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Riverview Offers to Buy Veblen Dairies

Last updated on 2011.01.30

Court May Finalize Deal Friday, January 28

Megadairy operator Riverview has made an offer to take the bankrupt Veblen dairies off financier AgStar's hands. According to motions filed yesterday by bankruptcy trustees Lee Ann Pierce (Veblen East, Case 10-10146, Document 285) and Forrest C. Allred (Veblen West, Case 10-10071, Document 518), Riverview has negotiated a deal with AgStar to acquire "substantially all of the assets of Veblen East and Veblen West." The motions indicate Riverview's intent is to continue operation of the dairies without interruption, keeping folks on the job and continuing to do business with area suppliers.

Just one undotted i: the motions note that Riverview's attorneys, the title insurers, and maybe Marshall County and the DENR are concerned that the Judge Charles Nail's January 5 Order Confirming Sale doesn't explicitly authorize AgStar through its acquisition companies to assign its rights to another buyer. The trustees thus ask Judge Nail to amend his order.

Judge Nail has given interested parties until noon Central this Friday to file objections. If any such objections arise, the judge will call folks at 1:30 that afternoon for a hearing. Objections seem unlikely, however, since there is a willing, proven, more than solvent buyer knocking on the door to keep the dairies open. Making objections even less likely are withdrawal notices filed Monday by attorneys for a few of the players involved in this bankruptcy mess, suggesting they've declared game over. Hearing no objection, Judge Nail is likely to amend his order Friday afternoon, at which point the sale to Riverview could go forward.

Riverview runs a dairy big feeder facility of Veblen scale in Spink County to which even I have given some good press. Mikkel Pates of AgWeek gave Riverview coverage earlier this month. Pates reports that over sixteen years, Gary and Brad Fehr of Morris, Minnesota, have amassed 210 investors, 30,000 cows, and 400 employees (80% Hispanic) running 10 facilities in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Riverview sells all of its milk to the Valley Queen Cheese Factory in Milbank, and they can probably sell more.

Unlike the stinky revolving-door operations of former Veblen dairy owner Richard Millner, Riverview's operations have demonstrated some stability, as well as, apparently, the ability to follow environmental regulations. If anyone can clean up Millner's mess in Veblen, it appears that Riverview can.

Of course, I wouldn't want to slip and start thinking giant corporate-scale agribusiness is good for small towns... but in this case, moving from Millner to Riverview may be a step in the right direction for Veblen. Interestingly, all of Riverview's facilities include living quarters use by the majority of their workers. Perhaps Veblen will see worker dormitories going up alongside the cattle barns... an image I don't find comforting.

Update 2011.01.30 09:22 CST: No objections, judge amends, Riverview buys. The Fehrs issue this press release:

MORRIS, Minn. (January 29, 2011) &ndashRiverview, LLP is excited to become a part of the Veblen, South Dakota community.A purchase agreement has been signed to purchase the assets of Veblen East Dairy and Veblen West Dairy out of bankruptcy.

Riverview will assume management of the facilities immediately. The names of the dairies will be changed to Marshall Dairy. These state-of-the art dairy facilities are capable of producing nearly 28 million gallons of milk annually. This purchase allows Riverview to keep two stable dairy operations in full production, which will foster employment andsupport the local economy. Riverview is committed to the dairy industry, its community, employees, animals and the environment.

Good idea on that name change. Google "Veblen Dairy," and you don't find a lot of good press. Let's see if Riverview can now keep Marshall Dairy out of the headlines and in the black.

25 Comments

  1. Sandra Banish 2011.01.26

    Kind of exciting for the small community of Veblen, SD that there is a chance now that the jobs may still be there. The struggles of the dairies have impacted this small community. I wish the best for all involved. May this financial disaster just becomes a memory very soon and the healing will begin.

  2. lrads1 2011.01.26

    Maybe they'll be able to use the closed elementary school for dorm housing. There's a new definition of community for you!

  3. Barry Muxen 2011.01.26

    Corey,
    I enjoyed the post about Riverview as I live 2 miles from their facility in Spink County. It is not a dairy in that no milk production takes place. The entity that runs this facility is United Feeders as well as the one in adjacent Clark County. This operation is a growing and breeding facility. This feedlot has something under 7500 head of varying weights and very well managed. Nothing out of place, even the feed shed is swept 2 or 3 times a day. They use biologic fly control and scrape the lots daily.
    In my view, however you may feel about mega dairies, If Riverview gains control, it will be run in a responsible manner.

