Growing up in southwestern Wisconsin, Jamie Leifker spent a lot of time playing basketball. But when he wasn’t on the court, he was working on local farms baling hay or taking care of livestock.
“Even though I grew up in town, the local farmers were good to me because I was willing to work—and I took an interest in what they were doing and how they were doing it,” he remembers. “And that interest followed me into high school, FFA, college and my first job in the crop inputs business.”
Flash forward 25 years: Jamie is now president of Truterra, a sustainability business that creates new opportunities for farmers and retailers by helping them adopt agronomic, economic and environmentally sound practices. As part of the Land O’Lakes enterprise, Truterra also bridges the gap between farmers and companies in the food and ag value chain looking to further their sustainability goals.
Jamie and his family, including his wife, Catari, and his sons Jack, Jonah and Max, own a corn and soybean farm in northeast Iowa. They purchased the operation a decade ago from one of the farmers Jamie worked for in his first job, and they continue to work together today.

“Together we’ve been transitioning to less tillage and working in cover crops,” says Jamie. “I’m on the sustainable ag journey myself, right alongside the farmers who work with Truterra. It keeps me grounded.”

Working towards an outcome that benefits all

Throughout his career in agriculture, Jamie has worked in everything from sales and ag tech to agronomy and product development. But his end goal has always been the same—to deliver farmer-focused solutions through retail.
“My background has prepared me for this moment: to help shape the future of sustainable agriculture and work towards an outcome that benefits everyone—ag retailers, CPG companies, manufacturers—and especially the farmer,” says Jamie.
Collaboration is key to success, Jamie believes. Truterra programs are delivered through its network of local ag retailers and member cooperatives, who are often farmers’ trusted advisors. They share their agronomic and animal science knowledge to help farmers make practice changes.
“As a farmer myself, I understand the challenges livestock and crop producers face—and the value that ag retailers and member cooperatives bring to support farmers production efficiency on their sustainability journey,” Jamie says.

At Truterra, opportunities available to farmers include the Truterra ® carbon program—where participating farmers adopt cover crops or reduce tillage to promote soil health and carbon capture—as well as the quantification of manure and enteric interventions in livestock.
Farmers have the ability to be rewarded for the carbon they sequester and the sustainability of their operations as a result of these practice changes. The carbon assets are purchased by corporate customers with sustainability goals that choose to make agriculture part of their toolkit of solutions.
Truterra has paid farmers more than $21 million for the sequestration and reduction of over 1.1 million metric tons of carbon in the first three years of the Truterra® carbon program. “We’re showing that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand,” Jamie says. 
“We have a clear line of sight on where we need to go, and my focus is to help carry that forward and drive it to scale,” says Jamie, who is energized by the commitment he’s seeing across the industry. “The people we’re engaging with have a genuine passion for farming and working together to do the right thing.”