For those that didn’t grow up on a farm or who don’t actively work on one, their connection to agriculture may seem distant at best. After all, only around 1% of the U.S. population are farmers, so agriculture isn’t at the forefront of many people’s lives.

If you stop and think for a moment, though, most everyone has some personal – distant or direct – connection to agriculture. Whether it’s a family member, a friend or someone else, chances are you know someone who is or was a farmer.

For me, that connection comes from my uncle. He grew up on a cattle farm in southeast Missouri, and to this day he still lives on that farm. When he wasn’t working as a lineman for the local electric company, he and his brothers would take care of dozens of cattle and tend to hundreds of acres. When my siblings and I would go down to visit, he’d always take us out to bale hay, ride in the tractor or check up on the cows. 

I never worked on the farm – far from it. My siblings and I got to do the “fun stuff,” which usually amounted to riding in some big piece of equipment while my uncle did the actual work. But I got to see first-hand how important farming was to my uncle and the pride that he took in working the land. That has stayed with me, and my appreciation for all of the farmers in our cooperative – as well as all farmers in general – is rooted in my appreciation for my uncle.

And I’m not the only one. Everyone who works for Land O’Lakes is connected to agriculture and, for a lot of our employees, their passion for our members comes from a personal ag experience. According to a recent employee newsletter survey, 88% of the 51 respondents reported having farm experience at some point in their lives, and just over half indicated they are still actively involved in farming.

While previous or current farming experience certainly isn’t a prerequisite for every job at Land O’Lakes, the experience that many of our employees have helps create a level of commitment and respect for our members and organizational purpose.

So, in honor of National Farmer’s Day and our commitment to our members, here are some of the stories of those employees with personal ties to farming.

Wren Family Farm – Ottawa, Kansas

Nathaniel Wren works on the Business Process Improvement team for Purina Animal Nutrition. He also helps out on his family’s farm. His grandfather’s great-grandfather came over from Sweden in 1880, and from there found his way to Kansas. The farm, which is now 145 years old, has been in Nathaniel’s family ever since. When he was growing up, Nathaniel showed cattle in his county’s 4-H program and was heavily involved in the club. 

“During this time, I was always fascinated with feeding my animals and how important nutrition is to success,” he says. “Purina was a large part of that, and it had been my goal for the longest time to work for the checkerboard.”

Now that he is a part of the Animal Nutrition team, Nathaniel says working on his family farm is a way to reconnect with his family and his heritage, and something that he wants to pass down.

“I want my dad, my grandpa to be proud of me. It’s super important for me to keep that legacy going. I take immense pride in the honor of doing that today,” he says. “The most exciting part: the 7th generation is on its way and is due in December!”

Nathaniel says having grown up on a farm and being able to help his family now on the farm helps create a certain level of trust with members and customers during his day-to-day work for Purina. 

“There’s a level of relationship you can develop with someone if you know what’s important and can understand it. Having that experience of working on a farm as I work with our members creates a certain level of trust that you can’t get elsewhere.”

Most importantly, Nathaniel says, is that anyone who is touched in some way by Land O’Lakes’ footprint should know that, as a cooperative, everything we do is to support our members.

“This is a cooperative that is working for our farmers. There’s no ‘us versus them’ mentality,” he says. “We exist and advocate for so much more than just ourselves as a company. We’re working for a cause that is bigger than ourselves.”

Maple-Leigh Futures & Schmaling Farms – Delavan, Wisconsin

Maddie Schmaling is a supply chain senior recruiter and has been with Land O’Lakes for four years. Her husband is the primary owner and operator of a commercial dairy farm and boarding facility. He is a fifth-generation farmer, and the farm has been in his family since 1909.

Though she didn’t think she’d ever end up living on a farm, she knew fairly early on from her exposure to agriculture that this mission of farmers was impactful to her.

“I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I had members of my family who had farms, so I had that connection,” Maddie says. “I took some ag classes in college, and I was immediately drawn to the connection that farmers have with the entire world—they feed everyone.”

