This article is part of a monthly series developed in partnership with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and written by Nate Birt, Vice President of Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative. Learn how these organizations and other partners are helping dairy farmers on their journey of environmental stewardship through the America’s Conservation Ag Movement program. Visit AMERICA’S CONSERVATION AG MOVEMENT to learn more.
The recent U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award given to Ohio-based MVP Dairy—a partnership led by the McCarty family of Kansas and the VanTilburg family of Ohio—reflects strong working relationships on an operation that is “a family business made up of families,” co-owner Ken McCarty says.
“It’s a great relationship, one that’s really founded on our trust and respect for one another’s strengths and passions and goals, and I like to think that we complement one another really well,” says McCarty, who lives in Rexford, Kan., where one of the partnership’s four dairies is located. The company supplies Danone North America. “There’s no fear of having the hard conversations. Our goals are all really aligned. We’re all focused on innovation and on doing things the right way, trying to constantly improve and make our business better for the next generation, for our community, for our cows, for the environment. There’s a great deal of shared vision about where we want to go as a partnership, as a family and just as a company.”
The operation prioritizes using regenerative agriculture practices such as cover crops, reduced tillage and water conservation activities. It recently became a certified B Corporation, a rigorous process designed to encapsulate all of the ways in which the dairy is actively making a difference in diverse activities such as animal welfare, community engagement and environmental sustainability—with a roadmap for how to continue making progress in the future.
“The goal of B Corp certification is to think creatively and to think about ways in which we can positively impact all of those stakeholders,” McCarty says.
