Press Releases

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative of organic family farmers, welcomed another milestone this year by adding its 1,000th dairy farmer member: W.R. Sherburne and Sons dairy in Dexter, Maine. This dairy joins 18 other Organic Valley dairies in Maine and more than 150 dairies in New England. Currently, 1,296 diverse, organic farmer members nationwide own Organic Valley Cooperative.  read more…

Spread the good news: Organic Valley Family of Farms' award winning butter is now whipped. Presented in convenient and recyclable 8 oz. tubs, the smooth Organic Valley Whipped Butter is available now in select organic and natural food grocers and will be distributed more broadly in the months ahead.

Sixteen years ago, Organic Valley became the first organization to sell certified organic butter nationwide. Since then, the cooperative of more than 1,200 organic farmers has won numerous national and international awards for the delicious butter made from the milk of their organic cows pasturing on family farmland nationwide. read more…

Organic Valley Farmer Travis Forgues to be Featured in Concert Video

As Organic Valley continues celebrating its 20th year, more than 50 of its member farmers from across the United States will gather to support Farm Aid 2008. The annual benefit concert, sponsored by Organic Valley for the seventh year, will feature headliners Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney. The concert will celebrate music and good food, featuring hands-on activities in the HOMEGROWN Village that will showcase the direct connection between the food we eat and the people who grow it. read more…

Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative, an organic farmers' cooperative with more than 1200 farmer-members and a leading national organic brand has announced the election of VT dairy farmer-member Travis Forgues to its Board of Directors. Forgues is a second-generation farmer who milks eighty cows with his father on his 240-acre farm in northwestern Vermont. As Organic Valley's first Vermont farmer-member, he was instrumental in building the cooperative's membership in the state. He is the youngest person ever to be elected to the Organic Valley Board.  read more…

Midwest’s largest rural heritage, food and farming festival to feature farm tours, sustainability workshops, organic cooking and 20th Anniversary special events and guests.

Celebrating its 20th Anniversary and the success of the organic family farm cooperative, Organic Valley Family of Farms will host the fifth-annual Kickapoo Country Fair on Saturday and Sunday, July 26-27 on the grounds of its headquarters in La Farge, Wis., set in the ancient and beautiful hills of the Kickapoo River Valley.

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At this year's Seafair Milk Carton Derby, a crew of Washington dairymen have their sights set on a repeat victory. For a second year, Organic Valley's bovine themed Viking-style schooner, the “Udderly Local,” and its crew of brawny local farmers will leave their milking chores behind and head to the city to paddle in this unique event on Green Lake.

Organic Valley's boat is a 24-foot vessel constructed by Port Townsend general contractor and part-time boat builder, Douglas Milholland. From the deck up, Udderly Local resembles a Viking ship with a raised prow adorned by a hand-carved cow head. But unlike anything Erik the Red piloted, Udderly Local floats on a hull of sealed Organic Valley milk cartons.
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The University of Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC) is pleased to announce receipt of a $20,000 gift from the Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools (CROPP). CROPP is an organic-farmer-owned cooperative of the Organic Valley Family of Farms™ products, based in LaFarge, WI.

The CROPP gift will aid in the initiation of an outreach and research program at SWROC in the use of high tunnels for organic vegetable production. High tunnels are polyethylene covered, greenhouse-like structures where crops are grown directly in the ground. read more…

Organic Prairie, the meat brand from America’s largest cooperative of organic family farmers, Organic Valley Family of Farms, today announced it has begun offering a variety of its products online, thereby extending its reach to organic meat lovers nationwide.

Individuals can visit www.organicprairie.coop and click on “Online Store” to order Organic Prairie meats by the case, frozen and/or at bulk discount. Made from Organic Prairie’s humanely raised livestock, the organic beef, pork and poultry products typically can be shipped overnight to most parts of the country. read more…

The endangered Kincaid’s Lupine (lupinus sulphereus kincaidii) will be the center of attention at the second annual Lupine Field Day event, a celebration of the plant’s unexpected resurgence in Washington. The free, educational event is held at the Mallonee Family organic dairy farm, located in Washington’s Boistfort Valley, on Saturday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Two years ago, an employee from the Washington Department of Natural Resources discovered a large population of the lavender-colored perennial lupine on the Mallonee farm, an organic dairy with 60 head of cattle. The Mallonee family has strived to maintain a safe and sustainable habitat for the endangered flower and its equally endangered inhabitant, the Fender’s Blue butterfly, which undergoes its larval stage in the lupine’s root system and emerges as a caterpillar to feed on the flower’s leaves.

“We credit our organic practices with the lupine’s success on our farm,” says Maynard Mallonee, Organic Valley Co-op member and third-generation dairy farmer. “The same approach that allows our dairy cattle to thrive has made our pastures an ideal home for the lupine and the Fender’s Blue.” read more…

As Organic Valley Family of Farms celebrates is 20th year, the cooperative of organic farmers recently recognized 340 of its farmer-owners with Organic Valley Dairy Quality awards.  read more…