8/7/2023 0 Comments Who owns horizon milk![]() His family has had a dairy farm in the region since 1941, which he converted to organic in 1994, the same year he founded the all-organic creamery. “That’s causing organic dairies’ feed costs to go up 25–30%-half their income goes to feed, says Albert Straus, founder of Straus Family Creamery in Sonoma County, California, in a phone call. And the Western United States is facing the worst drought in 1,200 years. But the cost of hay can skyrocket during drought, such as it did this summer in places like Texas and Nebraska. Hay will typically balance out an organic dairy cow’s winter diet when grazing is not an option. Then there’s drought, which has been affecting agriculture including dairy production-organic and conventional, and from coast to coast-for the last several years. Organic farmers must also feed baby cows milk rather than formula, leaving the calves to nurse longer and using up some of their milk supply on feeding calves. That’s not the only cost that’s been rising: the cost of fuel-which has by some estimates increased by up to 75% in 2022-has also been hard on dairy producers as well as all industries that transport goods. Still, for the time being, organic soybean meal has more than doubled in price, from $632 per ton in 2020 to $1,900 per ton in 2022, writes Maltby. (In this instance, Mendenhall says this may be a good change in the long run, as increased demand for organic soybean production may push the domestic market forward.) Those price hikes get passed onto the farmers. ![]() And its price can fluctuate due to global market supply issues far beyond the dairy farmers’ control-for instance, says Mendenhall, domestic organic soybean prices are high right now because some of the cheaper imported organic soybeans from India which had previously flooded the market were found to be fraudulent. This is typically composed of organically grown soybeans, corn, field peas, oats, and other grains. While at least 30% of the cows’ diet must come from pasture, which must adhere to USDA-certified organic farming guidelines, organic grain feed can cost as much as 50% more than conventional grain feed for cattle. Making sure cows are fed 100% certified organic food is another big expense for organic dairy farms. The extra cost here is either in debt payment or the ability to have less cows,” Ed Maltby, executive director of Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, tells me by email. “Most organic dairies average one and a half acres per cow, and the cost of land is increasing every year. Pasturing cows often requires more infrastructure on a farm, says Kate Mendenhall, executive director of the Organic Farmers Association. Why does it cost more to operate an organic farm?Īll that adds up to extra costs. These include ensuring that the cows’ feed and pasture meet organic certification criteria which prohibits certain additives, supplements, and chemicals ensuring that a minimum of 30% of the cows’ diet comes from pasture prohibiting the use of growth hormones along with other livestock health care guidelines limiting confinement and enabling natural behaviors along with other livestock living conditions. Let’s start by defining what “organic” milk is versus nonorganic milk, which we’ll call “conventional.” The term organic is regulated by the USDA, and companies who apply this label to their dairy products must adhere to its Guidelines for Organic Certification of Dairy Livestock. How is the cost of conventional milk so cheap by comparison? And what, exactly, are you getting for the extra cost of organic? What does “organic” really mean, anyways? But when the difference between the price of a gallon of organic versus nonorganic milk grows to a staggeringly wide gulf-as in a more-than-twice-as-expensive gulf-you might start wondering what the heck’s going on. With today’s inflation affecting food prices around the globe, you might be second-guessing and overthinking every purchase you make. ![]() But a closer inspection of the price tags underneath them makes the wheels of your shopping cart come to a stiff halt. The neatly stacked cartons all look the same. You arrive at the cool, glowing refrigerator cases of the dairy section, poised to make a quick decision about what you’ll pour into your next glass of homemade boba or rich batch of pots de crème. You’re strolling the aisles of your local market. ![]()
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