CoOps

Coming Soon: Podcast Launching With Focus on Co-Op Boards

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:02:43 GMT

A new podcast is on the way with a mission to help improve co-op boards.

The Build Better Boards podcast will be hosted by Keri Jacobs, professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Richard Fagerlin, co-founder of Build Better Boards. It launches Monday, Nov. 4.

With the goal of elevating board member leadership, the podcast will provide:

expert insights
practical tools
impactful conversations

“Whether you’re a seasoned board member or just starting out, our episodes provide the tools and inspiration you need to strengthen your board and make a greater impact in your organization,” Build Better Boards shares on LinkedIn.

The podcast will have bi-monthly episodes and feature industry-leading guests and questions from the greater co-op community.

To listen, search for “Build Better Boards” wherever you find your podcasts.

Milk Carton Shortage Disrupts Dairy Marketplace

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 15:50:50 GMT

Supply chain issues once again are hitting the U.S. dairy industry. This time, it’s a shortage of milk cartons.

On October 25, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a policy memo acknowledging that “schools in multiple states are experiencing milk supply chain challenges related to packaging issues.”

The memo empowered state agencies to allow USDA-funded milk program operators to forego program requirements if they were experiencing supply disruptions. Along with schools, single-serve cartons are widely utilized by hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons.

At the root of the issue appears to be a production backlog at Pactiv Evergreen , a packaging manufacturer in Lake Forest, Ill. Pactiv Evergreen bills itself as “the leading manufacturer of fresh food and beverage packaging in North America.”

The company has not offered an official explanation as to why it is not currently able to fulfill its orders. But a November 3 summary of the situation on the packaging industry website “ Packaging Dive ” noted that earlier in 2023, Pactiv Evergreen announced it was restructuring to combine its beverage and food merchandising businesses.

As a part of that strategy, the company closed a paper mill in Canton, North Carolina, along with a converting facility in Olmsted Falls, Ohio. The dual closures resulted in a total of approximately 1,300 jobs lost.

When the milk carton shortage began to emerge in September 2023, many dairy processors reached out to Tetra Pak , another major U.S. dairy packaging manufacturer. But Tetra Pak has since had to turn orders away, unable to meet the swift upswing in demand.

“Tetra Pak has increased overtime in our factory to ramp up production of single-serve, chilled gable-top cartons,” said Seth Tepley, president and CEO of Tetra Pak U.S. and Canada. “However, we do not currently have the production capacity to fully make up for the unexpected shortage, which means we are unable to fulfill every new request for additional supply.”

Meanwhile, schools in New York, California, Pennsylvania and Washington State are already being affected. In alternative strategies to continue to serve milk, some are exploring bulk milk dispensers and shelf-stable packaging. Others are pouring milk from plastic jugs into reusable or disposable cups.

Still others are embracing the USDA waiver and skipping milk altogether. A November 3 New York Times article shared a communications posting to parents from the Lake Stevens School District in northwest Washington. It stated: “Sometimes we may not have milk during breakfast or lunch. We plan to prioritize milk during breakfast when available.” The district also encouraged students to bring their own water bottles to school.

And Rochester, NY schools are offering students juice instead of milk, according to Rochester television news station WROC . Genesee County, New York dairy producer Kendra Lamb told the station she is very concerned about any issue that prevents getting milk in front of consumers.

“Because our product is quite perishable, certainly, any reduced demand would be a concern for us,” said Lamb. “We’re hopeful that our cooperatives are going to be able to…find another way to provide the wholesome milk to the people who need it.”

But New York State Assemblyman Chris Tague was less optimistic, calling the packaging shortage a “national crisis” on a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “How we handle this situation is going to set a precedent for the availability of milk in schools,” stated the lawmaker and former dairyman. “And right now, it is not going in the right direction.”

International Dairy Foods Association spokesperson Matt Herrick said U.S. milk processors are working with other package suppliers to resolve the shortage, but projected the situation will carry into at least early 2024.

For more industry news, read:

Almost Half of the Largest 100 Cooperatives Are Focused in Agriculture

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 21:08:38 GMT

For more than 30 years, the National Cooperative Bank (NCB) has published its list of top 100 cooperatives across the U.S. For the latest list—based on 2022 data—47 of the 100 cooperatives are in agriculture. In all, 59% of the $319 billion in generated revenues of co-operatives are from those ag-focused co-ops: $187.6 billion.

NCB estimates one in three Americans are a member of a co-op, and NCB provides comprehensive banking products and services to cooperatives and other member-owned organizations in the U.S.

The agricultural cooperatives range from farm supply, grain, dairy, livestock marketing, crop production/processing and more.

Here’s a list of the agriculture-focused cooperatives, with their top 100 ranking.

