Organic Valley in the News

Old MacDonald had a farm… but was it organic?

Two young organic farmers representing Organic Valley presented a workshop entitled, “An Introduction to Organic Farming and Gardening,” at the 2009 National FFA Convention. About 300 FFA members and guests attended the first of two workshops presented by Organic Valley, a farmer-owned organic cooperative based in Wisconsin. This marks the fourth year that Organic Valley representatives attended National FFA Convention and the second year Organic Valley has presented a workshop.

Joe Pedretti, Organic Valley Farm Outreach Manager, said the relationship between National FFA and Organic Valley is an important one to garner interest in younger generations. “One of the big misconceptions is that organic is trying to promote itself as better than other types of agriculture. But really what we want to show folks is that’s an alternative… it’s another option,” Pedretti said.

Preston Green and Sarah Holm, both college students in Wisconsin, presented the workshop, citing their farms as examples of organic success stories. “I can honestly say if it weren’t for Organic Valley, my family wouldn’t be farming today,” Green said. “My dad can tell me honestly that he wants me to farm. He knows there’s a future in organic agriculture and he knows there’s a future in agriculture for me.”

Jake Wedeberg and his brother, John, like the idea of producing some of their own biodiesel fuel for their four diesel tractors and protein meal for use in feed for the 43 dairy cows on the Wedeberg farm near Gays Mills.

They're among six Organic Valley member farms - in Crawford, Vernon, Grant and Monroe counties - participating in a test of a mobile biodiesel system that the organic farmer cooperative finished putting together last year.

Housed in a trailer, the system was displayed and demonstrated last year at several events, including the Vernon County Fair and the Kickapoo Country Fair. Demonstrations were given this year at nine regional meetings for Organic Valley members in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.

McCool’s husband, Gary, has been a dairyman for more than 25 years and she joined the family business 20 years ago when she married him. They became an Organic Valley Dairy three years ago. Two years ago she decided to start making cheese. McCool said she loves the life of a dairy farmer but wanted to add another piece to their farm to both supplement her income and give her something to do during some of the down time on the farm. She chose Swiss cheese because no other cheesemakers in the area were making it.

“Even if you don’t like it it’s on your cheese platter and no one else was making it,” McCool said.

She learned her trade from Don Gurber, 82, from Oregon. The veteran cheese maker had been in the business for many years, even traveling to Switzerland to learn the art of Swiss cheese from the masters. Gurber took out an ad in the Capital Press looking for someone to whom he could pass on his knowledge. Gary McCool saw the ad and passed it on to Sharon.

When Jason Stensland was asked to speak at Farm Aid, he thought he'd be telling a couple dozen people about what led his twin brother, Justin, and him to start a dairy operation.

He was unfamiliar with Farm Aid, the fundraiser for family farms started by musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young.

So when Jason stood up before 450 people, part of an event that drew an estimated crowd of 21,000 to St. Louis, he froze.

He admits it.

Then he took a deep breath and started speaking.

"Pretty much what I did was shoot from the hip," Jason says.

After spending the day Thursday at the Crave Brothers dairy - an innovative farm that uses conventional (non-organic) farming methods - I found it an interesting contrast Thursday night to meet an organic dairy farmer who lives just five minutes away from the Crave farm.

Jim Miller runs R&G Miller and Sons, Inc. farm in Columbus, Wisc., with his brother, cousins, and other relatives - 11 families in all. The farm has 300 dairy cows and 2,000 acres of crop land, plus a new grass-fed beef operation.

I met Miller at the SEJ conference at a reception put on by Organic Valley, a co-op of about 1,400 organic farmers started here in Wisconsin. The Thursday evening receptions are traditionally a time to mix and mingle with some important players in the environmental arena. The Organic Valley reception featured samples of milk, of course, along with tasty treats like carrot and parsnip cake with cream cheese frosting.

Miller, who has been on the Organic Valley board of directors for 11 years, was happy to tell his farm's story. He said his family decided to go organic after his father died of colon cancer at age 65 in 1992. His father was the one who did all the spraying of pesticides and other farm chemicals, and Miller had no desire to continue the practice. He blames the chemicals for the early demise of many farmers in his father's generation.

Would you like to know the direct benefit of buying organic versus conventional? Do you ever wonder what the cumulative impact of purchasing organic versus conventional products is over the course of a year? There’s a website out there that allows you to calculate the number of pounds of synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, and herbicides that are eliminated by choosing organic products.

The website is for Organic Valley Family Farmers. Organic Valley is a co-operative of farmers that produce dairy products, juice, eggs, meat, soy, fruit, and vegetables. It claims to be the largest organic farmer owned co-operative in North America, and you can review on their website their array of various products.

The products line store coolers everywhere, but being part of the organic label involves a change in herd management.

"It's a whole different way of farming," says Ron Miller of Columbus. He started going organic 15-years ago.

"We're milking about 330 cows," says Miller. "We're one of the largest herds in the state"

"It's a lot like people, it's diet and lifestyle," says Organic Valley staff veterinarian Guy Jodarski. He specializes in prevention as opposed to medication.

"There's wonderful technology out there," says Jodarski. "We're just for appropriate technology and safe technology."

Farm Aid 2009

ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 04: Neil Young, Dave Matthews and 23-year old third-generation dairy farmer Jason Stensland attend the press conference for Farm Aid 2009 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on October 4, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri.

(Editor's note: Neil Young wore Jason's "Go Family Farms" t-shirt, an Organic Valley creation, during his performance at Farm Aid.)

A Viroqua woman has been appointed to serve on to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) by United States Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Wendy Fulwider, an organic farmer and the animal husbandry specialist at CROPP/Organic Valley, is one of five new members of the board, Vilsack announced Monday.

The appointees will serve terms beginning Jan. 24, 2010, and ending Jan. 24, 2015. Joining Fulwider are: Joe Dickson, Austin, Texas, certification director of Whole Foods; Jay Feldman, environmentalist, executive director of Beyond Pesticides; John Foster, an organic handler from McMinnville, Ore.; and Annette Riherd, an organic fruit and vegetable farmer from Oologah, Okla.

This past Saturday Know Your Farms held a farm tour with several area farms. The event took place from 2-7pm and participants had the option of choosing which farms they visited. Davidson’s Eco House decided to take a group on the tour, and at 2pm about forty Davidson students and faculty met at the Eco House to travel to four area farms.

I was lucky enough to join the group, and the first farm we visited was Mary L Farm, a fourth generation dairy farm owned by Rick and Dorcas Parker.

At the dairy farm, we learned the special procedures used to raise organic milk-producing cows. The Dorcases strive to keep their milk organic for economic and personal reasons.

They sell their milk to Organic Valley, which means that the milk must meet federal regulations.

Additionally, the Dorcases appreciate the health benefits that they and their cows now enjoy. In order for the milk to be considered organic, the cows must be fed a diet that is hormone free and they cannot be treated with antibiotics.