keep up with the latest in Purina Animal Nutrition news and research here.