the american agricultural cooperative . for other uses see land o lakes disambiguation . land o lakes type agricultural cooperative industry food and agriculture founded july 8 1921 ; 95 years ago 1921 07 08 headquarters arden hills minnesota u.s. key people christopher policinski president & ceo products dairy foods animal nutrition seed and crop protection revenue 14.24 billion 2013 total assets 6.75 billion 2013 members 4 535 farmer owners 2013 number of employees 10 000 website www.landolakesinc.com land o lakes inc. is a member owned agricultural cooperative based in the minneapolis st. paul suburb of arden hills minnesota focusing on the dairy industry . the co op states that it has about 3 600 direct producer members 1 000 member cooperatives and about 10 000 employees who process and distribute products for about 300 000 agricultural producers ; 1 handling 12 billion pounds of milk annually . 2 it is ranked third on the national cooperative bank co op 100 list of mutuals and cooperatives . 3 the co op is one of the largest producers of butter and cheese in the united states . contents 1 history 1.1 recent history 2 corporate affairs 3 brands 3.1 dairy foods 3.2 animal feed 3.3 seed crop protection 4 northwest food products transportation l.l.c. 5 butter packaging 6 allegations of animal mistreatment by supplier 7 licensing 8 see also 9 notes 10 references 11 external links history edit processing plant in kiel wisconsin land o lakes was founded on july 8 1921 in saint paul minnesota by representatives from 320 co op creameries as the minnesota cooperative creameries association . this organization aimed to improve marketing and quality of butter and thus increase the profitability of dairying . the association developed and implemented the systematic inspection grading and certification of butter from member creameries resulting in greater uniformity of product . the improved quality and uniformity and the reliability of its grading system were touted in advertising materials . in 1924 the uniformly graded sweet cream butter was given the name land o lakes after a contest and the certificate forms used by the association included the land o lakes marketing name minnesota s state nickname is land of 10 000 lakes . the name became so popular that the organization s public identity was often confused with its product name ; thus in 1926 the organization itself adopted the name land o lakes creameries inc. and became eponymous with its product . the co op was often accused of unfair competition and false advertising in its early years citation needed and compelled to defend its inspection and certification processes . eventually however the sweet butter marketing strategy drove competitors either to match the quality of butter produced under the land o lakes name or see their sales decline . citation needed many competitors in the dairy products business copied the land o lakes approach and the certification of quality became a proven marketing technique in other product lines as well . recent history edit the land o lakes co op has grown through numerous acquisitions and now has a large business in farm supply in addition to dairy . in 2001 it paid 360 million and assumed 130 million in debt to take over animal feed producer purina mills once part of ralston purina . 4 purina mills new owner planned to merge the company with its land o lakes farmland feed division but would keep the purina name and logo . 5 in 1978 land o lakes got into the meatpacking business with the purchase of spencer beef . 6 it sold spencer beef in 1983 to excel now cargill meat solutions . 7 a federal court in 2002 ordered land o lakes to pay 3 million for patent infringement to dr william pordy the inventor of a type of dairy creamer . 8 an appeal court later overturned that ruling . 9 land o lakes took an ownership stake in egg producer moark in 1999 ; it took full ownership of the company in 2006 . 10 11 in august 2012 land o lakes purchased refrigerated desserts manufacturer kozy shack enterprises for an undisclosed sum . 12 13 in december 2013 land o lakes acquired geosys an international satellite imagery and remote sensing service provider headquartered in toulouse france and having offices in s o paulo brazil melbourne australia and plymouth minnesota . geosys continues to work with winfield to develop a web based decision making tool enabling its members to view remote sensing maps based on normalized difference vegetative index ndvi a measure of green biomass . users of the web based platform can see at the field level the health of their crop and make decisions regarding crop inputs as well as the ability to use precision farming variable rate application techniques . geosys offers additional products and services globally . 14 corporate affairs edit the company s headquarters is in arden hills minnesota in suburban minneapolis st. paul . 15 it also has offices in the adjoining suburb of shoreview minnesota . 16 brands edit the core businesses of the co op are dairy foods animal feed seed crop protection products business development services and layers eggs . 17 dairy foods edit land o lakes the apostrophe is purposely removed in product branding alpine lace land o lakes food service kozy shack animal feed edit purina animal nutrition land o lakes feed seed crop protection edit winfield us bought out united suppliers in spring 2016 so winfield changed the name to include them in the company northwest food products transportation l.l.c. edit a wholly owned subsidiary of land o lakes based in hudson wisconsin is the transportation arm responsible for the transportation of milk and finished dairy products . the firm manages its own private fleet of nearly 200 tanker trucks a contract fleet of an additional 600 trucks and the land o lakes private fleet of nearly 1 700 trucks . 