Land O'Lakes Company

"What brought us to today's success won't be enough for the challenges of tomorrow. We must continue to evolve and change, both individually and as a company."

Chris Policinski has more than 35 years of experience in the food industry. He joined Land O’Lakes, Inc., in 1997 and was appointed president and CEO in 2005. Prior to joining Land O’Lakes, he held leadership positions with Kraft General Foods, Bristol-Myers Squibb and The Pillsbury Company.

He serves on the board of several industry groups, including the Grocery Manufacturers Association (as chairman), the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy (as chairman), the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and is involved in local community boards including as a Trustee of the University of Minnesota Foundation.

Chris is a lead director of the boards of Xcel Energy and Hormel Foods.

Chris earned his MBA from New York University and his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

“Talent is my top priority. I believe our value as leaders is best measured by the success of the people we have been able to help bring along in their own careers and achievements.”

Beth Ford is the group executive vice president and chief operating officer for Land O’Lakes, Inc. She is responsible for the Purina Animal Nutrition and U.S. Dairy Foods businesses, which reported 2016 net sales totaling more than $8 billion.

In her 30 years of experience as a global operator, Beth has held senior and line leadership positions in seven companies across six industries, including Energy (Mobil Oil), Consumer Packaged Goods (Pepsi/Pepsi Bottling Group), QSR (Perseco), Publishing (Scholastic and Hachette), Chemicals (International Flavors and Fragrances) and now Food Production and Agribusiness.   

A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Beth earned an MBA from Columbia University Business School and a BBA from Iowa State University. She remains involved in both universities, sitting on the Deming Center Board of Advisors for Columbia Business School and the Dean's Advisory Committee for the College of Business at Iowa State. Beth also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Milk Producers Federation and on the Executive Advisory Board for SCM World. She’s also on multiple non-profit boards, including Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Go Red for Women event for the American Heart Association in Minneapolis.

Additionally, Beth sits on the Board of Directors for two publicly traded companies: Clearwater Papers, Inc. and PACCAR, Inc., both of which are recognized in the Fortune 150 and 750 lists, respectively. 

“If you eat, you’re a part of agriculture. There isn’t a farmer to my knowledge that wakes up without that in mind. With SUSTAIN, we’re simplifying the complex challenge of feeding the world by using our products, practices and technology to help farmers do more with less.”

Matt joined Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 2015 with the merger of the United Suppliers and Land O’Lakes crop inputs businesses. He serves as senior vice president of Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN, a business unit formed in 2016, and provides leadership in aligning environmental sustainability efforts across the enterprise.  

With 21 years in the agriculture industry, Matt’s experience spans retail, wholesale and manufacturing functions in the crop inputs business. He was responsible for developing the sustainability business while at United Suppliers. Prior to joining United Suppliers, Matt held various sales, marketing and management positions at American Cyanamid, BASF, Rosen’s Inc. and Helena Chemical Company.  

Matt graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in agricultural business from Iowa State University. His passion for agriculture developed on his family’s farm and has only deepened after spending years in the industry. 

“At our core, we are owned by farmer producers who are no-nonsense, get-it-done people. As a result, our culture has a strong ‘can-do’ attitude. Our competitors and the environment in which we're doing business require that we have a sharper focus on execution and set a high bar for marketplace achievement.”

John leads the Land O’Lakes International Development organization, a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1981 by Land O’Lakes, Inc.  He assumed the role in January, 2017 after leading U.S. Dairy Foods and dairy foods teams since 2008.

Before joining Land O’Lakes, John led corporate marketing at American Medical Systems and spent 15 years in various marketing leadership roles at General Mills. John serves on the boards of the American Butter Institute, ServeMinnesota and Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare. He earned his bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Minnesota. 

“There are clearly differences between industries, but the talent you have is what gives you the most exclusive competitive advantage. It’s what allows you to meet marketplace needs, grow the company and be competitive.”

Loren serves as senior vice president and chief human resources officer (CHRO) for Land O’Lakes, Inc. He joined Land O’Lakes in 2004, bringing more than 30 years of human resources and large scale change management experience in multiple companies and industries. Before joining Land O’Lakes, he served as vice president of human resources at both Honeywell International and the University of St. Thomas.

Loren is on the Institute for Corporate Productivity CHRO Board, the Corporate Executive Board’s CHRO Board and is co-chair of the Board of Governors of the Midwest HR Leadership Summit. He is also a board member of Camp Fire of Minnesota and was previously on the Board of the Twin Cities American Heart Association. Loren has a bachelor’s in psychology from Hamline University and completed all but dissertation for a doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at the University of Minnesota

“We should think of ourselves as athletes in training. We need to push ourselves to grow and improve ourselves each and every day—both as individuals and as a company.” 

