Cooperative Member Production

As a farmer cooperative, our goal is to have our cooperative’s member-owners supply 100% of our production. As member-owners, our farmers pledge to comply with all co-op standards and policies, including those that go beyond the USDA Organic rules. This way, we are assured that the principles Organic Valley and Organic Prairie stand for are being upheld.

Under special conditions, we do use a small amount of non-member production, which must be USDA Certified Organic by a third-party certification agency and be audited by our staff. These exceptions to our member-only supply goal only average approximately 1 percent or less of our overall supply. We always source from our members first and foremost. We use non-member production when it is required to serve our customers better, when it helps our farmers develop their region’s organic production, and when it leads to better fulfillment of our mission.