A regional task force, convened to find solutions for farmers left behind by Horizon Organic’s exit from the Northeast, sent a suite of recommendations to United States Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
In August, Horizon Organic, owned by Danone, a global food company, notified 89 organic dairy farmers, including 28 in Vermont, that it planned to terminate their contracts in August of this year. Recently, the company announced it would offer optional contract extensions until February 2023.
The announcement left organic farmers across the region reeling. Many have told VTDigger they’re not sure they’ll be able to continue farming without their long-standing contracts with Horizon.
Recently, Maple Hill terminated an additional 46 contracts with organic dairy farmers in New York.
To find solutions for the farmers — many of whom keep fewer than 100 cows — multiple statewide and regional task forces convened to identify systemic problems in the Northeast dairy industry.
Members of the Northeast Dairy Task Force penned the recommendations to the United States Department of Agriculture in December. The group recommended both regional and national policy changes, categorized into subgroups, including institutional market development, processing expansion, distribution logistics, farm business viability and federal response.
One recommendation echoed a call repeatedly made by state lawmakers and organizations: “finalize and immediately implement the Origin of Livestock final rule.”
Currently, a loophole in the National Organic Program, meant to allow conventional farmers to make a one-time transition to organic farming, permits animals not raised organically to be transitioned to organic later on in their lives. The origin of livestock rule would close that loophole, leveling the playing field between organic farmers.
The task force also recommends that the USDA provide multi-year grants and form cooperative agreements to incentivize institutions such as public schools, universities, hospitals, prisons and food banks to purchase local organic dairy products.
Many institutions are already trying to purchase more food locally, the task force’s recommendations say.
“Organic dairy’s reliance on pasture and avoidance of synthetic fertilizers made from fossil fuels makes it a good choice for institutions looking to reduce the (greenhouse gas) emissions from the food they serve,” the document says.
To increase the amount of milk that can be processed in the Northeast, the task force recommends investing in processors that have a successful track record and investing in new processing facilities. Support would come in the form of grants.
Horizon cited distribution logistics — namely, challenging truck routes and a dearth of drivers — as a key issue when it pulled out of the Northeast. To solve it, the USDA could implement a short-term stipend pilot program, targeting the Northeast, that “would lessen transportation costs farms incur as they seek to get raw agriculture commodities to market.”
It also could offer supplemental insurance to agricultural haulers and establish a commercial driver’s license scholarship and recruitment program.
To improve farm viability, a suite of recommendations focused on giving farmers more technical assistance and compensating farmers who have lost their market due to the departures of Horizon Organic and Maple Hill.
“The assistance would fill the financial gap between the organic price and the conventional price for these dairy farms that do not have a new market secured as of September 1, 2022,” the document says.
The Northeast Dairy Task Force includes leaders of state departments of agriculture, university extension, organic processors, organic associations, farm technical assistance providers, and subject matter experts. Laura Ginsburg of the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center and Britt Lundgren from Stonyfield Organic led the effort.
Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets hosts the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center, which helped develop the recommendations. Anson Tebbetts, Vermont’s agriculture secretary, sent a letter to Vilsack, the USDA secretary, supporting the recommendations.
“In order for small dairy to survive in meaningful ways across the region, significant and forward-looking investment needs to occur,” Tebbetts wrote. “The recommendations provide options for a path forward and highlight how they should work together to create a more powerful outcome. In many cases, the benefits extend well beyond the farm gate to consumers, institutional markets, distribution companies, and the cooperatives.”
