At COO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Minneapolis based COO’ operating in the Agriculture space. If you think a COO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Jerry Kaminski
EVP & Chief Operating Officer – International of Land O’ Lakes
Jerry serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Land O’Lakes, Inc. International business, leading commercial business ventures outside of the United States. He oversees Land O’Lakes Global Dairy Ingredients, the Villa Crop Protection joint venture in South Africa and Global Seed Genetics in Mexico. Prior to his current role, Jerry was the executive vice president and group executive of the combined Dairy Foods Retail and Foodservice divisions, and was general manager of Dairy Solutions when he joined the company. Before joining Land O’Lakes, Jerry served as a vice president and general manager at General Mills, where he held various leadership positions in the retail and business-to-business segments. He also served as president and chief operating officer at Sparboe Foods. Jerry holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Follow Jerry Kaminski:
About Land O’ Lakes: Land O’Lakes is a member-owned, idea-driven agricultural cooperative that markets our products under a well known family of brands.
Dave Hoogmoed
EVP & COO, Purina Animal Nutrition of Land O’ Lakes
Dave has more than 36 years of experience in the feed industry representing the Purina brand. He began his career at Ralston Purina in 1979 and held several sales, general management and officer positions as the business evolved to Purina Mills, Inc. then Purina Animal Nutrition. Since 2001, Purina Animal Nutrition has been a part of the farm-to-market continuum at Land O’Lakes, Inc. Dave has led the teams focused on feeding livestock such as dairy cows, beef cattle and pigs, as well as lifestyle animals such as horses and other companion animal species. Each day, he works to ensure our rich history of animal nutrition research and innovation continues to deliver new solutions that help animals achieve their greatest levels of performance.
Follow Dave Hoogmoed:
About Land O’ Lakes: Land O’Lakes is a member-owned, idea-driven agricultural cooperative that markets our products under a well known family of brands.
Mike Vande Logt
EVP & COO, Winfield US of Land O’ Lakes
For more than 38 years, Mike has worked in all aspects of the seed industry, with 26 of them in evolving roles at Land O’Lakes, Inc. He now leads Winfield US, a seed and crop protection business serving nearly 1,300 independently owned and operated agricultural retailers through products, services and agricultural expertise delivered under the WinField and United Suppliers brands. After earning degrees in agronomy and plant breeding, Mike began his career working directly with farmers, first as an extension service county agent and then in a variety of sales, sales management and technical agronomy roles. Mike joined the Land O’Lakes Seed team in 1990 and assumed his current role in 2015. Throughout his tenure at Land O’Lakes, Mike has focused on using insights to support local agricultural retailers in meeting farmers’ needs to increase productivity using fewer resources.
Follow Mike Vande Logt:
About Land O’ Lakes: Land O’Lakes is a member-owned, idea-driven agricultural cooperative that markets our products under a well known family of brands.
Shirley Cunningham
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Ag Business and Enterprise Strategy of CHS Hedging
Shirley Cunningham is executive vice president and chief operating officer, Ag Business and Enterprise Strategy, for CHS Inc, the nation’s leading farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company. In her role, she leads the company’s aligned Ag Business platform consisting of its International and North America Grain Marketing and Agronomy (Crop Nutrients) operations. She is also responsible for CHS Enterprise Strategy functions including information technology, human resources, planning and strategy. Cunningham joined CHS as executive vice president, Enterprise Strategy, in April 2013 and assumed her expanded responsibilities in September 2014. Prior to joining CHS, Cunningham was the chief information officer for Monsanto Company and has more than 25 years of experience in information technology and business management including leading global IT operations, acquisitions, IT research and development, strategic planning and enterprise initiatives. She was also responsible for developing and executing Monsanto’s quality oils strategy. In addition to broad business expertise, Cunningham has extensive global experience, having led Europe, Middle East and Africa IT operations for Monsanto. She also held leadership positions with several companies in the United Kingdom. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. She currently serves on the board of directors of Ardent Mills, LLC and Ventura Foods, LLC.
Follow Shirley Cunningham:
About CHS Hedging: Commodity brokerage of CHS Inc providing market intelligence, insight and price risk management to farmers, ranchers and agribusinesses.
Richard O’Hara
COO of Puris
Richard O’Hara is the COO at PURIS.
Follow Richard O’Hara:
About Puris: Puris cultivates plant-based foods and ingredients from organic and non-GMO sources.