Crystal Valley partners with Land O’ Lakes, Inc., and Midco on broadband connectivity project benefiting Madelia, MN, and surrounding area 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Contact: 

Midco
Paige Pearson Meyer 
605-275-6300 
paige.pearson@midco.com 

Land O’Lakes, Inc. Abby Duininck
651-368-5600 
arime@landolakes.com 

Crystal Valley 
Mandy Hunecke 
507-726-6455 
mandy.hunecke@crystalvalley.coop 

Crystal Valley partners with Land O’ Lakes, Inc., and Midco on broadband connectivity project benefiting Madelia, MN, and surrounding area 

The effort will boost broadband internet speeds at the co-op and extend broadband connectivity to 1,500 residents in the Madelia area. 

Mankato, MN – October 13, 2022 – Crystal Valley announced a collaboration with Land O’Lakes, Inc., and internet service provider Midco to expand broadband internet access to Madelia, MN residents, and the surrounding community. Midco has installed high-speed broadband technology on one tower in the Madelia area at Crystal Valley’s Madelia location, improving access to broadband connectivity. 

This effort to improve internet connectivity has the potential to directly benefit approximately 1,500 residents in rural areas who are currently unable to access adequate broadband service in their homes. Crystal Valley provides the space Midco needs to place its equipment. 

Not only is broadband increasingly critical to daily life, but it also enables precision agriculture, increasing yields, improving productivity, and boosting profits. Yet, according to the Federal Communications Commission, more than 14 million Americans do not have access to broadband, including nearly a quarter of Americans living in rural areas. Additionally, 60 percent of farmers say they lack the connectivity needed to run their business. This effort by Crystal Valley, Midco, and Land O’Lakes aims to address these gaps. 

This project is part of ongoing efforts by Land O’Lakes, Inc. and Midco to address the rural broadband gap across the United States. Crystal Valley is part of the Land O’Lakes member network. Through its American Connection Project, Land O’Lakes and its cooperative network are helping bridge the digital divide with awareness and advocacy. 

“The opportunity to be at the forefront of a project like this has been great. In partnering with Midco and Land O’Lakes, the entire Madelia area, over 1,500 residents, will now have access to high-speed broadband,” says Jon Langland, Crystal Valley Chief Information Technology Officer. “The benefits to having the ability to access high-speed broadband will help the community in many ways, including helping our customers take advantage of our digital offerings with reliable internet service.” 

“We’re so excited to be partnering with these organizations to bring real solutions for the lack of broadband access in this community,” said Teddy Bekele, Chief Technology Officer at Land O’Lakes. “As a farmer-owned co-op with deep roots across rural America, Land O’Lakes will continue to raise awareness and devise more ways to increase access to digital connectivity for all Americans.” 

“Midco’s partnership with Land O’Lakes and Crystal Valley is a real win-win, and we couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it. We were able to utilize their site as a wireless hub, enabling high-speed Internet to hundreds of square miles of rural Minnesota,” said Chief Technology Innovation Officer Jon Pederson. “It’s this kind of visionary collaboration that will close the digital divide and bring great connectivity to farms, ranches, and small towns that otherwise have few options.” 

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About Crystal Valley Crystal Valley is a leading farm supply, and grain marketing cooperative focused on serving the needs of crop farmers and livestock producers in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Crystal Valley currently employs 260 full-time employees, across 16 locations, with top-quality products and services in our core businesses of Agronomy, Energy, Feed, and Grain. 

About Midco 

Midco provides a superior network and an exceptional customer experience while being a force for good in the communities it serves. Midco is the leading provider of reliable, high-speed internet via fiber and fixed wireless technology. By 2025, Midco will deploy 10G, the next great leap for broadband – while expanding its fiber network to rural areas. The company also delivers TV services including Midco Sports (a regional sports network), phone, data center and advertising services, plus wholesale networking solutions. 

Midco fiber serves 480,000 homes and businesses in 400 communities in Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Visit Midco.com to learn more about Midco and how the company has been giving back to communities since 1931. 

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 2020 annual sales of $16 billion, Land O’Lakes is one of the nation’s largest cooperatives, ranking 232 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 100 years of operation, Land O’Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands and businesses in agriculture and food production including Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition, WinField United and Truterra, LLC. 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.