Now that she works in recruiting, she gets to share first-hand knowledge about the work and sacrifice that Land O’Lakes members and other farmers make on a daily basis to do the work they love.

“People don’t know the work that our farmers do. It’s not a 9-to-5 or a hobby. This is their life, the past and present of their land. Farmers don’t always like to talk about it, but sharing that experience and being able to relay that to our clients and our consumers is so important,” she says. “Farmers are passionate about their animals, their land and the future of our food supply. This is where their passions lie.”

Maddie helps her husband on the farm when she can, and she says some of her favorite memories are “combine dates” and taking their kids in the tractor. Her kids are the sixth generation, and she says she hopes to give them the opportunity to join the family business in the future if they choose to do so.

“Each generation has its own challenges. In the present, we’re facing pressure to diversify and get creative. The status quo doesn’t cut it anymore,” she says. “It’s challenging, but it’s also something we’re excited to tackle, and we want to make sure that our children have the opportunity to decide if this is something they want to do when they grow up.”

Thilges Family Farm – Algona, Iowa

Brian Thilges is an ag member relations manager for Land O’Lakes. He grew up in Algona, Iowa, on a corn, soybean, cattle and hog farm. His dad and uncle were the primary operators of the farm, and when it came time for him to think about his career after college in the 1980s, he received a surprising nudge.

“I was encouraged not to go into agriculture,” Brian says. “There wasn’t room in our operation for additional people, and with the ‘80s farm crisis, there were a lot of farmers that didn’t make it.”

But up to that point, it was all he knew, so he did what any teenager would do: He ignored his parents.

“I’m just very passionate about it, so I went to college for ag business,” he says. 

Brian found his way to Land O’Lakes in 1996, and has been in our cooperative ever since. Now, with his parents in their 80s, the time has come for them to pass on the 700-acre farm— Brian and his son are taking over operations in January 2026.

“I have a different connection with my dad because I got to work with him on the farm,” he says. “I want to have that with my son, and I hope someday my daughter will join, too. I want to make sure that our farm and our cooperative system is viable long-term; we need the next generations to become actively involved to make sure that happens.”

Throughout his career with Land O’Lakes, Brian says the experience he had on his family’s farm has helped him create deeper connections with our members, and has helped him be a strong advocate for the work that Land O’Lakes and the agriculture community do on a daily basis.

“We have to educate, and we have to advocate for farmers,” he says. “When our policy makers set the direction and rules that we have to follow, they don't always understand the impact these decisions will have on our day-to-day life. That’s not good. We’ve got to tell that story. It’s difficult, but it’s so important.”

Stoermer Family Farm – Adams County, Illinois

Danielle Niedermaier works in corporate strategy in Arden Hills. Her dad, aunt and uncle co-own Stoermer Family Farm, which just celebrated its 165th anniversary. The farm is 226 acres of corn, wheat and soybeans in rotation, and they have about 40 head of cattle.  

Danielle recently traveled back to western Illinois for a celebration of farms in the county that were over 100 years old.

“Standing alongside my dad, cousin and extended family to mark this milestone was both humbling and inspiring,” Danielle says. “The farm has sustained generations, and it remains a living reminder of the resilience and dedication farming requires.” 

Danielle has been with Land O’Lakes for almost eight years, and throughout her time with both Land O’Lakes and Land O’Lakes Venture37 she’s helped farms and agribusinesses across the globe grow and gain access to sustainable markets. She says the work she’s been able to do for farmers around the world is her way of honoring the generations of farmers that came before, and contributing to the ones that will come in the future.

“Agriculture is at the core of human survival—we all depend on farmers for the food on our tables,” she says. “Yet, today’s farmers face immense challenges: economic pressures, climate change, resource constraints and evolving markets, to name a few. While I don’t farm directly, I carry my family’s legacy with me in my professional work.”

Through her work, Danielle says she gets to play a part in helping share the story of the resilience of her family’s farming heritage while supporting our members in their mission to feed the world.

“I’m grateful for the chance to celebrate my family’s history while continuing to play a role in shaping agriculture’s future,” she says.