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Organic Farming & Gardening

Dairy farmers launch organic brand

In a rough and tumble economy, 10 organic dairy farmers in Maine formed a cooperative to sell and distribute their own cows’ milk.

By E.B. SolomontMon, Oct 19 2009 at 11:37 PM EST
 12

Photo: Chase's Organic Dairy
In the annals of rural farming, 10 organic dairy farmers in Maine are showing entrepreneurial spirit in trying economic times: After their contracts with a major milk processor were abruptly canceled, the farmers will distribute and sell their own cows’ milk locally under the name MOOMilk, short for Maine’s Own Organic Milk Co. 
 
MOOMilk is set to hit stores in Maine and Massachusetts by early November, just 18 months after the farmers faced far bleaker prospects, according to the Bangor Daily News. 
 
It all started 18 months ago, when H.P. Hood Inc. axed the dairy farms from its organic line for economic reasons. Furious, the farmers urged the milk processor to reconsider, particularly since many converted to organic at Hood’s urging.
 
Hood refused, but rather than fall prey to a ravaged economy, the farmers banded together to form a cooperative with investors, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Department of Agriculture.
 
With a price tag of $3.99 per half-gallon, the milk will be sold at standard organic prices and will take roughly 96 hours to get from the cow to the shelf. “When you see that truck with the MOOMilk logo on its side roll through your town, you will know it is your neighbor’s product,” said MOOMilk’s general manager, Bill Eldridge.
 
He said the farmers came together because of a shared concern for the rest of Maine’s small farms, which could also be vulnerable to corporations that are only interested in their bottom lines. Indeed, the Bangor Daily News quoted a letter written by Hood Senior Vice President, Paul Nightingale, in which he described the organic milk product as “uneconomic.”
 
“It is true that at the time we began our organic milk program, Hood had high hopes of growing,” Nightingale wrote to an attorney for one of the farmers. Since then, “a constellation of events has occurred that have all but eliminated the economic incentive for farmers to convert to organic production in Maine, and which make the contractual arrangements we had with your clients uneconomic.”
 
But MOOMilk is making it work, with the cooperation of local entities. Smiling Hill Farm, in Westbrook, Me., which was processing milk twice a week, will now bottle MOOMilk four days a week. Oakhurst Dairy in Portland agreed to distribute the organic milk in Maine and Massachusetts. Hannaford supermarkets will stock the milk on its shelves.
 
“In the farmers’ minds, converting to conventional was a death sentence. Going out of business was a death sentence. This was the only and best answer,” Eldridge said.
 
The new company is still raising $500,000 in equity, having raised seed money from the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Maine’s Department of Agriculture. Participating farmers could become members of the corporation for $250 per unit of membership. MOOMilk will pay farmers $24 per hundredweight at first.
 
“We are so optimistic,” Mark McKusick, a farmer in Dexter, said. “I hope people realize this is fresh, local milk. It’s not ultrapasteurized. This milk is from us, right here in Maine.”
 
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Related Topics: Food, Organic Farming

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anonymous
Tarrie 12/29/2009 01:20 AM

This is great! But is it RAW? or can't you sell raw organic milk in Maine as we do in California?

anonymous
Lorna Cassidy 11/03/2009 14:39 PM

I think this is a great idea. With no hefty executive salaries to pay, more of the milk money can go to the farmers, where is SHOULD go! We need more local companies like this to get high quality, local products to the consumer.

anonymous
Annie 11/03/2009 05:26 AM

I am glad to see that is the farmer's banding together and doing this,
not through a middle man that is just going to lose the farmer money and cost the consumer more.
Glad you are doing this and good luck.

anonymous
Kay 10/27/2009 09:55 AM

Its good to know that their are farmers that care about what they are selling to the American people. Please don't lose your focus.

anonymous
Dean Sparks Today 13:22 PM

Great to see the price point will be aggressive.....GO GO GO!

anonymous
Chris Today 12:35 PM

I think this is great news. Since this new company won't have to pay exorbitant executive salaries, more of the milk money can go back to the farms. That's where more of it belongs, if you ask me. 90%. I'd feel good about buying this milk. Too many greedy corps in this world... spend your dollars locally, see the results.

anonymous
Michael Today 11:17 AM

There are very few happy cows in California. I can't believe they haven't been sued for false advertising by now! Give me Maine milk any day! Glad to hear of these Maine farmers getting their milk more directly to consumers. I'd buy it!

anonymous
Jack Today 11:13 AM

This is great news for Maine! I admire these farmers for not giving up the fight. Kudos to the organizations they worked with to form this new company. I have no doubt this will be a great product - organic and local. How can you top that? I eagerly await MOO Milk's arrival in grocery stores in my area. I've been following their progress on facebook .... More

anonymous
MotherLodeBeth 10/21/2009 21:30 PM

Straus Family Creamery is the organic milk in glass jugs that I buy here in CA. They are here in northern CA. It makes me mad that the big CA dairy association does these false ads on tv that show a few happy cows in a huge green hillside pasture which is the opposite of the big business fairy farms where lots of milk cows are in small areas or standing in muck. They also fight any attempt by people who want the FREE choice of buying whole raw organic milk. And lord knows what medication the.... More

anonymous
merchantsolutionsllc.com 10/21/2009 00:18 AM

http://www.merchantsolutionsllc.com offers a total payment processing solution for any company that wants to accept credit card payments and reach a much larger customer base. Our full line of products allows you to begin accepting credit cards, and if you already accept credit cards we can help you lower your rates. We offer all the products and services you need to set up a reliable.... More

anonymous
Momof2 10/20/2009 13:10 PM

Dairy farmers have had a terrible year....did any of you see the photos of farmers in France dumping their milk into fields rather than selling it for an unsustainable price? So great that these 10 farmers are fighting back...I would completely pay, say, a quarter more to support a local business like this.

anonymous
Laura 10/20/2009 08:04 AM

Glad to see the news of Maine's Organic Milk Company is spreading. You can see a photo of their new carton (not Organic Valley's carton above) with this link:

http://bdnimages.sprintout.com/uploads/large/1255131576_2223.jpg

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