Dairy Farmers of America achieved targeted earnings in 1998 of $70 million on $7.3 billion in sales, President and CEO Gary Hanman told members at their meeting in Kansas City, MO.  Joint ventures returned $41 million, he said.

Hanman gave the members a list of achievements for 1998 that included joint ventures in bottling, a merger with California Gold Cooperative Creamery that added 330 members who produce 2.5 billion pounds of milk a year, creating a business alliance with Leprino Foods (a pizza cheese supplier), developing a market strategy for Borden cheese, successfully working to
extend the Northeast Dairy Compact and federal milk marketing order reform, and restructuring DFA staff that included a 25% reduction.

After one year of operation as DFA, dairy farmers have an organization "of the size, scale and level of performance necessary to compete and win in a market increasingly dominated by large scale competitors and customers," Hanman said.