Beth Ford

Climate change, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the global water crisis are all threatening our food supply—and the nation’s farmers are on the front lines of the response. That gives Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford, now in her sixth year running the farmer-owned dairy cooperative, a particularly large window into threats to our agricultural system. “Food security is national security,” she says. “This isn’t a rural issue. This is a United States issue.” Ford has long been a voice for rural America, even before her tenure as the head of a butter business. She grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, one of eight children whose parents were a truck driver and a nurse-turned-psychologist-turned-minister. Today, she oversees a nearly 3,000-member dairy cooperative whose business is affected by everything from inflation and U.S. immigration policy to climate change. Last year, Land O’Lakes revenues rose 21% to $19.2 billion—although inflation also increased expenses, and profits fell 16%, to $248 million. Its CEO is addressing these challenges both within Land O’Lakes and on a wider stage. The cooperative’s sustainability arm, Truterra, has paid farmers more than $9 million for sequestering—or storing in the soil—462,000 metric tons of carbon. Ford, who has publicly advocated for increased broadband access in rural America and for immigration reform, this year was appointed by President Joe Biden to his Export Council; she was also appointed to the board of Starbucks. She has made history personally, in 2018 becoming the first openly gay woman to be named CEO of a Fortune 500 company.