  4. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.01.26

    Thanks for that correction, Barry! I've changed the text above to accurately reflect the nature of the Spink County feeder facility.

    Thanks even more for the local perspective. I share Wendell Berry's concerns about the destructive nature of industrial ag... but there is something to be said for businessmen who can minimize the damage. If the Fehrs do take over the Veblen dairies, and if they engage in the kind of economically and environmentally unsustainable practice Millner and partners have, I'll be all over them, too. But if they can run the Veblen dairies as effectively as you say they run the feeder operation in your backyard, that will be an improvement for Veblen.

    Curious, Barry: how do workers like the dorm facility there? I'd be a little nervous about having my boss own my bed... but as the Pates article notes, it helps workers save money.

  5. alan 2011.01.26

    I have to agree with barry, I have worked around riverview dairys...they are clean and well run...nothing out of place...no garbage...everything put away....if there is anyone that can fix this mess is Gary and Brad Fehr...ever look on u-tube type in riverview dairy...impressive...they must be doing something right otherwise they wouldnt be in ag-week..... all I can say is that Gray and Brad will do it right...

  6. Tanner Brook 2011.01.27

    Video is great, i have been to numerous of the dairies, on business and tours and they are impressive. I would bet riverview will offer tours to the folks around veblen sometime to come over and see their other dairy sites.

  7. Tanner Brook 2011.01.28

    Deal is done. Riverview officially owns the dairys.

  8. joelie hicks 2011.02.02

    I would call Riverview and their ilk 'best of the worst', I will give them credit for trying to run a decent operation. I think it will be a huge improvement from the previous owner. At the same time when you talk to some of the people who actually live near those dairies they are not so complimentary. The counties in which they operate are not better off financially, and the nearby waterways are polluted. Is all this their fault? Probably not, but there is a lot of coincidence. There is a constant production of waste and limited places to put it. Most disposal methods while looking slick and high tech are expensive and often costly to the taxpayer. One of the dairies is built close to the Little Minnesota, can't quite figure out how the SDDNR okayed that one. One way to quell odor in a manure lagoon is to use yet more chemicals. By the time the manure is spread it is full of stuff that will be taken up by the plant grown in that ground. I don't want to eat what is grown on such a place and i will not consume dairy products made by cows in a concentrated operation
    I am uneasy about the housing situation, is it a better deal for the workers? Maybe so, but it seems to smack of the old company store mentality, same with the health care offered. While it might be easier to have the workers on site, I would rather see them become assimilated into a local community, much better for everyone. If the local residents in the veblen area are happy to have the dairy, that is their decision of course.

  9. Missy 2011.02.03

    Riverview is not keeping all employees like they claimed. There are a lot of people here in Veblen who are out of a job and don't know how they will be able to pay their bills. I for one am having to deal with the fact that I have a baby on the way and no job! Not to mention a house payment, car payment, student loans etc. For a lot of folks here in Veblen this is not a change for the better. Despite what Riverview claims the community of Veblen will be impacted in a negative way. I see the things that are written on here about Rick Millner, but none of you know him personally. Rick would give the shirt off his back to anyone. He loves this community and would do anything he could to help. What you don't read in the papers or on websites are the things that Rick has done for the community of Veblen. For example, he has helped and made sure his employees helped with the city clean up days. He also has organized Dairy Days for the community to come together and have a good time. Not to mention at the Dairy Day celebration we have raised money for the local volunteer fire department and the Britton soccer team. I don't think any of that will happen with Riverview taking over. I don't think they will have any interest in doing anything for our community. This whole situation saddens me deeply. Veblen won't be the same. I was born and raised here and I am scared to think of what might happen to this community. I hope everything works out for the best, but I have my doubts.

  10. Missy 2011.02.03

    I totally agree with you Joelie about the housing situation! Right now the employees are living in houses in town and are part of our community. Soon there will be many empty houses which will be a bad deal for the City of Veblen.

  11. Jill 2011.02.03

    I am going to be jobless in a matter of days and with the few jobs available around our community Im having to look for work in Fargo. I have been with Prairie Ridge and the dairys for over 3 years now and proud to be a part of this community. Rick and his wife are great friends and would give the shirt off their back to anyone. They have never thought themselves to be above anyone else - completley unselfish and understanding and I am incredibly hurt that I have to leave because of this. I hope all the people that talked down about the dairy are happy and comforatble with their homes, families and JOBS.

