Staff photo by Fritz Busch Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) announced Thursday it is selling it’s New Ulm butter plant to Grassland Dairy Products Inc. of Greenwood, Wi. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year. The butter plant on Center Street employs 185 people, will remain in production and continue to receive cream from AMPI.

NEW ULM — Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) announced Thursday it is selling its New Ulm butter plant to Grassland Dairy Products, Inc. of Greenwood, Wis.

The sale expected to close by the end of the year. Terms of the transaction are confidential.

The butter plant on Center Street that employs 185 people will remain in production and continue to receive AMPI cream, according to AMPI Marketing Vice President Sarah Schmidt.

Grassland and AMPI leadership said the sale aligns with each organization’s core competencies, said Schmidt.

“AMPI has proudly called New Ulm home for more than 50 years. That won’t change. Our corporate office will remain right here, We’ll continue to play an active part in the community,” Schmidt said. “New Ulm sits at the heart of AMPI’s manufacturing plant network, connecting our cheese and dairy powder operations across the Midwest, including sits in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and South Dakota.”

A dairy cooperative owned by nearly 4,600 Midwest dairy farmers, AMPI produces nearly 5 billion pounds of milk a year with annual sales of nearly $1 billion.

The cooperative is among the top 10 largest in the U.S. in terms of milk volume. It is one of nation’s largest producers of cheese, butter and instant milk.

AMPI produces cheese, butter, instant milk, shelf-stable cheese, pudding and host of value-added dairy ingredients.

The cooperative also provides services to help members with on-farm business including milk contracting, equipment financing, milking system analysis and daily milk component testing.

Grassland Dairy Products offer a wide range of butter products and buttermilk concentrate. The company produces bulk, whipped, salted and unsalted butter, anhydrous milk fat and parchment wrap (cooking paper made from cellulose fiber, used mostly for baking and food preparation).

Grassland distributes goods under the Wuthrich, Grassland and Fall Creek brands. It packages fresh butter into various sizes and container types needed for consumer or institutional use.

Greenwood, Wisconsin, is in the northwestern part of the state, 30 miles northwest of Eau Claire and 90 miles west of Wausau.