Land O'Lakes announces participation in major farmer initiative

Land O'Lakes participates in new model — Courtesy of Land O'Lakes

Land O'Lakes Inc. announced its participation in AgRogue Growth Partners, an initiative aimed at harnessing the strength of the cooperative model to fast-track the discovery, investment and adoption of breakthrough technologies to support farmers, their businesses, and their communities.

"We believe the key to jumpstarting the adoption of modern ag technologies lives in the partnership and trust between retailers and growers. This platform represents a focused strategy that builds on the strength of Land O'Lakes' co-op model and our retail owners to assist Radicle Growth in finding, funding and scaling new innovation to help ensure our system remains at the leading edge of ag tech, and U.S. agriculture remains competitive on a global stage," said Jason Trusley, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Through AgRogue Growth Partners, the coalition will:

Invest in and scale innovative technologies, business models and systems that drive on-farm impact.
Pool resources — including capital, talent and market insights — to access proprietary ag innovations beyond traditional channels.
Accelerate early adoption by leveraging the trusted, local relationships between participating retailers and farmers.

This launch comes at a pivotal moment for U.S. agriculture. Net farm income for U.S. row crop producers remains persistently low, while public funding for agricultural research has declined to 1970s levels. At the same time, global competitors like China have dramatically increased their investments, Land O'Lakes stated.

"Right now, we're seeing a wave of necessary innovation stall before it reaches the farm gate — often lacking the local trust and infrastructure needed to succeed," said Brett Bruggeman, chief operating officer and executive vice president of ag business at Land O'Lakes, Inc. "As one of the largest farmer- and retailer-owned cooperatives in the U.S., we know our retail-owners are uniquely positioned to bridge that gap and get proven innovation into farmers' hands faster."

Retail partners include Keystone Cooperative (Indiana), Central Valley Ag (Nebraska), Farmers Cooperative – Dorchester (Nebraska), Farmward Cooperative (Minnesota), Alabama Farmers Cooperative (Alabama), and GreenPoint Ag (Alabama). The AgRogue Growth Partners will be managed by Radicle Growth, a leading ag tech investment firm, which will help identify and vet cutting-edge startups from around the world.