  12. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.02.03

    Missy, Jill, I'm sorry to hear about your job losses. I hope Riverview will find ways to put experienced workers like you back to work.

    At the same time, I have my doubts about Mr. Millner's community-mindedness. We taxpayers, for instance, don't want the shirt off Millner's back; we want the $453K in back taxes he owes us. When's that coming?

  13. kelly 2011.02.03

    missy, jill, also sorry to hear about your job lose..... what about the impact of of all the money that is owe buy theres dairy, peoople that sold them feed and silage and didnt get paid?? What about all the contractors that have done work there and havent gotten paid..how long would have the dairy stayed running if riverview didnt take over??? joeline how many local people would give a complimentary remarks about veblen west and veblen east dairys??? No matter what u say Riverview will clean up there dairys, sorry to say some people will get affected buy it, some good, some bad, but in the end people will get paid and the dairy will stay open

  14. ken lyons 2011.02.06

    i have been screwed royally along with many other farmers because of rick millner lies and promises, he stole 525000 dollars of grain from me and does not care, riverview needs to compensate and include us as part of their purchase price or they will encounter problems, rick organized the whole setup but hads too big of ideas all at one time and made us pay for it

  15. joelie hicks 2011.03.26

    How are things going in Veben? Is Riverview doing well?

    {CAH: No new news on Riverview itself. Legal wrangling continues behind the scenes between Millner, his companies, and the entities they owe money to.}

  16. LeRoy 2011.04.03

    I been hearing good things, heard the help now gets overtime, all new equipment (tractor, payloader,skidloaders) heard they want to really clean thing up there this spring...totally different than before

  17. wire 2011.10.25

    Has anyone been by the dairies lately and taken a good look at the work that has been done? Riverview bought a huge!!! mess buried in the snow and has spent an incredible amount of time and money to clean up everything. I was there in 2003? and even then the manure pits for the west site were over flowing. The addition to the west site was just gearing up. The feed site was buried in mud and that was all getting hauled through town. That will not happen with Riverview mgmt.

  18. caheidelberger Post author | 2011.10.26

    Sure, but as Joelie notes above, we're still talking about "the best of the worst." Dairy production on this scale has inherent harms—environmental hazard, crowding out of family farms, concentration of wealth, labor issues—that don't arise with small-scale production.

  19. Charlie Johnson 2011.10.26

    Before mega dairies, an average farm family with family help/resources would milk about 50 cows. In today's terms, just on living expenses, the family would spend about 40,000 to $50,000 into the local community. On the mega dairy, the substitution is the hired labor replacing the farm family. Even if that hired labor spent it's wage back into the community, would every 50 cows pay out $50,000 in wages. I doubt it!! We are/have been replacing farm families with a system does segregates labor, capital, and mgt. With the farm family, it all stirred in the same pot.

  20. alan 2011.12.26

    yes they spent alot of money up there,,,we did alot of work for them...unbelieveable......

  21. TomW 2012.03.02

    Any thoughts of a follow up story on how Riverview has completely redone the dairies in Veblen? All i see from Cory is bashing the dairies, but never anything good about them. I think a story is warranted about Marshall Dairies.

  22. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.02

    The dairies have the Governor himself and millions on government funding to tell their story. The folks who suffer the externalities of environmental degradation, dairy consolidation, and exploitation of immigrant labor are not quite so blessed with high-powered advocates.

    But do tell, Tom: what information can you point me to that says Riverview is repairing the damage Rick Millner did in Veblen?

  23. TomW 2012.03.05

    I believe if you had before and after pictures you would be amazaed.
    but heres a few
    new sand/solids seperation systems
    all parlors reconditioned
    increase lagoon capacity
    run off water collection systems
    40k yards of concrete were poured
    2 new apt houses for employees.

  24. caheidelberger Post author | 2012.03.05

    Sounds like a lot of repair and upgrade that Millner irresponsibly avoided.

  25. alan 2012.03.10

    cleaned up all the ditches, installed about 10 miles pipes to pump the lagoons water, installed 2 or more miles of sewer pipe form the apt to connect to the city sewer. fixed all the fans on the barns, all new support equipment (tractor, pay loader, skid loaders) We did all the dirt work up there, quiet impressive....

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