Land O’ Lakes CEO speaks out strongly on U.S. immigration policies

Dairy cooperative Land O’ Lakes CEO Beth Ford has become one of the most outspoken business leaders vocally supporting immigrants, arguing that businesses rely on immigrant employees for essential operations. Ford, who has served as CEO of the Minnesota-based farmer-owned co-op since 2018, also chairs the Immigration Committee of the Business Roundtable, an industry trade group consisting of private-sector CEOs across the United States. “For a dairy producer, if they lose their staff, I mean, that’s a black swan event. There’s not much you can do,” Ford told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune recently. “Especially on the dairy side, they don’t have options.” Pew Research Center found that the U.S. immigrant labor force declined by 750,000 workers between January and June 2025