Minneapolis, Minnesota
February 26, 2003

Land O'Lakes, despite facing significant challenges in its commodity businesses, can look back on 2002 as a year in which the national food and agricultural cooperative reported strong net earnings, made progress in paying down debt and generated solid bottom line contributions from its value-added business segments, Land O'Lakes President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Gherty today told delegates and visitors at Land O'Lakes 2003 Annual Meeting.

Reflecting on the year, Gherty told the Minneapolis Convention Center audience of approximately
2,500 that Land O'Lakes $98.9 million in 2002 net earnings was driven primarily by proceeds from
successful vitamin price-fixing litigation settlements.

Positive Value-Added Performance

"We also saw positive performance and bottom line contributions from our Dairy Foods and Ag
Services value-added business segments," Gherty said. The cooperative CEO specifically cited:

• the continued strength of the LAND O LAKES dairy foods brand, and particularly strong performance in the Foodservice and Deli areas;
• record sales of LAND O LAKES-branded animal milk replacers;
• increased volume in branded lifestyle feeds;
• enhanced market awareness for the CROPLAN GENETICS seed brand; and
• significant sales increases for the Agriliance joint venture's AgriSolutions product line.

Commodity Business Challenges

"The past year also included significant challenges and disappointments in our commodity businesses," Gherty continued. In its commodity businesses, Land O'Lakes faced losses driven by:

• slumping commodity markets nearly across the board;
• costs related to restructuring of the company's Upper Midwest dairy operations; and
• challenges related to the start-up of Cheese and Protein International (CPI), Land O'Lakes new West Coast cheese and whey processing facility.

"Responding to emerging and ongoing challenges facing our commodity businesses is the driving
force behind many of our strategies for the future," Gherty said.

Paying Down Debt/Improving Balance Sheet Strength

Land O'Lakes took on significant debt in completing the late 2001, very strategic, acquisition of
Purina Mills, Gherty said, adding that paying down that debt and improving balance sheet strength
were key 2002 priorities.

"We made progress in both areas," Gherty said, citing debt prepayments and an improved
long-term debt (LTD) to capital ratio.

In 2002, Land O'Lakes paid down its term debt by $55 million and improved its LTD to capital ratio
from 56.1% to 51.1%. In addition, the company has already made $58 million in debt prepayments
in 2003.

Gherty went on to outline key challenges and strategies for Land O'Lakes core businesses.

Dairy Foods

Land O'Lakes challenges in Dairy Foods include responding to the issues facing its Industrial
(manufacturing) operations, including slumping commodity markets, and positioning Land O'Lakes
for future growth in its Value Added businesses, Gherty said.

Key strategies include:

• continued restructuring of its Upper Midwest dairy operations;
• completing the CPI start-up; and
• positioning Land O'Lakes for growth in its Value Added businesses by further strengthening
  the LAND O LAKES brand; accelerating efforts to bring additional innovation to LAND O
  LAKES-branded products; and, longer-term, exploring opportunities for incremental growth.

Feed

Pointing to positive performance in branded and proprietary product segments and solid progress
in integrating the Purina Mills acquisition, Gherty said Land O'Lakes key challenge in Feed is to
build on 2002's momentum. Land O'Lakes strategies in Feed include:

• continuing to take costs out of the system;
• leveraging the Land O'Lakes and Purina brands and marketing channels to deliver greater
  value to members and customers;
• implementing system solutions to restructuring challenges in the swine and dairy industries;
  and
• delivering strong financial results.

Seed

"In Seed our challenges are to continue our positive financial performance and profitable growth,
with an emphasis on capturing an even greater share of the local cooperative seed business,"
Gherty said. Key Land O'Lakes strategies in Seed include:

• continuing to access and deliver the very best in seed genetics;
• further building the CROPLAN GENETICS brand; and
• building and leveraging partnerships to deliver value and integrated farm solutions.

Agronomy

Land O'Lakes pursues its agronomy business through Agriliance, a joint venture in which the national cooperative holds 50-percent interest. Gherty indicated that the cooperative faces challenges in the crop protection product and crop nutrients segments of the business.

"In crop protection products, the most significant challenge we face is dealing with the dramatic devaluation of this business," Gherty said. Key strategies outlined by the cooperative CEO included:

• continuing Feed's aggressive cost-containment efforts;
• growing the AgriSolutions brand; and
• leveraging Agriliance's size, scale and volume to generate greater value for members and
  customers.

"On the crop nutrients side of the business, the challenge is pretty basic," Gherty said. "To assure
local cooperatives a secure, competitively priced supply." System strategies include:

• leveraging size and scale to negotiate the best possible costs with multiple suppliers; and
• aggressive system-wide cost reduction efforts.

Land O'Lakes is a national, farmer-owned food and agricultural cooperative, with annual sales of $6 billion. Land O'Lakes does business in all 50 states and more than 50 countries. It is a leading marketer of a full line of dairy-based consumer, foodservice and food ingredient products across the United States; serves its international customers with a variety of food and animal feed ingredients; and provides farmers and local cooperatives with an extensive line of agricultural supplies (feed, seed, crop nutrients and crop protection products) and services.