2011 March/April Issue - Land O'Lakes Inc.

PROFILESKEITH NEWHOUSE, Director of Sustainability, Land O’Lakes, Arden Hills, MNNewhouse Takes the Leadon Journey to SustainabilityRotating position helps drive Land O’Lakes sustainability strategyAccording to Keith Newhouse,“Sustainability is a journey,not a single event,” and he’llcontinue to share this mantrain his new role as Land O’Lakes directorof Sustainability. In November 2010,Newhouse took on this rotating position tohelp bolster the company’s growing effortsto support sustainable business practices.“Land O’Lakes has a long and great traditionof being close to the land, and connectedthrough the entire food chain from the foodand feed that our members produce to theLand O’Lakes brands that consumers buyfrom the grocery shelf,” Newhouse said.Newhouse has been with Land O’Lakesfor more than 10 years, and has served invarious leadership roles throughout theorganization – his previous position wasdirector of Business Development forWinfield Solutions. His background in agriculturedates back to his childhood growingup on the family farm in northeastern Iowa.Being a member of a 4-H club and FFAhelped Newhouse foster an interest in thefuture of agriculture. His parents encouragedall seven kids to attend college – Keithwent to Iowa State University (ISU), wherehe received a bachelor’s degree in botany.Following graduation, Newhouse heldjobs in seed research and ran an animalnutrition laboratory. He went on to pursuea master’s degree in Genetics at ISU. Afterspending 18 months milking cows back atthe family farm, he returned to ISU to geta doctorate in plant breeding and genetics.“I’m excited to bring my background inagricultural production and in creatingnew business initiatives to this position,”Newhouse said. “The emergenceof consumer interest in understandingthe relationship that food production haswith the environment is perfectly alignedwith Land O’Lakes values of People,Performance, Customer Commitment,Quality and Integrity.”In his new role, Newhouse will lead theLand O’Lakes Sustainability Council andcontinue to strengthen its strategy; leadand facilitate company-wide environmentalsustainability initiatives; representLand O’Lakes at key forums and events;act as Land O’Lakes internal and externalsustainability point person; and provideregular progress reports to the SeniorSteering Team.“Acting in a sustainable fashion is in theDNA of Land O’Lakes, but we need tocontinue to reduce our impact and moreeffectively communicate our actions externally,”he added. “Each of our businessareas – food, feed and agricultural inputs– are taking somewhat different actions inimplementing sustainability practices andmessages. I hope to create an interactiveteam environment to properly address thegoals and needs for our individual businessesand for our overall corporation.”Newhouse will focus on how sustainabilityfits alongside the corporate TotalMargin Management plan. And he willwork to determine how the Land O’Lakesbusiness units’ different sustainabilityneeds and opportunities can be recognizedin the business planning process.Newhouse took over the role fromTim Makens, who has returned to theFeed business as director of IncomeOptimization and Strategic ImperativeImplementation. Makens made a strongcontribution to the Land O’Lakes sustainabilityvision, including expandingthe Corporate Sustainability Report,formalizing the organizational structure,and creating a company-widesustainability scorecard. ■Keith Newhouse, the new director of Sustainabilityfor Land O’Lakes.10 growingtogether www.landolakesinc.com