Our Cooperative Roots in the Heartland

Drink Locally with milk from Heartland Pastures

Organic Valley was born of a group of farmers gathered in Southwestern Wisconsin in 1988, focused on keeping their families on the land. Thanks to their success, we are able to share our unique, regional, cooperative model with farming families across the country.  Still, every spring, our farmer-members gather for their annual meeting at the cooperative offices in rural La Farge, Wisconsin.

Our large representation of farmer-members from the Appalachians to the Great Plains also shows the continued connection and influence of our home-grown, midwestern roots. Read about a few of the hundreds of Organic Valley farmers in the Upper Midwest and across the Heartland!

The Wedeberg Family – Organic Valley Pioneers

Jim Wedeberg’s sons, John and Jake, are the 5th generation of Wedebergs farming the land Jim’s great grandparents immigrated to in the mid- and late 1800’s. “This area of southwest Wisconsin looked a lot like Norway to them,” Jim says.

Egg Farmer Shana Berg

“I am so grateful for my lifestyle, and I don’t take it for granted,” Shana says. “That means making good food choices for my family by being better educated about where our food comes from and making sure we’re providing that for other people.”

Family Farm Produce, Bontrager Family

Though Family Farm Produce's on-farm store is open to the public by early June, locals don't begin swarming down the lane 'til mid-June or so, drawn by the exquisite strawberries that are carefully hand-picked and displayed by family members.

Promise Farms, the Winnes Family

"Though we farmed organically, we started out selling our milk to the conventional market because we didn’t know what else to do with it. The prices were terrible. If it hadn’t been for Organic Valley, we probably wouldn’t have gotten off the ground."

New Forest Farm, the Shepard Family

It's a long way from a homestead cabin in the Alaskan wilderness to an organic farm in rural southwestern Wisconsin. But for Mark and Jen Shepard and their two "pumpkin-polishers", the distance isn't as great as it seems.

Jeff and Sheila Koester

“Organic farmers are more than willing to share their knowledge,” Sheila says. “They’re not afraid to share what they know. We help each other.”

Meet the Krusenbaum Family

Lots of folks are "converted" after spending a day on Sue and Altfrid Krusenbaum's family farm. The couple has taken the best elements from their diverse and worldly backgrounds to create their own self-styled agri-culture.

Meet the Holm Family

"Things are slowly but surely falling into place for these extraordinary first generation organic dairy farmers. At times, how dreams take shape seems a mystery. But looking out from the highest hill of this one hundred acre farm, watching six girls frolic in the crisp autumn air, it seems clear that dreams do come true."

Second Generation Organic: Josh and Noah Engel

Today there's new life at the little creamery. Josh and Noah Engel, two brothers who grew up raising organic vegetables, recently signed a lease on the building, which they're using as a wash house and storage unit for their Josh and Noah Engelthriving organic vegetable farm.