PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Tuesday, April 5, 2006

Contact: Noel LaBine 763-477-3086

Wright County Partnership visits Northern Plains Alfalfa Products
in Cokato.   

    The Wright County Economic Development Partnership has been doing Business Retention & Expansion visits (BR&E) to area manufacturer's and food processor for several months now. The following is a profile of a new Wright County animal food processing company, called Northern Plains Alfalfa Products.

    Just three miles North of Cokato on the Idle Acres Farm, Harlan Anderson has been developing a complete nutritional feed called Northern Plains Alfalfa Products, which comes as a cubed alfalfa product that is bagged. The first market for this product will be for horses. However, the alfalfa product, which has been mixed with other feeds and supplements, is excellent feed for a variety of animals. In a controlled study, growing foals were tested.  They were young horses between the ages of 4 - 12 months. The control groups gained at a rate of .5 kilograms per day and the group fed with Northern Plains Alfalfa Products gained .8 kilograms per day.   Also, the animals, which eat this product, have a stronger immune system and have less need for antibiotics or other drugs.

    Anderson has been working on improving the machinery he needs to mass produce this product. Once he is ready for market, he will set up the equipment in a stand alone site about a mile from his homestead. In preparation for the market, Anderson has been waiting for the results from the study comparing his complete feed products to other feeding techniques. Dr. Sarah Ralston at Rutgers University, Cook College in New Jersey , is due to publish these reports soon, and Anderson will then be able to use the results of that study to promote the use of his product.

    All this planning should be worth it, since the horse industry is a billion dollar industry. We in Wright County are proud of the efforts of Harlan Anderson and wish him success in his enterprise to bring a balanced complete food product to the animal industry.

   The Partnership exists to enhance the business climate of Wright County and help create more jobs in Wright County . The strategies the Partnership uses to achieve its mission include being an information resource and finding technical assistance; aiding business development through Business Retention & Expansion visits, providing financing resources, and providing business information and training through seminars and workshops. Also, the Partnership markets Wright County to business site locators, and maintains an excellent website, which includes a listing of commercial and industrial property available in Wright County (see www.wrightpartnership.org ). The Partnership also assists with Workforce Development and has gathered economic statistical information, which is available on its website.