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Cargill earnings down

Cargill says net third quarter earnings of $326 million are down 68 percent from record net earnings of $1.03 billion during the same period last year.

For the first nine months of this fiscal year, the company’s earnings are 4 percent higher than last year’s $2.9 billion to $3.01 billion, thanks to Cargill’s majority ownership in The Mosaic Company. Without Mosaic, Cargill's performance is below a year-ago, in both the third quarterand the nine-month period, according to a news release issued by Cargill.

Cargill started preparing for the economic downturn in mid-2008 by cutting spending and reducing debt, but CEO Greg Page says the firm was still affected by weaker demand and lower sales volume.