Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford named to Time’s list of 100 influential people

Beth Ford, the kid from Iowa who grew up to lead Land O’Lakes as the first openly gay female CEO in America, has been named to TIME100′s coveted list of 100 most influential people in the world.

Ford, listed among the “titans” category in the media company’s annual rundown of professional athletes, artists and world leaders, stands out for her commitment to investing in rural America during a time of climate change and global food security challenges.

“The farm-to-table movement has been happening at restaurants since the 1970s. But thanks to Beth, the farm-to-boardroom-table movement is just beginning,” Larry Fink, CEO of the large private investment firm BlackRock, wrote about Ford in the magazine.

Ford, who has led the Arden Hills-based agribusiness and cooperative since 2018, was previously recognized on the TIME100 climate leaders list for her work on adaptation in agriculture and rural America.

“Our industry is a broad and critical subset of our economy,” Ford, 60, said in a statement, “from the American farmer to businesses, such as the cooperatives I lead, to the rural communities that both support and benefit from the success and strength of our food supply.”

In 2023, the 102-year-old Land O’Lakes reported $17 billion in sales. The cooperative includes about 1,200 dairy producers and nearly 900 ag retailers. Land O’Lakes also boasts a carbon program, Truterra, that has paid farmers $9 million in two years for sequestering 460,000 metric tons of carbon.

University of Minnesota Prof. Rachel Hardeman, whose research examines the effect of structural racism in the medical field and reproductive health equity, was also named to the TIME100 list.

Other honorees included artist Dua Lipa, actor Jeffrey Wright, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Yulia Navalnaya, wife to deceased Russian dissident Alexei Navalny.