LA FARGE, Wis. – “Now, more than ever, it’s time to cooperate,” said George Siemon, a founding farmer and CEO of Organic Valley, at the cooperative’s recent annual meeting. “Our strength has always been in our unity and belief in the collective good.”

Organic Valley farmers accepted a reduction in the price paid for their milk in 2016 due to oversupply in the dairy industry. But Organic Valley members managed the challenge, sharing during challenging times as well as the best of times, Siemon said.

“Our goal is to pay fair, stable prices,” he said.

Milk shortages in 2014 and 2015 resulted in dairy processors offering more for milk – for both organic and conventional. Organic Valley increased prices to be competitive despite wanting to retain stable pricing, Siemon said.

“We don’t want to take advantage of consumers,” he said.

Some farmers who left Organic Valley for the “gold rush” in 2014 and 2015 are now experiencing low prices. Meanwhile Organic Valley’s membership grew to 2,013 farmer-owners and posted sales of about $1.1 billion in 2016, according to the cooperative.

The cooperative

added more than 250 family farms to the cooperative. The cooperative’s farmers now account for about 16 percent of all certified-organic farmers in the United States.
added more than 40,000 acres of certified-organic agricultural land. Members farm about 11 percent of all organic acreage in the United States.
broke ground on a new cheese-cutting and -labeling, and ghee-production, facility in Cashton, Wisconsin

“Our goal is to increase membership between 5 percent and 8 percent annually,” Siemon said.

The cooperative has recently increased membership in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states. About two-thirds of new members are conventional farmers converting to organic. About one-third of new members represent heifer startups. Many startups are owned by young Amish farmers.

Many conventional farmers are looking for ways to earn higher incomes through organic production. While some farmers left Organic Valley for higher milk prices a couple of years ago, few have left organic production because it didn’t work for them, Siemon said.

Organic Valley has outgrown its current cheese-cutting and -labeling as well as ghee-production facilities. Ghee is a type of butter that originated in India. Water is cooked out of the ghee, making it more shelf-stable, Siemon said. Ghee also is becoming a popular gourmet food because it doesn’t turn color like butter when cooked. The Cashton facility will enable the cooperative to consolidate cheese-cutting facilities and be more efficient, Siemon said.