producer cooperative

Land O'Lakes

Industry Food

A farmer-owned dairy and agricultural cooperative selling butter, dairy, feed, and crop inputs, with producer ownership and industrial-agriculture exposure. Land O'Lakes remains weak because of person-dependent governance, ecological harm, and toxic or materially harmful products, even where the product or service has practical value.

Why this matters: Large agricultural cooperatives need review of producer benefit, workers, consumers, and ecosystems.

Letter grade D Extractive High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1 Last reviewed May 6, 2026

Final Score 18* D - Extractive

DEXTRACTIVE18 pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material36

Bonus+0

Cap66No structure cap

After Cap36

Penalties-18

Private Government badge

Land O'Lakes receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $1.7M on public policy issues.

Evidence: [14]

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Evaluation Overview

D - Extractive

The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Policy Capture.

Strengths

Ownership7/10
Governance5/10
Extraction5/10

Penalties

Policy Capture-6
Reversibility-5
Ecological Harm-4
Toxic Products-3

Evidence state

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
Linked claims14
Direct axis claims13
Coverage13/13

Scoring Axes

Axis	Score	Why this score
Ownership ? Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.	7 / 10	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Ownership: there is some mission, member, producer, or public-interest constraint, but decisive control is not fully democratic. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 146 scored entries below, 21 tied, 59 above on Ownership. Linked evidence Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1]
Governance ? Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.	5 / 10	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative, which constrains capital ownership but leaves agriculture, input, and worker impacts as separate scoring questions. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative, which constrains capital ownership but leaves agriculture, input, and worker impacts as separate scoring questions. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Governance: there are accountability mechanisms, but they stop short of broad democratic control. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 127 scored entries below, 20 tied, 79 above on Governance. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative, which constrains capital ownership but leaves agriculture, input, and worker impacts as separate scoring questions. [2]
Extraction ? Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.	5 / 10	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Extraction: the institution creates real value but still leaves room for rent extraction, unequal bargaining, or surplus capture. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 95 scored entries below, 19 tied, 112 above on Extraction. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative serving dairy, animal nutrition, and agricultural markets. [3]
Labor Sovereignty ? Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.	3 / 7	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Labor Sovereignty: workers or participants have some protection or agency, but not enough binding power to control the relationship. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 45 scored entries below, 66 tied, 115 above on Labor Sovereignty. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes' cooperative ownership belongs to farmer members, while the reviewed public record does not show democratic control for nonmember workers. [4]
Solidarity with the Unemployed ? Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.	3 / 7	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Solidarity with the Unemployed: some access, severance, retraining, openness, or mutual-aid value is present, but it is not central or durable. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 81 scored entries below, 45 tied, 100 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes' cooperative model protects member producers, while its public materials do not show broad protections for nonmember workers or excluded communities. [5]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity ? Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.	4 / 7	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Loss-Bearing Fidelity: there is some willingness to preserve obligations, but the record still leaves meaningful risk-shifting concerns. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 88 scored entries below, 30 tied, 108 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes publishes sustainability work for an agricultural business that includes dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input exposure. [6]
Market Conduct ? Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.	3 / 5	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Market Conduct: the product has real value but still uses meaningful lock-in, gatekeeping, market power, or dependency. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 54 scored entries below, 51 tied, 121 above on Market Conduct. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products and has documented lobbying on agriculture and animal-policy issues. [7]
Product Integrity ? Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.	3 / 5	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Product Integrity: the product has real use value but is compromised by incentives, monetization, lock-in, quality degradation, or risk. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 37 scored entries below, 23 tied, 166 above on Product Integrity. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes' product mix includes butter and dairy foods, animal nutrition, and crop-input activities, connecting the brand to livestock and agricultural chemical concerns. [8]
Scale Integrity ? Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.	3 / 5	The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. The linked record identifies Land O'Lakes as a farmer-owned cooperative. That places Land O'Lakes in the middle of Scale Integrity: scale brings useful reach but also weakens accountability, transparency, or local constraint. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 50 scored entries below, 58 tied, 118 above on Scale Integrity. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes has scaled a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative across dairy foods, animal nutrition, crop inputs, and agribusiness services. [9]

