Du Mond Ag, LLC was established in 1980 as an Adirondack beef farm just outside of Saranac Lake, New York. After fighting frozen feed and barns for five years, Eric and Marge Du Mond decided that the soils of Central New York and Cayuga County offered a nice balance for productive crop farming and quality of life. In 1985, the Du Mond’s moved their family andfarm to its current location in Union Springs. Starting with a barn of used equipment and only themselves as farmhands, the Du Mond family was eager to enter the agriculture industry of Central New York.
How it all started
In the beginning, Eric and Marge farmed only in the evenings and on weekends. In addition to raising their two children, Todd and Erika, Eric worked full-time at his dentistry practice and Marge worked as a math teacher at Auburn High School. From the very first day of farming, the Du Mond’s have relied on their strong work ethic and perseverance to make their family farm a success.
Despite facing both financial and market pressures throughout the years, Eric and Marge honored their commitment to hard work and quality crop production. Ultimately, the Du Mond family firmly believes in the importance of self-reliance, responsibility, and hard work – values on which they founded Du Mond Ag.
Next generation
Years passed, and Todd and Erika left for college. After college, Todd returned home, with his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from MIT in 2001. In 2003, he officially decided that agriculture was his career calling. That same year, Todd began the soybean roasting business, which is now recognized as one of the farm’s offshoot businesses, Du Mond Grain. Under Todd’s new management, the creation of Du Mond Grain, launched the rapid evolution of the business and Todd started buying crops from other farms to process and sell.
Growth and expansion
Simultaneously, Todd was growing Du Mond Ag. The new farmland was purchased throughout Cayuga County, increasing the farm’s acreage significantly. In 1980, Du Mond Ag, farmed approximately 125 acres of corn and soybeans. Since then, Du Mond Ag. has been on an aggressive growth curve and continues to increase steadily. In 2006, the farm increased its acreage to ~1500 and today, we farm over 6000 acres.
While growing Du Mond Ag and Du Mond Grain, Todd realized it would be advantageous to have a trucking company to handle the logistical movement of the feed products and commodities. In 2010, Du Mond Trucking was created to enhance local transportation for the farming community.
In mid-2014, after a few years of record commodity prices, Todd felt that the commodity market was going to re-center at a lower point.
This belief stimulated Todd to expand the value adding processing performed by Du Mond Grain, to Corn, to further ensure the stability and longevity of their operations. Du Mond Grain processed its first corn in cornmeal in March of 2015.
The Du Mond family founded Du Mond Ag. on the core value of hard work. Since 1985, Eric, Marge, and Todd have worked diligently to grow their farm into a model agricultural enterprise focused on efficiency, innovation and excellence. Today, Du Mond Enterprises continues to evolve, striving to uphold the value of holistic agriculture and drive the industry forward.
