Organic Valley looks to pasture for profits

Pasture management may reduce feed costs.

Organic Valley is looking to help its farmers increase profits. The organic cooperative awarded $40,000 in grant money to the Research Foundation at California State University (CSU), Chico through its Farmers Advocating for Organics grant program. The money will help fund a two-year study focused on improving net profit by improving pasture management. The money is also being used to help the school quantify the economic costs and benefits of amending soil using organic methods to improve output, according to Organic Valley.

“The goal is to provide producers with options to lower their feed costs by reducing grain inputs under intensive grazing management,” says Cynthia Daley, a professor in the College of Agriculture at CSU, Chico.

By using intensive pasture management techniques, grain inputs can be reduced, leading to less expenditures for feed, Daley says. Some models show that ranchers could save between $1.50 and $2 per cow per day in feed costs.

The study would examine the economic impact of reducing grain input on milk production and establish the economic return for improved pasture management and organic soil amendment, helping researchers establish the costs of amending damaged soil and the returns in forage quality and quantity. The funds are also being used to create a grazing school for established and new dairy farmers to encourage and support efficient pasture use.

Organic Valley, based in La Farge, Wis. is the largest co-op of organic farmers in the United States. It represents 1,322 farmers in 34 states and one Canadian province, and had $432.5 million in sales in 2007.

In other news, Organic Valley teamed up with Nature's Path to support Farmers Can be Heroes, a program that provides an online course for conventional farmers interested in transitioning to organic farming practices. Consumers who purchase one Organic Valley product and one Nature's Path product will receive a free year-long subscription to Organic Gardening magazine when they mail in UPC symbols from those products. The companies says they are committed to donating $1 up to $50,000 for each one they receive.