Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Helps Build a New Future for Rural Minnesota
Learn how the Foundation's investment in Green Acres Milling is creating financial opportunities for the city of Albert Lea
By Chris M. Garner, Communications Specialist
On the edge of Albert Lea sits a seven-story oat mill rising above the southern Minnesota landscape.
Green Acres Milling, a farmer-owned enterprise founded by Landon and Anne Plagge, is more than a processing facility — it's a result of what happens when farmers, communities, businesses and philanthropy work together.
For decades, conversations about sustainable agriculture have often centered on what should happen. Green Acres Milling is focused on what can happen when people invest in solutions and take action.
The mill produced food‑grade raw oats, groats, flakes, flour and other specialty oat products. Designed with the purpose of strengthening rural economies and improving environmental outcomes, Green Acres Milling reimagines what sustainability can look like in agriculture.
“If we want to make sustainable changes, it has to be economically sustainable for the farmers as well as environmentally sustainable,” said Landon. “Because it doesn't do any good to be the most environmentally sustainable in the world if the economics don't work.”
Instead of treating environmental stewardship and economic viability as separate goals, Green Acres Milling is making them work as one to benefit the farmers and the land. One way the mill approaches sustainability is to add oats into traditional corn and soybean rotations, which improves soil health, creates opportunities for covering crops and reduces runoff. This approach also helps farmers reduce costs, eliminating the need for certain insecticides and fungicides while lowering overall input costs and improving profitability.
“We've cut our overall input cost per acre on our farm by about $180 an acre,” Landon explained. “And we've increased our profit per acre by about $150.”
Philanthropy That Turns Ideas Into Action
Helping make this multi-purpose vision possible is the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and our foundation partners. The project attracted approximately $3.5 million in philanthropic investments helping Green Acres Milling build the capital stack needed to launch an ambitious $70 million project. F. R. Bigelow Foundation invested $500K, and Bush Foundation invested $2 million.
"Bush Foundation is thrilled to be involved in the development of the Green Acres Oat Mill. We're always looking for opportunities to put our investment dollars to work in Minnesota, the Dakotas and tribal lands, and we're grateful that Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation invited us to participate in this farmer-backed facility,” said Brendon Reay, Bush Foundation’s managing director of investments. “Green Acres aligns perfectly with our commitment to sustainability and to our region, and we look forward to leveraging more of our investment capital locally with great partners like Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation."
Our organization also invested $1 million combined from our two new investment portfolios — $500K from Momentum Minnesota and $500K from Future Ready.
The Momentum Minnesota Portfolio is designed for charitable capital seeking competitive, financial returns while supporting Minnesota-based nonprofits and mission-driven businesses. The portfolio targets market-rate returns and deploys capital through a diversified, multi-asset strategy that aligns financial performance objectives with community needs and opportunities across Minnesota.
The Future Ready Portfolio is an impact-first investment strategy designed to prioritize measurable community impact and capital preservation while seeking a steady, reliable return. The portfolio targets a 1% annual net return and invests in Minnesota-based nonprofits and mission-driven businesses aligned with the Social Determinants of Health.
“You guys are one of the big ones,” Landon told the Foundation. “We're really appreciative of organizations like you guys that actually did that.”
The Foundation's investment helped turn discussion into construction, plans into jobs and ideas into a building that now graces Albert Lea's skyline.
Philanthropic support is one of the many reasons they chose to do their work in Albert Lea, in addition to Minnesota's strong agricultural ecosystem, local partners, supportive programs and proximity to food brands. Just as important was the enthusiasm the founders encountered in the community.
“Albert Lea was like an immediate yes,” Anne Plagge said. “They were like, ‘yeah, we love this idea. Let's figure out how to make it work.’”
Today, more than 100 farmer-owners supply oats for the business, with growers spread across southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. Eighty percent are located within 70 miles of Interstate 90. The result is a supply chain rooted in place, powered by local knowledge and designed to serve local communities.
“Green Acres aligns perfectly with our commitment to sustainability and to our region, and we look forward to leveraging more of our investment capital locally with great partners like Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.”
Brendon Reay, Managing Director of Investments, Bush Foundation
The Power of Possibility
Green Acres Milling offers a reminder that meaningful change is rarely created by any one organization acting alone; it takes collaboration.
To learn more about how the Foundation is investing in initiatives across our state, visit our Investments page. If you are interested in learning more about our new investment portfolios, Future Ready and Momentum Minnesota, contact your advisor or a member of our Philanthropic Services team.
About the Author
As communications specialist, Chris Garner supports the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s work by showcasing it to the community through words, photo, video and other media. Chris has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Alabama State University and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University.
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