U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Charles Nail yesterday approved trustee motions to sell the Veblen East and Veblen West mega-dairies to AgStar Financial's acquisition companies. Court documents indicate that no objections were filed to the Veblen West sale, and the only objection to the Veblen East sale, from John Deere Credit, was withdrawn.
Now AgStar probably doesn't want to have two giant dairies hanging around its neck. I would expect the financier to look to unload these properties on some willing buyer. As the court order indicates, Veblen West alone includes 3,700 dairy cows of Holstein-Jersey, Montbéliard, and Scandinavian Red bloodlines; some semis and tractors; welding and veterinary equipment; some miscellaneous gear and several strips of land that someone ought to be able to put to good use. A liquidation sale would allow AgStar to recoup some of its losses. We can also hope it would benefit small local producers and once and for all break up the financial power Richard Millner and the Dairy Dozen consolidated in Veblen.
I predict that it will be sold as a turnkey operation, cows and equipment included. This will greatly limit the pool of potential buyers.
The big question is: Will AgStar liquidate the property and sell it piecemeal, or try to find buyers for the dairies as operating units?
A total liquidation could be another financial blow to the community, capping off all the debts Milner has left behind. Liquidation also has enviornmental issues: What happens to the lagoons full of s#*x?