Peter serves as general counsel and chief administrative officer for Land O’Lakes, Inc., with experience in trademark law, mergers and acquisitions, cooperative law, antitrust law and corporate governance. Peter provides oversight for all legal affairs, community relations, government affairs, member relations, meetings and events, travel, security, real estate and facilities.  

Peter serves on the boards of the Land O’Lakes Foundation, the Carlson School of Management, Newtrient, LLC,. Peter holds a bachelor’s in political science and a J.D. from Hamline University. 

“Great ideas can come from anywhere. Seek creative people to bring the outside in. And, if you see an opportunity, don't be afraid to go outside of your area. Acting boldly gives us more opportunities as individuals—and helps us be more successful as a company.” 

Jerry serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of International Business for Land O’Lakes, Inc., leading all commercial business ventures outside of the United States. In this role, Jerry oversees Land O’Lakes’ Global Dairy Ingredients business, as well as joint venture activity in Land O'Lakes' target international markets; Canada, Mexico, Africa and China.

Prior to his current role, Jerry was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of the total Dairy Foods Business-retail and foodservice divisions, in addition to, Global Dairy Ingredients. Jerry joined Land O'Lakes in 2007. Before joining Land O’Lakes, Jerry served as a vice president and general manager at General Mills, where he held various leadership positions in the retail and business-to-business segments. He also served as president and chief operating officer at Sparboe Foods.

Jerry holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

As senior vice president and Chief Financial Officer, Bill oversees corporate finance, accounting, treasury and audit. Bill joined Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 2005 as vice president, finance and accounting for Purina and has held progressive roles across the businesses including chief accounting officer and treasurer prior to moving into his current role. He previously held senior roles at ADC Telecommunications and NRG Energy and spent seven years early in his career at KPMG.

Bill is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor of science degree from St. Cloud State University – Herberger Business School.

“The heights of creativity are reached through the inspiration of living a full life—getting out there and experiencing what our customers, members and partners are experiencing each and every day.” 

Tim oversees B2C and B2B branding and marketing strategy and is responsible for building marketing competencies across all businesses and geographies for Land O’Lakes, Inc. He also has oversight for FLM+, a wholly owned subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, Inc. During his 31-year career, Tim has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor and skilled marketer. He joined Land O’Lakes in 2015. 

Prior to Land O’Lakes, Tim was the International CEO and President at mcgarrybowen. In that role, Tim lead the rapidly expanding global offering, while also continuing to steer the Chicago office. His career in advertising has allowed him to help build many well-known brands, from General Mills to Frito Lay, from Sears to Mondelez, from Disney to Wrigley, and from Kraft to Clorox. He’s accumulated a considerable collection of Effies and other awards along the way and has even run a monumental list of Kraft businesses at four different agencies.  

Tim earned his bachelor’s and his MBA from Michigan State University. He lives in downtown Minneapolis and in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood during the week and spends his weekends hibernating at his cabin in the Michigan woods. 

“If you’re hungry it’s hard to focus on anything else in your life. Farmers have an important role in society—producing food for their communities and doing it with increasingly limited resources. We’re focused on providing the research, insights and technology farmers need.”

For nearly 40 years, Mike has worked in all aspects of the seed industry, with nearly 30 of them in evolving roles at Land O’Lakes, Inc. Today, Mike leads the crop inputs and insights businesses of Land O’Lakes, including the seed and crop protection products business, WinField^® United, that focuses on delivering data-backed, insights driven agronomics, operational excellence and sustainable solutions to help locally owned and operated agricultural retailers meet farmers’ needs.

After earning degrees in agronomy and plant breeding, Mike began his career working directly with farmers, first as an extension service county agent and then in a variety of sales, sales management and technical agronomy roles. Mike joined the Land O'Lakes Seed team in 1990 and assumed leadership of the overall business in 2012. Throughout his tenure at Land O’Lakes, Mike has focused on using insights to support local agricultural retailers in meeting farmer’s needs to increase productivity using fewer resources.

“The environment around us is changing aggressively. We have both an opportunity and an imperative to capitalize on the opportunities it creates.”

As senior vice president for mergers, acquisitions and ventures, Barry provides oversight of merger and acquisition transaction management including due diligence and integration, and of key joint venture and wholly-owned subsidiary investments. As a part of his responsibilities, he represents Land O’Lakes on the boards of directors for FLM +; Eggland's Best, LLC; Geosys Technology Holding, Inc.; Winfield US, LLC; Villa SA; Greenpoint, LLC; Agri-AFC, LLC; and, Valley Ag, LLC. In prior leadership roles at Land O’Lakes, Barry served as chief marketing officer, senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications, senior vice president of corporate strategy and held various leadership roles in the dairy foods business.

