By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer

The tornado that touched down in Hartland on Dec. 15, 2021 was a setback for L&D Ag. Their welding facility was so badly damaged that it must be torn down.

“Oddly enough, the path of destruction was pretty narrow – 100 to 150 feet - but it went right through the back alley,” said Travis Routh, general manager of L&D Ag. According to Routh, the tornado touched down behind the bar, and then moved on to L&D Ag, the post office, Olson Excavating, and Arcadian Bank.

“It tore the bricks right off the back of the welding shop,” said Routh, “and it caved in both overhead doors.” Routh speculates that the vacuum created sucked in the front door as well as the back. The tornado also ripped the tin off the roof, which is now sagging.

Some of L&D Ag's tanks were blown around and damaged, and the main complex of the warehouse also suffered minor damage. Some tin was torn off, but the buildings were spared. It remains a question whether other L&D Ag buildings will be torn down, according to Routh.

It is fortunate that, although the damage to the welding facility has been deemed irreparable, none of the welding equipment was damaged. “It quit raining right after that storm went through, so the building didn't get wet inside,” said Routh. The warm night also meant that no pipes burst inside the building, which could have caused damage. 

L&D Ag is in the process of relocating its welding department to a rental property in Albert Lea. “There's nothing else in Hartland that would work for what we're doing there,” said Routh. For at least the next year, the four full-time employees who work in the welding department of  L&D Ag will work in Albert Lea.

The future location of L&D Ag's welding facility is unforeseeable. The building in Hartland was insured, but the insurance is not enough to cover the cost of building a new complex. The company is in the process of investigating whether it would be better to continue renting a facility, purchase a building elsewhere, or build a new complex in Hartland on some of the company's outlying property. “It would be most efficient if we were close to the rest of our facilities,” said Routh, “but then we don't know what that cost is compared with, say, buying an existing building somewhere else.”

Welding is a big part of L&D Ag's business. One job of the welding facility is to create the parts for a kit that L&D Ag sells to farmers who want to plant and spread fertilizer simultaneously. L&D Ag makes the fertilizer tank, the mounts that hold the tank on the planter, and all the pumps, hoses, and manifolds required for the task. As Routh explains it, the company can ship the equipment to “Johnny Farmer”  wherever he is in the country, “And a couple of pallets show up with all the equipment it takes for him to install equipment on his planter to put fertilizer on.”

Normally, employees work year-round in L&D Ag's welding facility, making parts to keep up with the demand. But Routh assured that, as far as everyday business is concerned, customers won't notice the difference. There may be some products L&D Ag will have to quit selling earlier than usual toward the end of the season because of the 2 – 4 week blip in production caused by the tornado. “That'll affect our sales, but it's not a death sentence,” said Routh, calling it instead “a big inconvenience.”

Only time will tell what the grand total will be as far as the monetary loss for L&D Ag caused by the tornado, and an exact figure will probably never be known, but it's reassuring to know that this 20-employee-strong business will still be around for a good while to come.