Milk Sourcing

To meet the demand for our brand, we are constantly talking to farmers across the country about joining our cooperative, about going organic, and about the future of family farms.

If you know a farmer who might want to go organic, or if you are one, head on over to farmers.coop to learn more. But, if you want to know where your milk comes from, keep reading.

The Organic Family Farms of Our Cooperative

Over 1,500 family farms choose to farm organically with our cooperative. Each farm that joins our cooperative must meet all USDA Certified Organic requirements, be inspected annually, and keep meticulous records. But we don’t stop there.

The family farms of our cooperative also must agree to and meet our own cooperative rules and regulations that are voted upon by our farmer membership. These rules and regulations include the dignity of all animals on the farm, a commitment to quality, and a willingness to improve that quality when called upon.

The average herd size (which we determine as the number of dairy cows being milked on a farm) for Organic Valley is below 70 cows per farm. Each of the farms that own our cooperative must meet the organic standards, which means cows go outside and graze on grass for over 100 days a year.

But for Organic Valley and our cooperative, every farm is certified organic. And that takes an extra level of detail and work that is hard. And sometimes, there are just not enough Organic Valley family farms to meet demand for the great quality dairy we put on shelves in all 50 states.

When Demand Is Just Too High

So sometimes, the demand for our Organic Valley brand goes beyond what our cooperative of family farms can produce. Afterall, cows don’t just grow on trees. When that happens, but not enough farmers are going organic and switching from conventional practices, it makes sourcing milk more difficult.

When this happens, our team goes to work and visits other farms throughout the country that meet the same criteria and standards of the organic farms in our cooperative. They are out there, and they do great work, and once we see they meet a series of standards and principles that match our own, we choose to create a relationship that allows us to source milk when demand is too high.

Some of the farms we visit are larger than the farms in our cooperative are on average. Still, when we factor in these other few farms with the farmer-members of our cooperative, the overall herd size is under 80 cows, more than four times smaller than the national average dairy farm herd size.

90% and more of the dairy you see on the shelves is from farms that choose to call our cooperative home. Sometimes, 10% comes from the other farms we visit and that meet our standards but currently choose not to join our cooperative. In both cases, the dairy is handled with care, going through quality checks from the farm to the shelf.