Local dairy partner facing foreclosure in central Ohio

Property foreclosed upon in Madison County

By DAVID J. COEHRS

Expositor Features Editor

Property in foreclosure in central Ohio has connections to the same man known for his partnership in Vreba Hoff Dairy Developments in Wauseon, according to Fulton County Common Pleas Court records.

Foreclosure cases filed Jan. 12 by Citizens National Bank of Bluffton list as defendants Midwest Ag Investments LLC, Vreba Dairy BV of the Netherlands, William van Bakel and Orleton Farms LLC in London, Ohio. van Bakel is listed as the director of Vreba Dairy BV, and as the manager and a member of Orleton Farms.

van Bakel is a partner in each of the ventures. His local dairy operations are not affected.

Orleton Farms, a more than 6,000-acre property in Madison County, was sold last summer; the identity of the new owner has been kept private. It was divided into 25 tracts and went on the auction block in June 2009.

All of the businesses listed in the foreclosure cases are separate entities, although all are headquartered at an address on North Shoop Avenue in Wauseon. Midwest Ag Investments, which finances dairy projects, is unrelated to the Vreba Hoff organization.

The foreclosures concern property in central Ohio. Court records show it was financed for $847,500 in 2008. Payment of $843,362 has been owed since Aug. 30, 2009.

Midwest Ag Investments has 30 days to dispute the foreclosures.

Vreba Hoff Dairy Developments, which financed a mega-farm outside of Lyons, is not included in the foreclosure proceedings.

Company spokesperson Cecilia Conway said the businesses are in the process of refinancing through other venues. They will not file for protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

"We'll have this obligation taken care of. We're moving forward positively," Comway said.

She said like other businesses "our firm has had difficult financial times in the past year and a half. All farmers in the dairy industry have been working their way through a difficult situation."

Conway could not say why Orleton Farms was included in the foreclosure proceedings after it had been sold.

Christopher Phillips, the attorney for Citizens National Bank of Bluffton, referred questions to another office that said it was not involved with the foreclosures.

Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development has dairy locations in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.