Beth Ford ’95

THE FARM DECARBONIZER

BETH FORD, CEO of $16 billion agribusiness and food company Land O’Lakes, considers climate change to be among the top challenges facing US farmers today — during what is, she believes, an unprecedentedly tested time for the industry.

Environmental sustainability and responding to the climate crisis have been among Ford’s top priorities since she took the helm as CEO of Land O’Lakes in 2018.

In 2020, her company — which has been in operation for over a century and is structured as a farmer- and retailer-owned cooperative — formed the Land O’Lakes Sustainability Council. In 2021, this council formalized 14 companywide ESG goals in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development goals. They include achieving net zero emissions by 2050 (across scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions); producing 100 percent reusable, recyclable, or compostable consumer packaging by 2030; and using 100 percent renewable energy in operations by 2030.

Since assuming Land O’Lakes’ top leadership position, Ford has made the case that actively improving its relationship with the environment is a mandate that’s in the company’s DNA.

“We see farmers as the original environmentalists,” Ford says, “who truly understand what it means to leave the land better for the next generation.”

Much of the company’s expanding effort to put agriculture in the driver’s seat when it comes to climate solutions is happening through Truterra, one of Land O’Lakes’ four core businesses. Launched in 2016, Truterra works to encourage and enable farmers to adopt and maintain sustainability strategies for their farm businesses that maximize yields and expand stewardship.

In September, Truterra was one of 70 projects selected as grant recipients by the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. Its project, titled Climate SMART (Scaling Mechanisms for Agriculture’s Regenerative Transformation), will receive up to $90 million in grant funding. The project’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7.2 million metric tons of carbon over five years, roughly equivalent to removing 1.5 million cars from the road for a year.

“Under this project, Truterra will continue to do the great work they’ve been doing but at a faster and broader pace, all with the goal to scale, connect, and reduce barriers for farmers wanting to transition to regenerative agriculture practices,” Ford explains.