Organic Valley has promoted Nicole Rakobitsch to director of sustainability, launching a new centralized department for the nation’s largest farmer-owned dairy cooperative. While dairy faces questions around climate change and the impact of animal agriculture, Rakobitsch leads projects to improve the sustainability of organic family farms.

Rakobitsch has championed projects like a unique life cycle assessment (LCA), which tracks the impact of scope-3 emissions on Organic Valley farms in each region of the U.S., providing an unprecedented glimpse into the environmental impact of and solutions for family farms. Projects like the LCA will inform regional climate-smart farming plans and improve how Organic Valley approaches sustainability and climate change.

As Organic Valley’s new director of sustainability, Rakobitsch will lead a team of professionals and integrate experts from across the cooperative and broader organic industry.

“In 2019, CROPP reached its ambitious goal to be powered with 100% renewable electricity in our owned facilities. As an organic farming cooperative rooted in environmental stewardship and continuous improvement, we recognized that we could not stop there,” Rakobitsch said. “We know that our impact goes beyond our facilities and includes our farmers, our plant partners, hauling, transportation, retail, and our consumers.”

“Having one unified voice for sustainability will ensure we accurately track our impact and focus our energy where we can do the most good,” Rakobitsch said. “I am proud to work for a company that continues to prioritize the planet and its people and animals.”

Rakobitsch lives and works on her small Wisconsin homestead powered by the wind and sun. In this new role, she will develop climate-smart farming programs and move Organic Valley into a more sustainable future through targeted work on-farm and throughout the cooperative.