Prior to joining Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 1999, Barry worked at General Mills, where he was vice president of several businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Barry currently serves as an advisory member and past chair of the board of directors of The BrandLab. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and economics from the University of Toronto and an MBA in marketing and policy from York University.  

“We have three big rocks we try to stay focused on. It starts with the customer. Understand their needs and everything will work out. Second, we focus on recruiting and retaining the highest level of talent. Last is our quest for continuous improvement by embracing innovation.”

Brett joined Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 2015 with the merger of the Land O’Lakes and United Suppliers seed and crop protection products businesses known today as WinField® United. Brett leads all marketing and offer development activities for the business, including ownership over the profit and loss statement and the go-to-market strategy that is focused on delivering data-backed, insights driven agronomics, operational excellence and sustainable solutions to help locally owned and operated agricultural retailers meet farmers’ needs.

Brett joined United Suppliers in 2007 with primary responsibilities for business unit profit and loss and balance sheet, manufacturer programs and relationships, people management—recruitment and retention, proprietary business development, and overall strategy development. Prior to United Suppliers Brett worked at BASF in the United States and internationally.  

“Working with our member-owners each and every day provides an unmatched view of the cooperative system and American agriculture. Our strength lies in each farmer and rural co-op succeeding and thriving, feeding families and inspiring the next generation.”

Doug and his team work with customers of Land O’Lakes’ ag businesses. Doug applies more than 30 years of experience working within the rural cooperative system to assist locally owned and operated agricultural retailers in bringing value to their businesses and to the farmers they serve. Through the WinField^® United branded business’ sales team, the Land O’Lakes Ag. Customer Team and Business Development Services, Land O’Lakes’ ag. customers have access to data-backed, insights-driven agronomics, operational excellence, sustainable solutions and strategic business consultation to help them—and the farmers they serve—succeed.

Doug began his career with Madison County Co-op in Indiana and was named General Manager in 1990. He served as General Manager of Ag One Co-op also in Anderson, Indiana, and also spent time with Countrymark Co-op before joining Land O’Lakes in 1998. At Land O’Lakes, Doug managed the agronomy sales forces in the Eastern Corn Belt, Eastern U.S. and Ontario and directed Business-to-Business Sales for the crop inputs businesses before assuming his current role.

“We have great opportunities for women in agribusiness, and women don’t always think to look at this industry. My advice to young women is to stay an active participant in your career. Work hard, continue learning and take some risks.”

Lisa leads Land O’Lakes, Inc.’s feed business-to-business portfolio, which includes the milk replacer, micro ingredient distribution & premix, ingredient merchandising and Lab Diet businesses. She came to Land O’Lakes in 2004 and worked in finance leadership roles for our dairy foods and agricultural services businesses before assuming her current role in 2013.

Before Land O’Lakes, Lisa held a variety of finance and strategy roles at International Multifoods and Pillsbury. Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Hamline University and a master’s degree in finance from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management. She sat on the board of directors at Ecumen for 10 years. Lisa is passionate about developing women for leadership roles and is the executive sponsor of Land O’Lakes’ Women’s Leadership Network. 

As senior vice president for supply chain and procurement, Yone is responsible for supply chain strategy, supply and demand planning, transportation, warehousing, analytics, talent management and Procurement. Prior to this role, Yone was the Director of Planning for the Dairy Foods division of Land O’Lakes.

Yone joined Land O’Lakes in 2008 as director of planning for the dairy foods business. Before joining Land O’Lakes, he spent 12 years traveling extensively throughout the world as a supply chain consultant and for 15 years working for fast moving consumer goods and chemical companies. Yone earned his MBA from Lehigh University and his bachelor’s from the University of Pennsylvania. 

“In business today, there is a lot of pressure to meet short-term deliverables. We're fortunate at Land O’Lakes to have the ownership structure and management philosophy that enables us to look ahead and make the connection of farm-to-plate.”

Dave has more than 37 years of experience in the feed industry representing the Purina brand and the components of Land O’Lakes’ animal nutrition business. He began his career at Ralston Purina in 1979 and held several sales, general management and officer positions as the business evolved to Purina Mills, Inc. then Purina Animal Nutrition.

