About Us
Many thanks to Absolute Studios, Fargo ND!
A Big Step Forward 2021 Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative
Commitment to Excellence 2019 Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative
Strengthening Our Foundation 2018 Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative
45th Anniversary of Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative
Faces of the Team 2016
Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative is celebrating 50 Sweet Years in 2022! MDFC was officially formed in August 1972, was the first sugarbeet cooperative established in the United States and produced the first crop in 1974, Sweetening Life in the Valley since 1974!
Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative (MDFC) is located in Wahpeton, a city in the southeast corner of North Dakota, in the heart of the Red River Valley. MDFC’s processing facility encompasses approximately a 1,200-acre footprint in Richland County, North Dakota. The Cooperative is owned by approximately 430 Shareholders and over 100 Growers who collectively grow over 105,000 acres of sugarbeets and is part of the domestic sweetener industry. MDFC employs about 430 year-round, 100 seasonal and 340 harvest employees. MDFC Shareholders produce sugarbeets for processing at the Cooperative’s plant in Wahpeton.
MDFC has a rich history that dates back to the 1970s, when a group of sugarbeet farmers formed Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative. Following is a timeline of events that have made MDFC what it is today.
| Time period |
Occurrence |
| Late 1930s |
First efforts made to get a sugarbeet factory in Wahpeton/Breckenridge |
| 1950–1970 |
Active efforts by farmers and business people to obtain factory and an acreage allotment from the US Department of Agriculture |
| Aug. 30th, 1972 |
MDFC officially formed |
| Sept. 25th, 1972 |
First MDFC grower acreage signup |
| Feb. 3rd, 1973 |
Factory groundbreaking |
| Feb. 26th, 1973 |
Construction begins |
| Mar. 25th, 1973 |
MDFC Board of Directors elected |
| Apr. 8th, 1974 |
North Central Sugar Marketing officially formed |
| Apr. 19th, 1974 |
First MDFC beets planted by Richard Yaggie |
| Sept. 7th, 1974 |
Factory dedicated |
| Oct. 1st, 1974 |
First campaign gets underway with an estimated 800,000 tons of beets |
| Apr. 23rd, 1979 |
Midwest Agri-Commodities officially formed |
| July 11th, 1989 |
Minn-Dak Yeast Company officially formed |
| Jan.1st, 1994 |
United Sugars Corporation officially formed |
| Jan. 1995 |
MDFC expansion begins |
| Dec. 1999 |
Expansion completed |
| Feb. 4, 2015 |
Molasses Desugarizing Facility Startup
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May 1, 2017
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Minn-Dak Yeast Company sold to Dakota Yeast LLC, a subsidiary of Lallemand Inc.
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