Organic Dairy

Historic Drought is Creating an Ongoing Crisis for Organic Dairy Farmers

November 8, 2022 Straus Family Creamery

Straus Family Creamery, a certified organic creamery whose mission is to sustain family farms and revitalize rural communities, organized the newly formed group named Western Organic Dairy Farming Crisis Coalition. Organic dairy producers and agricultural industry supporters are part of the coalition seeking immediate emergency drought relief assistance for organic dairy farmers. The drought has created a dramatic increase in feed costs (up to 50 percent), feed shortages, and drought-related operating costs. …

Maine Governor Mills Urges USDA to Support Maine Organic Dairy Farms in Wake Of Danone Decision to Not Renew Horizon Brand Milk Contracts

September 16, 2021 Office of Maine Governor Janet Mills

Governor Janet Mills urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide support to the Maine organic dairy farms who were notified recently that their contracts will not be renewed by the global company Danone’s subsidiary, Horizon Organics. In a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Governor Mills noted the serious impact that the termination of the contracts will have on Maine’s organic dairy farmers, the dairy industry statewide, and Maine’s economy, and said that, in addition to state and regional efforts, Federal leadership is necessary to help mitigate the impact on Maine’s dairy industry. …

Alexandre Family Farm Becomes the First Certified Regenerative Organic Dairy Farm in the United States

February 1, 2021 Alexandre Family Farm

These certifications acknowledge that the farm’s practices go far beyond sustainability to continuously improve soil biology as well as the entire ecosystem – water, land, air and animals. …

Organic Dairy Realized Both Higher Costs and Higher Gross and Net Returns Than Conventional Dairy Farms

September 9, 2020 James M. MacDonald, USDA Economic Research Service

Dairy farms in the United States have faced persistent economic pressures, which have been particularly acute for small commercial farms with 10-199 milk cows. The number of such farms fell by 37 percent between 2007 and 2017, according to USDA’s Census of Agriculture, and more have left the industry since. Milk production has shifted to much larger farms (with 1,000 cows or more), which realize much lower costs on average than smaller farms. …

Albert Straus, Organic Dairy Pioneer, Celebrates 25 Years in West Marin

February 19, 2019 Matthew Pera, Marin Independent Journal

Albert Straus, a pioneer in the organic dairy industry and an innovator in sustainable farming, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his family creamery in West Marin this month. …