When a farmer-owned cooperative has been around for more than 100 years, time has a way of showing itself in quiet yet meaningful ways.

It’s there in the way people talk about “the plant” or “the farm,” as if they’re dear family members. It shows up in stories and hard-learned lessons passed down from one generation to the next, becoming codified as a strong, irrefutable culture steeped in tradition. 

Where time shows up most clearly, though, is in the people who have dedicated decades of their lives to the cooperative mission, helping shape it into what it is today.

For Marilyn Krause and Rick Nobbe, who together have a combined 102 years of experience at Land O’Lakes, Inc., our cooperative isn’t just where they’ve built a career. It’s become home.

The job of a lifetime

Marilyn Krause has worked at our Spencer, Wisconsin, dairy plant for 52 years. She’s been there so long that she’s literally become a part of the facility—the company store was named after her in recognition of her five decades of service.

Born and raised in Spencer, Marilyn didn’t have to look far for her first opportunity. After graduating high school in the early 1970s, she took a job in the plant’s front office. She originally wanted to work on the plant floor, so she took the office job thinking it would just be temporary. 

“Looks like I was wrong about that,” Marilyn says.

That office role, originally in customer service and now in production scheduling, became the foundation for a career that has stretched across more than five decades. And alongside that career, Marilyn balanced life on a family farm—she spent time most days before and after working helping her husband with farm chores such as milking cows—and raising a family, all while staying in her hometown. 

A big part of why Marilyn has stayed with Land O’Lakes all these years later is that the care and support Land O’Lakes provides to its member communities such as Spencer have never felt like just a talking point; they're a reality she lives every day. At one point, her family farm was a Land O’Lakes dairy member, shipping milk and earning multiple quality awards in the mid-1980s — including a top-five finish among producers.

“Working here has always meant a lot to me and my family,” she says. “I’ve always felt very proud to work for Land O’Lakes.”

Over the years, Marilyn has seen the Spencer plant change dramatically. When she started, much of the work that now happens at the corporate level was handled locally such as pricing, ordering and transportation planning. She remembers maps on the wall, handwritten cards, smoke-filled offices, and a dress code that required ties and dress shirts.

“We used to do a lot more manually than we do now,” she says. “It’s fun thinking back about how different things used to be and where we are now.”

She’s also lived through departments closing, new technology coming in, and managers coming and going. Through it all, though, her Spencer team has provided stability.

“This is like a family,” Marilyn says. “I love the people here. They come down to the cheese store just to say hi. The young ones treat me with respect. This is my support group.”

That sense of family extends beyond the plant walls. Over the years, Marilyn has helped coordinate community donations, from supporting local arts to contributing to a new inclusive playground inspired by a child with disabilities. Every time Land O’Lakes shows up for Spencer, both with funding and with a leadership presence, it reinforces something she’s believed for decades.

“They really do give back,” she says. “I feel very honored to work for them.”

Now, as she begins to mull retirement—she’s not sure when that will happen; maybe in a few years, maybe after hitting one more milestone—Marilyn reflects on what 52 years at the plant have meant to her.

“Working in my hometown with my family and friends has been such a blessing,” she says. “That plus the benefits and the stability have always mattered the most to me.”

Fifty years in motion

Rick Nobbe’s Land O’Lakes story starts differently, but it carries many of the same themes.

Rick began working in the cooperative system in August 1975, when he was just 18 years old. As a high school senior with enough credits to graduate early, he took a half-day job at his local cooperative’s lumber yard in southeast Indiana. He didn’t have a long-term plan; just a willingness to work.

“I didn’t really have a desire to go to college back in those days,” Rick says. “When you got out of school, you went to work.”

What followed was a career defined by movement and seizing opportunities. Rick worked in fertilizer, drove application equipment, managed retail locations, led sales teams and eventually moved into his current role as a senior sales specialist with WinField United, supporting retailers across the country.

Along the way, the cooperative system invested in him, sending him to trainings and different experiences to help him build his sales, agronomy and management skills. Rick jokes that he earned a Purdue degree without ever setting foot on campus.

“They saw something in me,” Rick says. “They gave me opportunities.”

That willingness to invest in people and give them real opportunities to try something new is what Rick believes is foundational to Land O’Lakes’ enduring legacy.

“This is our franchise,” he says, recalling advice from an early-career mentor. “You’re allowed to make a mistake now and again and learn from it.”

Over 50 years, Rick’s role changed many times, but his focus on helping farmers succeed, supporting retailers and contributing to a system that feeds people has stayed the same.

“You’re helping produce food and fiber for the world,” he says. “That’s a neat thing.”

Now 67, Rick is preparing to retire at the end of March, a decision that wasn’t easy to make.  He loves the work and the people he’s met, so much so that he calls himself “a damn fool” for leaving.

But losing a couple close family members in recent years has brought a clarity that he says helped him decide that now is the right time.

“It’s probably time to do something different,” he says. “I want to leave and have people say ‘I wish Rick wouldn’t leave yet,’ rather than stay too long and have them asking ‘when is he going to leave?’”

As his time with Land O’Lakes winds down, Rick is focused on passing along what he knows, answering calls, documenting processes and mentoring whoever steps into the role next. And even after retirement, he’s not ruling out staying connected.

“Call me,” he’s told his team. “I’ll still be here.”

Why long tenure matters

In today’s workforce, where the average employee will stay with one company for just under four years, spending more than five decades with one organization seems almost unimaginable. But stories like Marilyn’s and Rick’s highlight what fostering a strong sense of culture and community can do for employees.

And they aren’t the only ones. Land O’Lakes HR data shows that there are six other cooperative employees that have more than 50 years of service under their belts. And just over 9% of our cooperative—around 800 employees—have been with Land O’Lakes for longer than 25 years. 

Rick says that’s a testament to the value that Land O’Lakes brings to the table as a workplace.

“This organization has provided for me and my family, and it can do that for others if they give it the chance,” he says. “I’ve been extremely blessed.”

When employees stay longer, they bring institutional knowledge that can’t be captured in a process doc. They bring perspective during times of change. They bring relationships—with members, customers, communities and coworkers—built on trust earned over decades.

In many ways, Rick, Marilyn and every other long-tenured employee are living examples of the cooperative culture, and their legacies are an integral part of the Land O’Lakes story.

For Marilyn, the value of staying with the cooperative this long can’t adequately be measured in years alone, but instead in the relationships she’s built over the last five decades.

“If you don’t put in, you don’t get out,” she says. “You’ve got to put the time in.”

At Land O’Lakes, time has always been more than a number. It’s an investment, and one that pays dividends in people like Marilyn and Rick, whose careers remind us that when employees grow roots, the cooperative grows stronger.