Penalties

Penalty	Applied	Why this penalty
Reversibility ? Applied when positive conduct depends on current living leaders, founders, family owners, or other person-contingent governance rather than durable structure. Range: -5 to 0.	-5	Land O'Lakes's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. Land O'Lakes's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. That warrants a severe Reversibility penalty because favorable conduct depends on current people or discretionary leadership rather than locked stakeholder structure. The value is near the floor because the conduct appears central, large-scale, repeated, or institutionally powerful rather than incidental. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 95 tied, 131 above on Reversibility. Linked evidence context Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative. [1] Land O'Lakes's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. [10]
Ecological Harm ? Footprint, trajectory, irreversibility, culpability, and scale, including whether ecological harm is central to the model and continued after credible notice. Range: -30 to 0.	-4	Land O'Lakes publishes sustainability materials for agriculture, dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input operations. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 33 scored entries below, 9 tied, 184 above on Ecological Harm. Linked evidence Land O'Lakes publishes sustainability materials for agriculture, dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input operations. [11]
Policy Capture ? Private-interest attempts to bend law, regulation, subsidies, taxes, enforcement, trade, labor, safety, competition, environmental, healthcare, housing, surveillance, civil-liberties, or consumer policy against workers, customers, citizens, affected communities, or ecological life. Public-interest advocacy is not penalized merely because it is lobbying. Range: -15 to 0.	-6	OpenLobby records LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying on agriculture and animals with about $1.7M in spending across 23 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. OpenLobby records LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying on agriculture and animals with about $1.7M in spending across 23 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. That warrants a substantial Policy Capture penalty because private institutional pressure is being applied to public rules while affected people cannot democratically govern that agenda. The value is substantial but not at the floor because the linked record shows serious conduct without the strongest aggravating factors on this axis. Linked evidence OpenLobby records LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying on agriculture and animals with about $1.7M in spending across 23 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role. [13]
Toxic Products ? Current sale of products whose ordinary use, exposure, ingredients, residues, packaging, or formulation creates toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety risk. Food products receive at least light scrutiny for artificial colors, artificial flavors, petro-derived additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, endocrine-disrupting packaging, and ultra-processed formulation. Ordinary adult nightlife or alcohol service is not penalized by itself without evidence of predatory marketing, youth targeting, addiction-extractive design, or unusual product-safety misconduct. Range: -5 to 0.	-3	Land O'Lakes currently sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products, so livestock and pesticide exposure are core screening issues; the product category creates ordinary toxic,… Land O'Lakes currently sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products, so livestock and pesticide exposure are core screening issues; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen. That warrants a substantial Toxic Products penalty because ordinary use, exposure, ingredients, residues, packaging, or formulation creates material toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety risk. The value is substantial but not at the floor because the linked record shows serious conduct without the strongest aggravating factors on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 9 scored entries below, 4 tied, 213 above on Toxic Products. Linked evidence Land O'Lakes currently sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products, so livestock and pesticide exposure are core screening issues; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen. [12]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

High 80/100

13 verified linked claims 13 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 13/13 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 16/20

13 verified linked claims

Source quality 11/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 14/18

13 direct claims across 13 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 10/10

13/13 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending

VerificationUnverified

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)

ThoroughnessPartial (AI)

Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.

Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

1Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative.

Ownership Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 5, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O Lakes aboutOfficial self-description · 68%

2Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative, which constrains capital ownership but leaves agriculture, input, and worker impacts as separate scoring questions.

Governance Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 5, 2026

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

3Land O'Lakes describes itself as a farmer-owned cooperative serving dairy, animal nutrition, and agricultural markets.

Extraction Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

4Land O'Lakes' cooperative ownership belongs to farmer members, while the reviewed public record does not show democratic control for nonmember workers.

Labor Sovereignty Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

5Land O'Lakes' cooperative model protects member producers, while its public materials do not show broad protections for nonmember workers or excluded communities.

Solidarity Unemployed Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

6Land O'Lakes publishes sustainability work for an agricultural business that includes dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input exposure.

Loss Bearing Fidelity Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%
Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

7Land O'Lakes sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products and has documented lobbying on agriculture and animal-policy issues.

Market Conduct Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%
OpenLobby: Land O'Lakes lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

8Land O'Lakes' product mix includes butter and dairy foods, animal nutrition, and crop-input activities, connecting the brand to livestock and agricultural chemical concerns.

Product Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%
Land O'Lakes sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

9Land O'Lakes has scaled a farmer-owned agricultural cooperative across dairy foods, animal nutrition, crop inputs, and agribusiness services.

Scale Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O'Lakes who we areGeneral web source · 58%

10Land O'Lakes's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure.

Reversibility Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 5, 2026

Land O Lakes aboutOfficial self-description · 68%

11Land O'Lakes publishes sustainability materials for agriculture, dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input operations.

Ecological Harm Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 5, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O Lakes sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

12Land O'Lakes currently sells dairy, animal nutrition, and crop-input products, so livestock and pesticide exposure are core screening issues; the product category creates ordinary toxic, addictive, or consumer-safety exposure under the directory's toxic-products screen.

Toxic Products Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 6, 2026

AI scaffold

Land O Lakes aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
EPA: human health issues related to pesticidesPrimary public record · 100%
FAO livestock and environmentGeneral web source · 58%

13OpenLobby records LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying on agriculture and animals with about $1.7M in spending across 23 filings; the reviewed filings document private institutional lobbying over public rules rather than a public-interest advocacy role.

Policy Capture Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

14Land O'Lakes receives the Private Government badge because it combines large-scale private rule-setting over customers, workers, users, members, or counterparties with OpenLobby-documented lobbying of about $1.7M on public policy issues.

Private Government Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 11, 2026

AI scaffold

OpenLobby — LAND O'LAKES INC lobbying profileGeneral web source · 58%

Alternatives

Competitors

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

May 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding toxic-products-assessment

Added tentative AI-generated Toxic Products penalty -3 and directory value for current toxic, addictive, pesticide, livestock, chemical, or consumer-safety product exposure.

May 5, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding ai-scaffolding-score

Added tentative AI-generated claim-backed score components for a previously listed under-review company or group.

View Full Audit Log