Saving Family Agriculture

Overthe last 50 years family farms have struggled to stay afloat in a market dominated by large-scale agribusinesses. According to the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, more than 4 million U.S. farms have been lost, at an average rate of 219 farms a day, since 1960. Farms that have been owned by families for generations are lost because corn, milk or cattle have dropped in value in an agricultural economy flooded with cheap produce, dairy and livestock harvested from corporate farms.

In 1988, a year after farmland values reached a historic low and prospects for the American family farm were in serious question, a group of southwestern Wisconsin farmers created the Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool (CROPP). These founding produce and dairy farmers recognized the need to pool their resources as a cooperative order to compete with mega-agribusiness firms. The coop farmers shared a vision to revitalize farming communities and keep family farmers in business by always offering a stable, sustainable pay price to its member farmers.

They would work in partnership to produce healthy, nutritious organic food while serving as advocates for the Earth. CROPP first offered organic produce, then organic dairy, including the nation’s first organic cheese. As the public’s awareness grew, so did the co-op’s success. The demand for more natural, nutritious food grown without the use of synthetic chemicals encouraged the co-op to create their own brand name—Organic Valley Family Farms.

The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 mandated the formation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to advise the secretary of agriculture in setting the standards for the National Organic Program (NOP). George Siemon, an Organic Valley founding farmer and the co-op’s current CEO, was instrumental in developing the U.S.

National Standards on Organic Agricultural Production, which were implemented by the USDA 2002. The USDA rules reflect the board’s recom- mendations regarding which substances are allowed or prohibited in organic production and processing. The National Organic Standards also ensure the humane treatment of animals with requirements such as preventative health care practices, medical treatment, freedom of movement and sanitary housing. Organic Valley farmers not only uphold the USDA rules, they exceed them. The co-op has elected to prohibit certain substances the NOSB approves, including the hormone stimulating synthetic oxytocin, animal and fish byproducts and Chilean nitrate. Organic Valley farmers utilize sustainable and conscientious farming practices such as rotational grazing, contour farming, cover crops, buffer zones, integrated pest management and the humane treatment of animals.

What we need to ask ourselves is this: Given that organic food is listed as a separate category, what are the conventional conditions and practices of mainstream farming? Most of the meat, dairy, eggs, fruits and vegetables available in U.S. supermarkets are produced using industrialized agriculture. According to the National Farmers’ Union, four corporations produce 81% of cows, 73% of sheep, 57% of pigs and 50% of chickens in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency says that, aside from herbicides and artificial fertilizers, 940 million pounds of chemical pesticide were used in American agriculture in 2000.

These stats are just the tip of the iceberg. The fact is corporate farming is conventional, standard, even normal in our society—but definitely not natural. Unlike large-scale industrialized agriculture in which the goal is to produce the highest output at the lowest cost, Organic Valley’s philosophy and decisions are based on the health and welfare of people, animals and the Earth. And that strategy works. Organic Valley is now America’s largest cooperative of organic farmers, with 1,239 farm families in 34 states and one Canadian province. The co-op’s 2007 revenues reached $432.5 million, a 29% increase over 2006 and an almost 250% increase from five years ago. Even still, organic farms represent only three tenths of one percent of all farms in our country.

Peace of mind is a valuable commodity, and when customers purchase organic milk, soy, cheese, butter, spreads, creams, eggs, produce or juice from Organic Valley, or meat products from the coop’s Organic Prairie brand, that’s exactly what they get.