Land O'Lakes on Monday announced a strong second-quarter performance with net earnings up 27 percent over a year ago.

The Arden Hills-based farmers cooperative reported net earnings of $96.4 million on sales of $4.04 billion for the quarter ended June 30. Sales rose 6.6 percent over last year's second quarter.

"We are pleased with our overall performance for the first half of 2014, which has been driven by improving commodity markets and the success of strategic investments we have made in our core businesses over the recent past," Land O'Lakes CEO Chris Policinski said in a statement.

Land O'Lakes' dairy foods business reported higher profits than a year ago, boosted partly by rising butter and cheese markets. The company's animal feed and crop input segments, the latter of which includes herbicides and pesticides, also reported solid results.

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003