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Land O' Lakes to Close Wis. Cheese Plant, Expand Another

Minnesota-based Land O' Lakes plans says the provolone and mozzarella semi-soft Italian cheese products made at its Denmark plant have not been profitable in recent years. However, the company announced a multi-million dollar expansion to its Kiel facility.

DENMARK, Wis. (AP) — Land O' Lakes is planning to close one east-central Wisconsin cheese plant and expand another.

The Minnesota-based cooperative said Thursday it plans to stop processing milk at its Denmark, Wisconsin, plant on July 1 and begin laying off about 90 workers. Land O' Lakes says the provolone and mozzarella semi-soft Italian cheese products made at the plant have not been profitable in recent years.

Land O' Lakes also announced a multi-million dollar expansion to its Kiel facility. Among the improvements in the next few years will be new milk silos and new cheese vats.

WLUK-TV reports it's not known if any of the Denmark workers will be offered jobs in Kiel.

Land O' Lakes notified the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development of the planned layoffs on Thursday.