ConAg

ConAg (Consolidated Agriculture) is a agriculture corporation located in Kansas City, and has been supplying the world with quality products of food to the rest of the United States and other countries.

Overview
ConAg is a major diversified food and agricultural products company consisting of four segments : Agri-products, Trading and Processing, Prepared Foods, and Finance Companies. Consolidated Agriculture produces pesticides, fertilizer, feed and feed additives, preserved animal sperm, eggs and embryos, and plan seeds for genetic testing and experimentation.

Trading and Processing includes ConAg's international grain and algae processing operations.

Prepared Foods produces red meat (Boldfort, Blue Ribbon), poultry (Southern Glow, Buerrich), processed meats (West Champ and Butcher's Choice), processed imitation meats (Seabeef, Golden Grown and Sausage Champ), dairy foods, vegetable oil and bread and grain products (Wholeness Bakery, Nature's Crop); ConAg also produces specialty products, including jellies, condiments, whiskey, and pet food.

ConAg's finance companies handle commodities including brokerage, special financial services, insurance, truck and shipping container leasing, and short-term financing for ConAg's other business groups.

Between 2010 and 2019, ConAg grew from $1.02 billion in sales to $1.43 billion. The 2020 acquisition of Zaccary Products (Seafresh, Salmon Farms Inc.) makes ConAg one of the largest producers of kelp and alternative seafood products.

History
In 1930, three Missouri feed plants joined to form Greater Kansas City Mills, and established headquarters in Kansas City. GKCM initially operated only in the Kansas-Missouri region, but expanded to other states in the mid-1940's.

During the 1950's the company expanded from animal feeds to grain products. It developed Stay-Fresh breads and Instant Muffin Mix. In 1957 it established a feed mill in California. The company entered the red meat and processed meat market in 1960 when it bought Blue Ribbon/Butcher's Choice mats. By the mid-1960's, the company expanded to provide farm machinery and modern stock care equipment (these branches later sold to National Harvester). The company name was changed to United Agricultural Companies, Incorporated, in 1968.

The company operated from Kansas City until the 1970s, when it moved central headquarters to San Francisco, CA. Shortly after this move, the company acquired several poultry companies and expanded its grain products farming interests to include Australia. In 1973 the company sold its trucking interests and shortened its name to Consolidated Agriculture. The 1980's were a boom period for ConAg which built one of the most diverse agricultural-products companies in the world. Their early investments in genetically engineered soy-beans and com paid off extremely well. ConAg achieved $1 billion in sales for the first time in 1981. By 1990, however, it was obvious that the company was in serious trouble; overextended, overproducing and extremely bureaucratic.

ConAg ushered in the with massive layoffs, selling off non-essential and unprofitable divisions and 'hatchet' firings. Rising expenses convinced the company to move back to Kansas City in 1996-97. They also were the company to license production of CHOOH2 from Biotechnica. The early 2000's wen a period of cautious growth for ConAg; biological fuels provided the cash needed to stabillze the company. In 2005, ConAg bought Seabeef, then a small Australian firm producing imitation beef from algae. When ConAg's license to produce biological fuel expired in 2010, they were the world's largest producer of Imitation (soy, kelp, and algae) meats.

Much of ConAg's aggressive policy in the 20Ws is explained by the new CEO Barry "The Butcher" Swiftsure. In 2014, ConAg purchased two fast-food chains (Ham Burger and Di Noodles). They have expanded these chains from less than 20 restaurants each to 157 and 198, respectively. ConAg's 2017 and 2018 purchase of Moscow Grain's flour mills increased Its total number of flour and feed mills to 35.