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

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CO-OP NEWSRobert ThompsonSelected for DistinguishedService AwardA Land O’Lakes Advisory Board Memberreceived top industry recognition from theAmerican Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).Robert Thompson, retired Gardner EndowedChair in Agricultural Policy at the Universityof Illinois, received the Distinguished Serviceto Agriculture Award – the highest honor presentedby the AFBF.Raised on a dairy farm in New York, Thompsonhas served more than 40 years in theagriculture industry. He formerly served asdean of agriculture at Purdue University andassistant secretary of Agriculture at USDA. Hehas dedicated much of his career to agriculturaldevelopment in low-income countries.As an Advisory Member of the Land O’LakesBoard of Directors, Thompson attendscooperative board events and advisesLand O’Lakes executives and Board memberson agricultural policy in the U.S. as well asinternationally.AFBF established the Distinguished ServiceAward to honor individuals who have devotedtheir careers to serving farming and ranching.Go to www.fb.org and select “News Releases"from the Newsroom menu to read more. ■Chris Policinski Speaks atInternational Women’s DayEvent in Washington, D.C.Land O'Lakes President and CEO ChrisPolicinski was a featured speaker at the thirdannual International Women’s Day Breakfast,an event marking the 100th anniversary ofInternational Women's Day, which is celebratedannually on March 8.Land O'Lakes was the corporate sponsor ofthe event, which was coordinated and hosted byWomen Thrive, an organization that advocatesfor policies that benefit and empower womenliving in poverty around the world.The event, held on Capitol Hill, addressedthe issue of global hunger and the role ofU.S. agriculture in feeding a growing worldpopulation. ■National Milk MakesStrides With "Foundationfor the Future"The National Milk Producers Federation(NMPF) took a major step forward with Foundationfor the Future in early March when itsBoard of Directors (including Land O’LakesPresident and CEO Chris Policinski and BoardDirectors Pete Kappelman, Cornell Kasbergenand Tom Wakefield) voted to supportmajor reforms of the Federal Milk MarketingOrder program.The proposal:• Replaces end-product pricing formulas witha competitive milk pricing system.• Incorporates two classes of milk – fluid(Class I) and manufacturing (formerly ClassII, III and IV product uses).• Maintains the “higher of” for establishing thefluid use (Class I) minimum base price.• Maintains current Class I regional differentials.• Maintains the number and basic structureand provisions of Federal Orders.With the approval of the Marketing Order reforms,the Foundation for the Future legislativelanguage has been drafted.In addition to the Milk Marketing Order reform,Foundation for the Future is made up of twoother components for dairy policy reform: aMargin Insurance element and a Price Stabilizationcomponent.Because new Farm Bill legislation is not expectedto be heard until 2012, at the urging ofHouse Agriculture Committee Chairman FrankLucas, NMPF has begun seeking congressionalsupport for Foundation for the Futureindependent from the Farm Bill.Land O’Lakes has been involved closelythroughout this process. The Policies andResolutions Committee will be workingto gain legislator support during the 2011Washington, D.C., fly-ins.For up-to-date news and informationabout Foundation for the Future,visit www.futurefordairy.com. Also,Land O’Lakes has provided a Foundationfor the Future page in the Membersection of www.landolakesinc.com tosummarize the cooperative’s involvementand keep members aware of newpolicy developments. ■Purina Introduces ChallengeCampaignIn March, Purina launched the largest marketingand public relations campaign it has everundertaken to target new customers and engageexisting customers. The campaign will usedirect mail, TV, radio, print, and online vehiclesto reach targeted audiences. You can see one ofthe print ads on page 2.Through the campaign, Purina invites animalowners to take its 60-Day See the DifferenceChallenge to see the difference its feeds makein their animals.Participants can register up to two speciesonline at www.PurinaDifference.com for a 60day trial of Purina ® Feeds. Species includedin the Challenge are horse, flock, rabbit, goat,cattle and show animals. ■Land O’Lakes Teams Up to“Kick Hunger”Food insecurity is an issue affecting more than50 million people nationwide. To help counter this,Land O’Lakes once again teamed up with Cargilland General Mills to sponsor Minnesota WCCORadio’s “Let’s Kick Hunger Day” radiothon benefitingSecond Harvest Heartland and 32 FeedingAmerica food banks through Taste of the NFL.The 13-hour radiothon, which took place inJanuary at the Mall of America in Bloomington,Minn., generated more than $213,000. The eventfeatured past and present NFL players andcoaches, celebrity chefs, and local and nationalmembers of the media.Land O’Lakes employees volunteer to answer phones atthe radiothon, raising funds to prevent hunger.28 growingtogether www.landolakesinc.com
