Land O’Lakes, Inc., in coordination with local co-ops Heartland Co-op, Landus Cooperative, and NEW Cooperative, are committed to providing residents of Bagley with three truckloads of Fareway drinking water. The donation will assist 300 residents in attaining safe, bottled water for consumption. The first truckload of water was delivered today, and shipments will continue as space comes available.
“This is a great, collaborative effort, working with Land O’Lakes and the other cooperatives, in helping a local community in need,” said Dave Coppess, Heartland Co-op EVP of Sales and Marketing.
“Everyone at Landus Cooperative is proud to join with Land O’Lakes and our surrounding cooperatives to help the residents of Bagley during a difficult time,” said Tim Unruh, Landus Cooperative Chief Agronomy Officer.
“We are happy to collaborate with our neighboring cooperatives and be a part of this donation to help out the residents of Bagley, especially with the holiday season approaching soon,” said Gary Moritz, NEW Cooperative Communications Director.
“We are excited to assist the co-op partners in helping provide for safe, bottled drinking water,” said Fareway President and CEO Reynolds W. Cramer.
"The citizens of Bagley are very appreciative and welcome the donation of water from the co-ops," said the City of Bagley Mayor Emily Chapman-Olesen. "Residents are currently using bottled water for both drinking and cooking."
City of Bagley residents were provided with a drinking water health advisory in March of 2019 and were encouraged to consume bottled water only. High levels of manganese were found in the local water supply, above that of the Environmental Protection Agency’s health recommendations. During elections on November 5, the citizens of Bagley approved a franchise with Xenia Rural Water. Anticipated completion of water connection is summer of 2020.
The donated water will be available to residents beginning on Saturday, November 23 at 603 Main Street in Bagley.
About Heartland Co-op
Heartland Co-op is a farmer-owned cooperative with people and facilities in more than seventy communities throughout Iowa and Nebraska. We provide products and services to local farmers in many commodity and product areas including Grain, Agronomy, Seed, Petroleum and Feed. All of these areas of service require a wide variety of skilled people in our purpose of “Helping farmers produce and market profitably”.
About Landus Cooperative®
Landus Cooperative® is a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative headquartered in Ames, Iowa, with about 600 full-time employees at locations in more than 60 communities and approximately 7,000 member-owners. Our diversified cooperative offers precision agronomy services with approximately 40 agronomists; AcreEdge®, a proprietary member-owned brand of soybeans; expert risk management services; domestic and global grain merchandising; and manufactures SoyPlus®, a high bypass protein soybean meal for dairy herds across the globe. For more information, visit LandusCooperative.com.
About NEW Cooperative, Inc.
NEW Cooperative, Inc. is a farmer-owned grain, agronomy, precision ag, energy and feed cooperative headquartered in Fort Dodge, Iowa. As a leading agriculture retailer, NEW Cooperative is focused on being an innovative and efficient provider of today's agriculture markets and services to over 4,800 members throughout their 39 locations in Iowa. Visit www.newcoop.com for more information.
About Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Land O'Lakes, Inc., one of America's premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2018 annual sales of $15 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 216 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 97 years of operation, Land O'Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production including LAND O LAKES® Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition, WinField United and Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Land O'Lakes, Inc. corporate headquarters are located in Arden Hills, Minn.
About Fareway
Fareway Stores, Inc. is a growing Midwest grocery company currently operating 122 stores located in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Fareway holds family values in the highest regard, demonstrating integrity, fairness, and honesty in relationships with customers, employees, vendors, and suppliers. Visit Fareway.com for more information.