1 CHS Inc. Inver Grove Heights MN
2 Dairy Farmers of America Kansas City KS
3 Land O’Lakes, Inc. Arden Hills MN
4 GROWMARK, Inc. Bloomington IL
11 Ag Processing Inc. Omaha NE
14 California Dairies, Inc. Visalia CA
15 Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. Edwardsville IL
18 Agtegra Cooperative, Inc. Aberdeen SD
19 Central Valley Ag Cooperative York NE
20 Darigold Seattle WA
22 Select Milk Producers, Inc. Artesia NM
23 New Cooperative, Inc. Fort Dodge IA
25 Landus Cooperative Ames IA
26 Foremost Farms USA Cooperative Baraboo WI
27 Countrymark Cooperative Holding Corporation Indianapolis IN
30 Associated Milk Producers, Inc New Ulm MN
31 MFA Incorporated Columbia MO
33 Ocean Spray Middleboro MA
34 Heartland Co-op West Des Moines IA
37 GreenPoint Ag Decatur AL
39 American Crystal Sugar Co. Moorhead MN
40 Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company Aurora NE
42 United Cooperative Beaver Dam WI
43 Plains Cotton Co-op Association Lubbock TX
44 Producers Livestock Marketing Association Omaha NE
45 Blue Diamond Growers Sacramento CA
47 MFA Oil Company Columbia MO
50 Farmers Cooperative Dorchester NE
51 Upstate-Niagara cooperative, Inc. Buffalo NY
54 Michigan Milk Producers Association Novi MI
55 MD & VA Milk Producers Cooperative Association Herndon VA
56 Cooperative Producers, Inc. Hastings NE
59 Agri-Mark Inc./Cabot Creamery Methuen MA
62 Riceland Foods, Inc. Stuttgart AR
63 Organic Valley (CROPP) La Farge WI
65 Staple Cotton Cooperative Association Greenwood MS
67 Heritage Cooperative Delaware OH
68 First District Association Litchfield MN
69 Amalgamated Sugar Company Boise ID
71 United Producers, Inc Columbus OH
76 Ceres Solutions Cooperative Crawfordsville IN
77 Innovative Ag Services Co. Monticello IA
79 Bongards’ Creameries Chanhassen MN
80 Pacific Coast Producers Lodi CA
84 National Farmers Ames IA
93 Florida’s Natural Growers, Inc. Lake Wales FL

Walmart Announces Plans to Build $350 Million Milk Processing Plant in Southern Georgia

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 19:49:11 GMT

America’s largest retail store has announced its plans to build a $350 million milk processing plant in Valdosta, Ga. With more than 4,600 stores located throughout the U.S., the Arkansas-based company says the new plant will provide milk to more than 750 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in Georgia along with neighboring states.

Bruce Heckman, Walmart’s vice president of manufacturing, said in a statement that the company wants to do more to ensure its milk supply, saying the company wants to provide “high-quality milk for our customers that we can offer at the everyday low prices they rely on.”

In the past, Walmart has purchased its great-value branded milk from other dairy cooperatives. However, over the last decade, the retail giant has built a series of milk processing plants to control production of one of the most price-sensitive grocery commodities. Walmart opened its first fluid milk processing facility in 2018 in Fort Wayne, Ind.

According to the Associated Press, the retail giant is following the lead of other large grocers such as Kroger, which has long run its own dairy processing facilities. But some critics have warned Walmart buys milk from only a handful of large farms, putting smaller farms under further pressure.

Georgia Milk Producers, a dairy farmer trade group, reports Georgia currently has 89 dairy farms, with 92,000 dairy cows, more than 1,000 cows per farm. Georgia produced 235 million gallons of milk in 2022, the largest of any southern state. Currently, the peach state only has two commercial milk processing plants located in Atlanta and Lawrenceville.

The new fluid milk processing facility is scheduled to begin operations in Valdosta in late 2025 and could employ up to 400 people. In a statement made by the retailer, the facility will create milk products using ingredients sourced from local farmers throughout the Southeast region under Walmart’s Great Value and Members Mark brands.

For more industry news, read:

Q&A With Lindsay Reames, VP, Sustainability & External Relations, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:22:11 GMT

This article was written by Nate Birt, Vice President of Trust In Food, a Farm Journal initiative. Learn more at www.trustinfood.com

A dairy farmer-centered approach to sustainability is unlocking new economic opportunities for family operations from New York to Georgia while pushing the envelope of what’s possible from conservation partnership programs.
One such program—a joint effort of the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, Turkey Hill Dairy and The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay—earned the 2020 Outstanding Supply Chain Collaboration Award from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. Learn More about the 2020 Winners

What began in 2018 with support from a $250,000 Conservation Innovation Grant from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has grown rapidly into more than $7 million in outside funding helping many of the cooperative’s 900-plus farm families averaging 125 cows each across 13 states continue adopting best management practices.

“To me, that’s the most exciting thing, because when you actually see new manure storage going in, when you see a stabilized barnyard for that farm, that could be there for the next 50 years,” explains Lindsay Reames, vice president of sustainability and external relations for the cooperative in a video interview with Farm Journal’s Trust In Food. “It’s not only going to help with their runoff and improving the overall environment, it’s going to help with the long-term profitability of that operation when we’re able to bring that level of investment to the farm.”

Eighty-seven percent of the cooperative’s farms operate within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, the largest estuary in North America and a water body that’s been deemed a National Treasure—so public and governmental scrutiny is especially top of mind for dairies. Partnerships such as this one present an opportunity to help dairy farmers further integrate sustainability into their businesses, which has changed the nature of dialogue about sustainability in the region.

“It’s really easy to have that conversation when you’re coming with resources and coming with solutions,” Reames says. “It’s a completely different conversation when you can come and say, ‘We have $60,000 to support you and your farm. How can we make you more sustainable?’ Rather than coming in and saying, ‘You have to do this, and you have six months.’”

Now, the cooperative and its partners in this program and others like it are using sustainability as a starting point for conversations about dairies’ plans for business growth and the future of the industry.

Learn more about sustainability trends and opportunities for eastern U.S. dairies in the attached video interview with Reames.

Q&A With Ken McCarty, Co-Owner And General Manager, MVP Dairy

Q&A With DMI President Barb O’Brien On Dairy UN Food Systems Dialogue

Q&A With Karen Scanlon, SVP, Environmental Stewardship At Dairy Management Inc.