In addition to sponsoring the event,Land O’Lakes volunteers worked throughoutthe event answering phones and working informationbooths at the mall. ■Ag Services Election ChangesIn response to feedback from members, therehave been several governance changes for AgServices region elections in 2011-2012:• The region voting meeting, normally scheduledfor fall 2011, will instead be held at the 2012Annual Meeting. This change will shorten thenomination and election process from 16months to 12 months; eliminate overlap fromone election cycle to the next; and allow sufficienttime for candidate selection and campaigning.Additionally, it reduces the numberof governance meetings held throughout theyear, and does away with the delay from regionnominee election to official corporate election.• Due to the election changes noted above, ExecutiveCouncil and Corporate Board terms willnow both begin and end at the Land O’Lakes AnnualMeeting, rather than at the Fall Meetings.• The regional voting meetings will be held onFeb. 28, 2012. The official election of directorswill occur during the Annual Meeting businessmeeting on February 29. ■Supporting JapanDisaster ReliefLand O’Lakes will contribute up to $20,000to the American Red Cross and SalvationArmy in direct donations and an employee/member match program. The Land O’LakesFoundation has activated its Member CoopMatch Program to provide additionalfinancial contribution through April 30, 2011.Go to www.landolakesinc.com/membersto learn more.Leadership ConferenceFocuses on sharedgrowthBusiness Development Services bringsco-op leaders together to talk aboutbusiness growthRecognizing that Land O’Lakes and membercooperatives’ business growth go hand-in-hand,Land O’Lakes Business Development Services(BDS) hosted its first CEO/General ManagersLeadership Conference under the theme ofsharedgrowth. Leaders from 70 Land O’Lakesmember cooperatives attended the conferencein Nassau, Bahamas, in early 2011.“For our inaugural leadership conference,we wanted to feature growth, which cooperativeCEOs and GMs ranked as a priority whenwe last surveyed them,” said BDS Senior VicePresident Karen Grabow. “Our goal was toshare relevant insights and tools that theco-op leaders could apply to their businessesto strengthen their competitive advantage.”Conference attendees enjoyed traditional Bahamiancuisine and the expansive grounds of the Atlantis Resort.The conference featured a pair of guestspeakers who shared excellent outside-inperspectives. Dr. Allan Gray, director of Centerfor Food and Agricultural Business and MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Managementat Purdue University, shared a global outlookfor the agriculture industry. He highlighted,despite the many challenges, the numerousopportunities for growth in agriculture – includingan increased global demand, improvedproduction practices and new opportunities inthe form of renewable fuels.Ted Rouse, senior partner at Bain & Co.,expressed the value of companies definingtheir core customers, products, capabilitiesand cost advantages. Rouse shared examplesof companies that strayed from their core andfell on challenging times, and highlighted companiesthat narrowed their scope, focused ontheir core and achieved meaningful growth.The second session illustrated the importanceof customer experience. ForresterResearch Principal Analyst Megan Burnspresented the results of a recentBDS survey that rated the experienceof 2,700 producer-customers whopurchase from one of six differentLand O’Lakes member co-ops rangingin size and geography.“The findings revealed that customersare generally satisfied with theirinteractions,” Grabow said. “In fact, asa group, the six cooperatives rankedhigher than most industries measuredby Forrester Research in delivering apositive customer experience.”Despite the positive results, Grabowsaid the survey still provided clear insightsinto areas of service opportunity. Burnsagreed and added that there are many areasin which co-ops could improve their customerexperience and explained that, by doing so,they could create a more loyal customer base.Grabow said customer surveys are animportant tool for ensuring cooperativegrowth. “We in BDS continue to grow our surveycapability to help cooperatives understandtheir strengths and opportunities in meetingcustomers’ needs,” she said. “By adding thisoffering to our portfolio, we can help promotesuccess for both individual cooperatives andthe entire federated system.”Taking the survey results a step further,Shaun Smith, partner from Smith & Co.,turned the focus to how co-ops can improvethe customer experience. Smith offereda number of examples of companies thatprovide exceptional customer experience andthe benefits of doing so – such as creatinga dedicated customer base willing to pay apremium and refer others to their business. ■Land O’Lakes CEO Chris Policinski shares the stagewith Ted Rouse, senior partner at Bain & Co.www.landolakesinc.com MARCH/APRIL 2011 29
Page 1 and 2: TMMARCH/APRIL 2011THE FUTURE OFTHE
Page 3 and 4: Table of ContentsMARCH/APRIL 2011TM
Page 5 and 6: One of those messages is that in th
Page 7 and 8: of a legislator in Washington or th
Page 9 and 10: FeedThe company’s Feed business r
Page 11 and 12: LAND O’LAKES EXECUTIVE AGRIBUSINE
Page 13 and 14: PROFILESSARA MORTIMORE, Vice Presid
Page 15 and 16: It’s easy to find critics of biot
Page 17 and 18: ECONOMIC OUTLOOK by Tom WegnerA Loo
Page 19 and 20: Josh (left) and John Zonneveld Jr.
Page 21 and 22: A truck picks up milk at Hilltop Da
Page 23 and 24: organized through MBGs in early 200
Page 25 and 26: outbreak near our plant was so broa
Page 27: 25 Years of CooperativeServiceEach
Page 31 and 32: BUNNY CREAM PUFFSThese delightful c

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

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