The Land O’Lakes Inc. board of directors announced July 26 its selection of Beth Ford as president and chief executive officer of the food and agricultural cooperative.

Ford will assume leadership of the company Aug. 1, following the retirement of Chris Policinski.

Ford comes to the CEO role after a series of successful executive postings within the company. In December 2017, Ford was named chief operating officer of Land O’Lakes Businesses, a role in which she oversaw the Land O’Lakes WinField United, Purina Animal Nutrition and Dairy Foods business units.

Prior to that, Ford was head of Land O’Lakes’ Dairy Foods and Purina Animal Nutrition businesses, where she led record performance and growth, leveraging innovation through research and development (R&D) to strengthen both brands. She also was instrumental in the acquisition of Vermont Creamery in early 2017.

Prior to joining Land O’Lakes in 2011, Ford held executive operations management and supply chain roles at International Flavors & Fragrances, Mobil Corp., PepsiCo, Pepsi Bottling Co. and Scholastic. Ford has more than 20 years of experience specifically in the areas of technology and R&D across these four companies.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Ford earned a master's of business administration at Columbia University Business School.

Land O'Lakes is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2017 annual sales of $14 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 216th on the Fortune 500.