18 butter packaging edit the recursive image shown on the land o lakes butter packaging is an example of the droste effect . the land o lakes indian maiden holding the butter box was painted in 1928 by brown & bigelow illustrator arthur c. hanson who also painted the original old style lager logo . citation needed his original art hangs in the lobby of the arden hills office and depicts the maiden in a pastoral scene with lakes pines flowers and grazing cows in the background . according to land o lakes the original indian maiden was simplified and modernized in 1939 by jess betlach and has undergone many minor modifications since as the enduring logo of the co op . red lake ojibwe artist patrick desjarlait updated the maiden s image in the 1950s . 19 the package image is an example of the infinite loop motif or droste effect in which the image is repeated in theory infinitely within itself . in his 2012 book the inconvenient indian novelist broadcaster and aboriginal rights activist thomas king criticised the land o lakes butter packaging noting that it features an indian maiden in a buckskin dress on her knees holding a box of butter at bosom level . the wag who designed the box arranged it so that if you fold the box in a certain way the indian woman winds up au naturel sporting naked breasts . such a clever fellow 20 whether this folded peep show effect was an intentional component of desjarlait s updated design is not clear . allegations of animal mistreatment by supplier edit in september 2009 people for the ethical treatment of animals peta released an undercover video allegedly depicting animal abuse of dairy cows at a pennsylvania supplier for land o lakes inc. the video showed unclean conditions in the barn and milking parlor and cows with infections and illness . 21 the supplier s employee was found not guilty of animal cruelty charges resulting from this incident 22 and an investigation by veterinarians hired by land o lakes revealed no mistreatment of animals but the veterinarians suggested that bedding hygiene ventilation and animal disposal practices be improved . 23 land o lakes states that it is supportive of the dairy industry s national dairy f.a.r.m. farmers assuring responsible management farm animal care standards . 24 licensing edit since august 2012 whitewave foods has licensed the land o lakes name and sold coffee creamers and fluid dairy products under the brand . 25 see also edit minnesota portal companies portal food portal list of dairy product companies in the united states notes edit land o lakes annual report welcome to land o lakes inc. . retrieved 10 july 2010 . 2010 ncb co op 100 pdf . national cooperative bank . company news ; land o lakes to buy a leading livestock feed company . the new york times . 19 june 2001 . purina mills inc. acquired by land o lakes of arden hills minn. linda tucci st. louis business journal st louis mo 23 december 2001 . retrieved 25 february 2012 land o lakes inc. history . funding universe . retrieved 28 august 2016 . lucht gene june 20 1983 . what s next spencer beef sale will bring changes but not right away . spencer daily reporter . retrieved june 24 2016 . land o lakes ordered to pay inventor . the new york times . 3 january 2002 . appeal pdf . retrieved 21 november 2013 . markels alex 1 september 2002 . a marketing cry don t fence them in . the new york times . denver . retrieved 9 january 2015 . winn mari 31 january 2006 . land o lakes now owns 100 % of moark . joplin independent . retrieved 9 january 2015 . land o lakes closes kozy shack acquisition press release . land o lakes . 1 august 2012 . retrieved 6 august 2013 . stych ed 18 july 2012 . land o lakes buys dessert maker kozy shack . bizjournals.com . retrieved 6 august 2013 . land o lakes inc. acquires geosys december 4 2013 . retrieved 2015 05 14 . contact . land o lakes . retrieved on march 20 2014 . land o lakes inc. 4001 lexington ave. n arden hills mn 55126 2998 directions archive shoreview office archive land o lakes inc. shoreview office 1080 county road f west shoreview mn 55126 businesses . retrieved 9 april 2014 . northwest food products transportation at land o lakes anthes bill . native moderns american indian painting 1940 1960 . durham duke university press 2006 99 . king thomas 2012 . the inconvenient indian a curious account of native people in north america . toronto doubleday . isbn 978 0 385 67405 8 . peta cow abuse at land o lake supplier . september 29 2009 . archived from the original on july 28 2011 . retrieved 2009 10 14 . pennsylvania magistrate judge ruling . march 18 2010 . retrieved 2010 03 23 . land o lakes investigation of dairy farm concluded . october 12 2009 . retrieved 2009 10 14 . land o lakes member cleared of animal cruelty claims . march 19 2010 . retrieved 2010 03 23 . dean foods land o lakes expand strategic alliance . eurofood . 15 aug. 2002 . references edit land o lakes corporate website . kenneth d. ruble . men to remember how 100 000 neighbors made history . lakeside press 1947 a company sponsored history of the early years of land o lakes 1921 1945 . see especially pp. 163 167 and 181 184 concerning the evolution of the name of the product into the company name . external links edit official consumer site company site winfield solutions llc a land o lakes company moark llc a land o lakes company land o lakes food service land o lakes feed alpine lace kozy shack purina mills v t e minnesota based corporations