Since 2001, Purina Animal Nutrition has been a part of the farm-to-fork business at Land O’Lakes, Inc. Dave has led the teams focused on feeding livestock such as dairy cows, beef cattle and pigs, as well as lifestyle animals such as horses, the companion animal species and exotic animal/zoo business. Each day, he works to ensure the rich history of animal nutrition research and innovation continues to deliver new solutions that help animals achieve their greatest levels of performance. 

As SVP, Corporate Strategy and Business Development, Thea plays a key role in company strategy and identifying acquisitions that will be key to Land O’Lakes’ growth.

Thea joined Land O’Lakes in 1998 as director, corporate strategy and business development. She served as the general manager of Dairy Foods Poland. Upon returning to the United States, Thea held progressive positions throughout the enterprise, including director of LAND O LAKES® butter and spreads and vice president retail cheese and marketing services. She also held the positions of vice president of strategic margin expansion and vice president, corporate strategy. Prior to joining Land O’Lakes, Thea spent time consulting in Poland and working in marketing at General Mills.

Thea has a B.A. in economics from Colorado College and an MBA in Marketing from Washington University in St. Louis – Olin Business School.

“It is an honor to lead the passionate team of professionals at FLM+. Together, we bring wide open thinking, engaging content and specialized thought leadership to global clients who are helping improve the lives of animals, plants and people."

Rob is president and CEO of FLM+, which is a hybrid strategic consulting, marketing and communications company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, that specializes in agriculture, rural lifestyle, life and environmental sciences. Prior to FLM+, Rob was a founder and senior vice president of Adayana, Inc. Before successfully helping build Adayana into a global consultancy, Rob led the introduction of innovative digital strategies with Broadvision, a broad-spectrum e-commerce and Internet solutions company. He also served as senior vice president of Meyocks & Priebe Advertising where he built their digital capabilities from the ground up. Rob also held leadership positions at AgriGrowth, Inc. and started his career at Ciba-Geigy, now Syngenta.

Rob earned an agricultural economics degree from The Ohio State University and, in 2013, the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences named Rob a “Distinguished Alumnus.” Rob is active in the National Agri-Marketing Association and the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity, both locally at Ohio State and internationally. 

Rob, his wife, Shelly, and their five children reside in the greater Columbus, Ohio, community.

“Agriculture is undergoing a massive infusion of technology, specifically information technology. At Land O’Lakes, we are focused on harnessing new and innovative technologies for competitive advantage with our growers and our members.”

Mike joined Land O’Lakes, Inc. in 2010 and became senior vice president and chief information officer in June 2013. During his tenure, Mike has led extensive efforts to embrace big data, mobile, and cloud computing across the enterprise and invest in developing unique and market-leading solutions in the areas of precision agriculture, ag technology and industry leading analytics.

Mike has deep relationships across a number of companies in the technology industry and participates in Customer Advisory Boards with Microsoft, Oracle, Verizon, and Salesforce. He also is an advisor in various capacities to Andreesen Horowitz, Blumberg Capital, Landmark Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SVG Partners, Artiman Ventures, and accelerators such as Thrive. Mike speaks frequently on how to operate IT as a business and how digital is changing the role of the CIOs within enterprises. He is also a leading influence in the emerging AgTech industry.

Before joining Land O’Lakes, Mike held a breadth of roles at Ingersoll Rand, AlliedSignal and was involved in several start-ups including G5 Technologies and Multi-Media Solutions. Mike earned his MBA from Duke University and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

“Supply chains are largely human organizations. I think that if you love people there is no better function than supply chain. Supply chain members are wired to be collaborative and work very hard to make the impossible happen.”

As senior vice president for operations, Su is responsible for the functional oversight of 90+ facilities that manufacture products delivered under the LAND O LAKES^® Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition and WinField^® United brands. Su’s career spans multiple industries, including specialty chemicals and equipment, consumer packaged goods and food products.

Prior to joining Land O’Lakes in 2013, Su held leadership roles at Ecolab, SC Johnson and Son, Reckitt Benckiser, Hormel Foods and General Foods. Su earned her Executive MBA from University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and her bachelor’s degree from University of Wisconsin—Madison. 

Christopher Roberts serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer for Dairy Foods at Land O’Lakes, Inc. He provides oversight for the company’s reunified Dairy business, including the global powder organization. He holds responsibility for all strategic and commercial activities in the Retail, Foodservice, Ingredient and Industrial sectors and for the continued engagement and development of the team members on the Dairy Foods business.

He previously held positions at Cargill where he was president of Cargill Value Added Proteins and president of the Cargill Kitchens. Prior to Cargill, he built his career in leadership roles at both PepsiCo and The Coca Cola Company.