174 



STATEMENT 



BY 



MARTHA CASHMAN 



VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 



LAND O' LAKES, INC. 



Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. 



My name is Martha Cashman. I am Vice President for International 

 Development of Land O'Lakes, Inc. On behalf of our 300,000 farmer 

 and rancher members, I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on the 

 future of private agriculture in Russia and the role that we are 

 playing to provide private farms with technical assistance, 

 training and moral support. 



My testimony covers three subjects: first, some general background 

 on Land O'Lakes and its international programs; second, our 

 involvement in supporting private Russian agriculture; and third, 

 observations and recommendations for U.S. assistance programs to 

 Russia. 



Land O'Lakes is a Fortune 200 company located in 15 upper tier 

 states stretching from Wisconsin to the Pacific. Begun in 1921 by 

 a few dairy farmers for producing sweet cream butter, the company 

 had its best year ever in 1992 with sales of over $2.5 billion in 

 its four core businesses of feed, seed, agronomy and dairy foods. 

 Land O'Lakes is a totally integrated agricultural company which 

 provides a full line of agricultural inputs to over 1,300 local 

 cooperatives. Land O'Lakes is the number one leader in national 

 sales of butter and deli cheeses, and provides over 600 other food 

 products directly for consumers and through food service and- 

 industrial markets. 



In agricultural supplies and support. Land O'Lakes is a major 

 market force in crop and livestock industries with domestic and 

 international sales of more than one million tons of animal feeds, 

 and is a leading supplier of fertilizer, protection chemicals and 

 petroleum products. Land O'Lakes is the national leader among 

 cooperatives in research with two extensive state-of-the-art 

 facilities which concentrate on production at a 535-acre "Answer 

 Farm", and food research and product development in a laboratory at 

 our headquarters. Land O'Lakes collects and processes four billion 

 pounds of milk a year. 



Land O'Lakes is the largest and among the few major U.S. 

 agribusinesses with an international development department. In 

 our overseas development work since 1981, Land O'Lakes draws on its 

 6000 front-line employees and vast membership to provide technical 

 assistance, overseas training and internships on member farms and 

 in local cooperatives and at national headquarters. 



The principal focus of Land O'Lakes international work is 

 agribusiness management training worldwide and especially in 

 Central and Eastern Europe. For example in 1992, Land O'Lakes 

 conducted 114 courses in thirteen subjects in Central and Eastern 

 Europe and the Baltic Republics. Since 1983, Land O'Lakes has 

 trained over 500 foreign participants in the U.S. and provided 

 technical assistance in some 22 developing countries. Land O'Lakes 

 has implemented 12 long-term contracts with the U.S. Agency for 

 International Development. The company has been awarded the 



