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Public ()
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Resourceful By Nature
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Minneapolis, Minnesota ( 1902 )
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Decatur, Illinois
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Patricia A Woertz , Chairman, CEO & President
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Over 27,000( June 30 2007 )
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Agribusiness , Agriculture , Food Industry
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Food s, Beverage s, Feed , Ethanol , Bioenergy
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$44 billion USD ( 2007 )
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The (), based in
Decatur, Illinois , operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where
Cereal grains and
Oilseed s are processed into numerous products used in
Food ,
Beverage ,
Nutraceutical ,
Industrial and
Animal Feed markets worldwide.
ADM also provides , ADM Corn Processing, ADM
Food Additives , ADM
Lecithin , ADM
Milling , ADM
Monoglycerides , ADM
Vitamin E , ADM
Protein Specialties, ADM Food Oils. The
American River Transportation Company along with
ADM Trucking, Inc are subsidiaries of ADM. ADM's
Revenue s for fiscal 2007 (ending
June 30 2007 ) were
US $44 billion.
Typical products include
Oil s and
Meal from
Soybean s,
Cottonseed ,
Sunflower seeds,
Canola ,
Peanut s,
Flaxseed , and
Diacylglycerol (DAG) Oil , as well as
Corn Germ ,
Syrup ,
Starch ,
Glucose ,
Dextrose , crystalline dextrose,
High Fructose Corn Syrup Sweetener s,
Ethyl Alcohol , and
Wheat Flour . End uses are consumption by people and
Livestock , and
Fuel additives.
Long known as a food and ingredients company, ADM has recently shifted increasing resources towards fuel production. According to
Foodprocessing.com , a food industry trade publication, ADM nearly doubled capital spending in its 2007 budget to an estimated $1.12 billion. All of the increase is planned for bioenergy projects, with a particular focus on
Ethanol and
Biodiesel .Fusaro, Dave.
"ADM’s big bet on fuel" . ''Foodprocessing.com''. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.
In 1902,
George A. Archer and
John W. Daniels began a linseed crushing business. In 1923, Archer-Daniels Linseed Company acquired Midland Linseed Products Company, and the Archer Daniels Midland Company was formed. Every decade since its corporate inception, ADM has added at least one major profit center to its agribusiness: milling, processing, specialty feed ingredients, specialty food ingredients, cocoa, nutrition, and more.
In September 1999, executive Marty Andreas announced that, under pressure from the European agricultural industry, they were going to separate crops into
Genetically Modified and non-genetically modified groups to give their customers a choice. Previously the company had not disclosed their crop sources.
In May 2006,
Patricia A. Woertz became CEO. Formerly of
Chevron , she is expected to focus on developing
Ethanol and
Biofuel s. In February of 2007 she became Chairman of the Board at ADM.
In
1996 , ADM was the subject of a
Lysine Price Fixing investigation by the
U.S. Justice Department . Senior ADM executives were indicted on criminal charges for engaging in price-fixing within the international
Lysine market. Three of ADM's top officials, including vice chairman Michael Andreas, were eventually sentenced to federal prison in
1999 . Moreover, the company was fined $100 million, the largest antitrust fine in U.S. history at the time(1997).Hunter-Gault, Charlayne. "ADM: Who's Next?" MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour. PBS. October 15, 1996. See transcript here
In addition, according to ADM's 2005 annual report a settlement was reached under which ADM paid $400 million in 2005 to settle a class action antitrust suit.Archer Daniels Midland Company. 2005 Annual Report. p. 52, note 15. See report at [http://www.admworld.com/pdf/adm_2005_annual_report.pdf
Using the investigation as an example, Ronald W. Cotterill of the Food Marketing Policy Center at the
University Of Connecticut shows that 100 percent or more of overcharges resulting from price fixing are passed through to consumers.Cotterill, Ronald W. "Estimation of Cost Pass Through to Michigan Consumers in the ADM Price Fixing Case". University of Connecticut. 1998. See paper at
{Link without Title}
Howard Buffett , son of billionaire
Warren Buffett , served at one time as an ADM vice president and as a member of the
Board Of Directors . However, Buffett resigned as VP in the wake of the FBI price fixing investigation. In addition, he has since resigned his seat on the board.
Archer Daniels Midland has been the subject of several major federal lawsuits related to air pollution. In 2001 the company agreed to pay a $1.46 million fine for violating federal and Illinois clean-air regulations at its Decatur feed plant and to spend $1.6 million to reduce air pollution there. "Archer Daniels Fined Over Clean-Air Rules." ''The Los Angeles Times'', January 13, 2001. In 2003, ADM settled federal air pollution complaints related to the companies efforts to avoid
New Source Review provisions of the
Clean Air Act that require pollution control upgrades when a plant is modernized. The company paid $4.5 million in penalties and more than $6 million to support environmental projects. In addition, ADM agreed to eliminate more than 60,000 tons of emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, organic volatile chemicals and other pollutants from 42 plants in 17 states at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.
2 Companies Said to Agree To Settle Suits on Emission . ''The New York Times,'' April 9, 2003. Retrieved on June 6, 2007.
ADM's receipt of federal
Agribusiness Subsidies have come under criticism. According to the
Cato Institute , a
Libertarian Think Tank , "ADM has cost the American economy billions of dollars since 1980 and has indirectly cost Americans tens of billions of dollars in higher prices and higher taxes over that same period. At least 43 percent of ADM's annual profits are from products heavily subsidized or protected by the American government. Moreover, every $1 of profits earned by ADM's corn sweetener operation costs consumers $10, and every $1 of profits earned by its
Ethanol operation costs taxpayers $30."Bovard, James. "Archer Daniels Midland: A Case Study In Corporate Welfare". Cato Policy Analysis No. 241. CATO Institute. September 26, 1995. See study at
{Link without Title}
ADM's lobbying and campaign contributions have encouraged the continuation of the United States federal sugar program (of trade barriers and price supports) by Congress, costing US consumers roughly $3 billion a year. ADM also lobbied to create and perpetuate federal
Ethanol subsidies. Some commentators have concluded that the ADM experience demonstrates the need for
Campaign Finance Reform .
ADM advertises on national television, although it does not sell directly to consumers. According to the company, its
"Resourceful by Nature" 2006 television advertising campaign is intended to demonstrate "...
relationship between ADM and the farmer — and its importance to the [US economy and [US] way of life."
In July 2005, the
International Labor Rights Fund filed suit against the
Nestle , Archer Daniels Midland, and
Cargill companies in Federal District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of a class of Malian children who were trafficked from
Mali into the
Ivory Coast and forced to work twelve to fourteen hours a day with no pay, little food and sleep, and frequent beatings. The three children acting as class representative plaintiffs are proceeding anonymously, as John Does, because of feared retaliation by the farm owners where they worked. The complaint alleges their involvement in the trafficking, torture, and
Forced Labor of children who cultivate and harvest cocoa beans which the companies import from Africa.
