WOODLAND, Maine — Two Aroostook County family farms have found a new home after the shutdown of Maine’s Own Organic Milk (MOO), which was announced in mid-May, and farms like Chase’s Organic Dairy Farm, owned and operated by Vaughn and Laura Chase, and H.B. Farms, owned by Tom Drew of Woodland, have decided to joined the CROPP cooperative, based in Wisconsin, and are now selling milk to Organic Valley.
Previously the Mapleton dairy and H.B. Farms had both been part of MOO Milk, which announced May 16 that the company would no longer process organic milk at Smiling Hill Farm in Falmouth and distribute it to New England retailers.
Leaders of MOO Milk met on July 3 with Oakhurst Dairy to discuss the deal that could have revived the brand and provided a long-term contract for some or all of the cooperative’s 12 farms. Unfortunately, talks stalled the next day, when the former farmers of MOO Milk were given very little maneuverability, as far as the proposed contract. This left many of the farmers free to explore other options, and Chase and Drew both had their eyes set on the Wisconson-based cooperative since the announcement of MOO Milk’s shutdown in May.
While the MOO Milk farmers remained in operation over the past few months because Stonyfield continued to purchase milk from these farmers until July 30, the farmers needed to find long-term solutions to stay in business.
The 12 farmers spent the Fourth of July weekend deliberating amongst themselves to decide whether or not to try and make a deal with MOO Milk, or continue plans for the shutdown and look for new avenues of opportunity.
“We were asked to wait and wait until we couldn’t wait any longer. It was already halfway through July and we needed to make a decision,” said Drew. “We really thought if we gave Oakhurst another week they would get us a better deal, but it didn’t happen.”
Drew explained the one thing that was supposed to determine the outcome of negotiations was whether or not Oakhurst could maintain 90 percent of the milk supply in the co-op. Drew said the news on July 3 was difficult and confusing, as he had called the other farmers in advance of a Sunday vote to take his own poll. He said company officials reported to him a vote of 6-6 on the Oakhurst deal; in his tally he said 10 farmers supported sticking together and going with Oakhurst.
“In my opinion, we had the support and backing to make a deal happen,” said Drew. “Unfortunately, I think this was scripted from the beginning, and the 6-6 vote was just a number used to make the farmers look divided, but that wasn’t the case, at all. I had 83 percent of the milk already promised to Oakhurst and I had 35 cows that were freshening, so the volume was going to be there for Oakhurst. They could have done business.”
As far as the change to Organic Valley, Drew has high hopes for what the new cooperative will bring to Aroostook County.
“I see Organic Valley being a great opportunity for Aroostook County. I think it will bring millions of dollars to The County. That’s my honest belief,” said Drew. “They come with a rich 26-year history, and they didn’t come to Aroostook County because they felt bad for us, which was very important to us. I’ve been doing this work for my entire life and I don’t want someone feeling sorry for me. I’ll do that myself.”
“They’d [CROPP] never been in the area, but they’re one of the top cooperatives in the state of Maine and New England as far as buying organic milk,” said Vaughn Chase. “When MOO was going south, they approached me and wondered if I was interested in joining, and I said I sure was.”
On the day before Drew got the call that MOO Milk would stop production, he had purchased cattle and was planning out yearly expenses he would cover with a farm loan, which he had to withdraw. With more cattle already purchased, there was no choice but for Drew as well as the other 11 farmers to make sure they got a contract signed in the very near future.
Early in the month of July, Farmers told the Bangor Daily News that other processors, including Organic Valley, Stonyfield and Horizon Organic, have expressed interest in buying their milk. Oakhurst was the only company making an offer for the MOO Milk brand while others had expressed interest in organic milk contracts with specific farms.
Drew said at the end of May that he did have another deal with Organic Valley on the table, during negotiation talks, which he was considering, but he said he wanted to sort out the Oakhurst vote before signing any contract. This was a trend that the 11 other farmers all followed, as they all agreed to give Oakhurst a chance to make their pitch at the July 4 discussions.
Once the negotiations reached a halt, the farmers all decided to go their own way, as MOO Milk is officially no longer in production. Eleven of the 12 former MOO Milk farmers have already found new distributors like Organic Valley.
“They’re (CROPP) a coop of about 1,800 farmers and there’s about 1,500 that are organic dairy farmers,” he said. “There’s around 34 farmers in Maine that are part of their cooperative, and they produce a lot of products.”
According to the CROPP website, in 1988, several small family farmers in Wisconsin discussed alternatives and created an organic vegetable marketing cooperative they dubbed Coulee Region Organic Produce Pool (CROPP). Later they branched off into an organic dairy program consisting of seven farmers who collectively produced 20,000 pounds of milk every other day. After a year and a half of insufficient sales, CROPP developed the Organic Valley label and began marketing its own products. The cooperative has branched out several times since then with organic eggs in 1993, organic meats in 1999, soy in 2004, and the grower pool in 2008. Reflecting its national farmer membership base, CROPP now stands for “Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools.”
Its product list under the Organic Valley label includes a full line of cheeses, dry and fluid milk products, cream, cottage cheese, vegetables and eggs. An organic soy beverage was introduced in 2004, and they also have a substantial selection of meat (beef, pork and poultry) products under the Organic Prairie label.
The company has a cooperative business model that they claim is the key to their success. According to their website, the 1,800-plus farm families who produce their premium quality food products share a voice in the future of our business because they own it.
In an era where corporations dominate all facets of business including government, global energy, agriculture and global food supply, Organic Valley claims to serve small farmers and rural community health by combining two alternative business models; the family farm and the cooperative.
The way the cooperative works is farmer members establish equity when they join the cooperative. From the membership, a national board of directors is elected. Member’s opinions are carried to the board through regional executive committees and participate in cooperative governance and marketing.
Chase said CROPP picks up milk at his farm every other day. For Chase Farms the arrangement began July 21.
“The expense to come to Aroostook County is so high. All the farmers in Maine got a $1 raise starting July 1 … $1 per hundredweight. They had a special meeting and the heads in Wisconsin were wondering if the Maine farmers were interested in including Aroostook County in the group,” he said. “He said the only way they could do it was they needed some subsidy to get the run started, so they asked the farmers if they would be willing to take out of their $1 raise and put in 25 cents a hundred to support the truck for the first year until we get some milk on the truck. Everybody voted ‘yes,’ and for some of them, that runs $2,000-$3,000 for the year, but they’re going to support Aroostook County farms.”
Chase said he’s pleased to be part of the CROPP organization.
“We had a choice between them and Stonyfield Yogurt, and we just feel that Organic Valley is better for Aroostook County because they’re really going to concentrate on trying to get more milk in The County and they’d like to see more farms start up,” he said. “They’re also interested in grains, potatoes, sugar beets for cattle feed … it’s a really good opportunity for new business in the county having Organic Valley here.
“If anybody is interested in organic farming, this is something to look into. We’ve got them up here, and this is our chance to really support this because this is a really good market,” said Chase. “It’s a little more work being an organic farmer, but it’s an income. You’re not going to get rich, but at least you can get contracts and control your costs and know what your income is going to be. We’d really like to see some new dairy farmers, so anybody that’s ever been interested in dairy farming, this is something they need to look at while it’s here.”
For both Chase and Drew, this is the end of one chapter, but the beginning of a new one. Despite the challenges ahead, Chase says he is happy they’ve found a solution and can continue to milk cows — something his family has been doing for 59 years. Chase says there’s no word on when Moo Milk will actually officially be disbanded but it is winding down.
MOO Milk hasn’t yet been completely disbanded, and are currently undergoing fundraising efforts in an attempt to keep the operation running.
