Selling organic milk

The Organic Valley dairy co-op, based in Wisconsin (USA), has 633 farmers in 16 states and one Canadian province. They have 20475 cows and 95000 acres. They claim that their success stems from paying farmers a fair, sustainable and stable price. They sell via natural food stores and supermarkets. They have also been active in getting schools to offer organic milk (The New Farm, 2003). 

The fresh milk market has also been supplied with organic and biodynamic milk for a number of years by Sandhurst dairies, initially owned by the Coles Supermarket chain. Now independently owned, they still market their milk widely through the supermarkets and specialty stores. Another entrant to the market is Snowy Mountains Organic Dairy Company, which has produced a low fat (99% fat free) milk, full-cream milk and fresh cream. One problem of many organic dairy farmers is whether the dairy they deliver to consolidates organic or biodynamic milk, if not, then they have no choice but to sell the milk for the conventional market. This has frustrated many farmers and has led several to produce their own organic cheeses on farm, rather than put their milk in with the conventional. 

Recently, organic farms have been encouraged to make added value products such as cheese and yoghurt. The farmer processes the milk and can fix a price for the farmhouse-produced cheese or yoghurt. It needs to be a unique quality product, or have a superior image, if it is going to sell well at a higher price than a similar product in the local supermarket. 

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