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Land O'Lakes – is an American member-owned agricultural cooperative based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb of Arden Hills, Minnesota, focusing on the dairy industry. Beth Ford, CEO, gave this interview
on August 20, 2025.
Some Key Points she made are:
- In total, we have only 28% of the farms we had 90 years ago
- Farm bankruptcies have roughly doubled, compared to last year
- Not only do these factors affect farmers, but also their communities
- In 2024, net farm income, declined by $8.2 billion—representing a 5.6% decrease, following a 19.4% drop in 2023
- Most estimates indicate that less than 5% of farms will be profitable this year
- In Iowa alone, 20 million of its 30 million acres of farmland are set to transition
- There are more farmers 75-and-older than under the age of 35
Like Beth Ford pointed out in her interview, these issues are decades in the making. Some of my take-aways include:
- 1. Farmers are far removed from the end consumer - what the farmer sells is not what the consumer sees on their plate
- 2. Farms are chemical driven and not biological which increases cost of production. In 2013 while at Gabe Brown's farm he stated his cost of corn production was $1.69/bushel (biological) while the county average was greater than $4/bushel (chemical)
- 3. Land, equipment, etc. is too high for folks under 35 to even consider farming-need URGENT out-of-the-box thinking here
- 4. High Schools scrubbed agriculture & home economics classes (and Vo-Tech) for sports, arts, and college-directed studies
- 5. The article I read this week on $500 Billion being spent on AI construction... disgusts me!
What do you think?
New Sausage Flavors Update - this week we not only processed chickens, but also made 100# Ground Pork, 150# Pattie Sausage, and 350# Link Sausages. Including two of the three new flavors. Inventory will be added Sunday at 8 AM when all pickup locations are open for ordering.
Link Sausage really takes a lot of extra time over days. We made the link Wed afternoon, Beth smoked it Thursday, and she and I packed Friday morning. All in all we averaged 14# per man hour from start to finish.
Needless to say, as a small plant, our process is very manual except for the mixer/grinder. There is a small machine that will automate many of the steps as well as make the links more consistent for $67,000, but we would never do enough sausage to justify that expense.
Here is the Jalapeno & Cheddar smoked link sausage (yours will be packaged hahaha). I'm thankful to say ours does not include monosodium glutamate (MSG) like many other brands.
 Here is the Jalapeno & Pineapple. Again, ours does not include monosodium glutamate (MSG) like many other brands.
RFK Jr. to Med Schools: Add Nutrition Classes "Immediately" - my first response was why would the HHS Secretary have to direct Med Schools to do this in the first place?
Sec. Kennedy stated "We demand immediate, measurable reforms to embed nutrition education across every stage of medical training, hold institutions accountable for progress, and equip every future physician with the tools to prevent disease - not just treat it." Objective is to prioritize disease prevention over treatment and aims to reduce the rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity in the U.S.
I have many, many customers with amazing health testimonies who only eat Regeneratively grown whole food without the chemicals and additives - no processed food, no seed oils, and limited to no sugar. Knowing what good Nutrition is, is key. Not this counting calories stuff.
Let me encourage you to "Be The Change" our food system needs by "Voting With Your Fork" at every meal.
At Nature's Gourmet Farm, our intent is to create a community that evolves around one of the most intrinsically important things of the ages, and that’s the provision of sustenance. That's our passion - to raise healthy food to nourish families and strengthen immune systems.
Our Beef is always grass finished with NO grains. Additionally, our animals are free of mRNA, GMO's (chemicals), Antibiotics, and Hormones. We ethically raise them on diverse forage pastures that regenerates our soils and protects the ecosystem.
** Product Availability Update **
NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!
Chicken - Restocked August 27th. Next restock September 10th
Turkey - Have poults arrived July 10th and August 20th. Additionally, Thanksgiving whole turkeys are on order for late October delivery. Look for pre-order notice NLT mid October
Eggs - Restocked each Tuesday prior to your delivery date.
Beef - Restocked August 24th. Next restock will be September 21st
Pork – Restocked August 13th. Cured items August 24th. Next restock September 10th
Lamb - Restocked March 27th. Next Restock will be September 29, 2025.
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