Minnesota Dairy and Illinois Food Bank-Dairy Company Partnership Among Winners of 2015 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards
Minnesota's Dorrich Dairy and Partnership Between Northern Illinois Food Bank and Prairie Farms Dairy Recognized for Sustainable Practices that Benefit the Environment, Community
A Minnesota dairy and a partnership between the Northern Illinois Food Bank and an Illinois dairy company are among the winners of this year's U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards, announced May 7.
Dorrich Dairy in Glenwood, Minn., was recognized with a 2015 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award for Outstanding Dairy Farm Sustainability. The 400-cow dairy was selected for its holistic environmental approach, including using wasp larvae to control the farm's fly population, minimizing the use of pesticides and the farm's impact on the environment.
Northern Illinois Food Bank and Prairie Farms Dairy have been recognized with a 2015 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Partnerships Honorable Mention. The Geneva, Ill.-based food bank and the Carlinville, Ill.-based dairy company partnered to create the Milk 2 My Plate program, which ensures a fresh supply of milk ordinarily a rare offering at food pantries is available to the families who rely on the food pantry to make ends meet. Since 2012, the program has served up more than three million servings of milk to food pantries in its network.
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®, established under the leadership of dairy farmers, announced the winners of the fourth annual U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards on May 7 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The program recognizes outstanding dairy farms, businesses and partnerships for practices large and small that not only focus on the environment, but add up to promote the health and well-being of consumers, communities, cows, employees, the planet and business.
"This year's award winners truly are changing the equation for what the industry and consumers think about sustainability," said Barbara O'Brien, president of the Innovation Center. "Each winner has a unique commitment to sustainability that has strengthened their connections with their communities, ensured the stability of the waterways and wildlife surrounding their properties, and blazed new trails for other dairy farms and businesses to follow."
U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award winners were selected based on results as measured by economic, environmental and community impact, also known as triple-bottom-line success. An independent panel of judges - which included experts working with and through the dairy industry - also assessed the potential for adoption by others, demonstrated learning, innovation, improvement and scalability.
Dorrich Dairy
Dorrich Dairy has been in the Vold family since 1899. The current generations are embracing both tried-and-true and cutting-edge methods of protecting the farm's natural resources to ensure that the land stays viable for the next generation -- and beyond.
"Continuing our family's tradition as stewards of the land is immensely important to all of us, and this recognition reinforces what we've been doing for more than a century," says Suzanne Vold, who farms with her husband Brad, his brother Greg and Greg's wife Charity, and the Vold brothers' parents, Dorothy and Richard. "That tradition is centered around honoring the commitment we've made to the environment, our animals and our neighbors. Richard and Dorothy honored that commitment, and so are we."
Since 2009, the Volds have been introducing wasp larvae into fly nests. Once the wasps hatch, they eat the fly pupa, then lay eggs to begin the cycle again. The strategy has drastically reduced the need for synthetic chemicals to control flies and has cut insecticide costs by 85 percent.
In addition to successfully implementing this integrated pest management system, the Volds have embraced numerous other approaches designed to make a measurable impact on the environment, their community and the farm's future, including:
- Protecting water quality through frequent crop rotations;
- Planting corn in smaller-than-usual 15-inch rows to crowd out weeds;
- Aggressively scouting pests; and
- Using a high-tech soil-mapping system to continuously measure pH and electrical conductivity to determine the precise amount of nutrients to use.
The holistic approach is designed to maximize yield and minimize the farm's environmental footprint. "We're constantly collecting data to adjust and readjust," says Greg Vold. "Combining the latest technology with our family's 116 years of farming experience really allows us to find and put into action the best solutions."
"We all want to be able to pass our farm on to the next generation. We're constantly working to find the most effective methods of protecting our natural resources," said Brad Vold. "We owe it to the next generation to find ways to make this all work as efficiently and as effectively as we can."
Northern Illinois Food Bank and Prairie Farms Dairy
Milk is one of the most nutritious items requested by food bank clients, but it's rarely donated. Because it needs to be kept cold and safe, and has a relatively short shelf life compared with other donated items, it must move through the system quickly. Buying milk at stores isn't a perfect solution, since it requires volunteers to pick up and deliver bulky gallons, and can be expensive.
Northern Illinois Food Bank and Prairie Farms Dairy teamed up to find a better way, and by creating the Milk 2 My Plate program, ended up with a model that other food banks and their local dairies can replicate. So far, it has distributed more than 194,000 gallons of milk - 3.1 million servings - to 34 food pantries in the network.
"Many Illinois food pantries struggle to keep fresh dairy products on the shelves," said Kelly Brasseur, Northern Illinois Food Bank's registered dietitian. "One of our key priorities is to provide our neighbors in need with nutritious food like milk, the top food source for calcium, Vitamin D, potassium and other essential nutrients."
The Milk 2 My Plate program delivers a number of benefits:
- Food pantries in the Northern Illinois Food Bank network purchase low-fat gallons of milk directly from Prairie Farms Dairy at a fixed and more affordable cost.
- Prairie Farms Dairy gains a consistent, year-round customer and is able to deliver fresh milk directly to each agency through its existing ordering system and delivery routes.
- To cover the costs, Northern Illinois Food Bank and its network of food pantries secure donations from corporate and individual supporters, such as FORWARD (Fighting Obesity, Reaching Healthy Weight Among Residents of DuPage). This local coalition sees the Milk 2 My Plate program as a way to help them achieve their goal of reversing the obesity trend.
- Northern Illinois Food Bank is better able to meet its Foods to Encourage' goals without direct involvement in storage and distribution. This also eliminates safety concerns that might arise if the milk first must be routed through the food bank's warehouse.
"Partnering with Northern Illinois Food Bank to implement the Milk 2 My Plate program exemplifies our commitment to being good neighbors and making sure fresh, delicious and nutritious milk is available for families to enjoy every single day," said Geary Crom, Prairie Farms General Manager.
Northern Illinois Food Bank is the source of nutritious food, innovative feeding programs and hope for more than 71,000 people each week in in Boone, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago counties.
Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® is a forum for the dairy industry to work together pre- competitively to address barriers and opportunities to foster innovation and increase sales. The Innovation Center aligns the collective resources of the industry to offer consumers nutritious dairy products and ingredients, and promote the health of people, communities, the planet and the industry. The Board of Directors for the Innovation Center includes dairy industry leaders representing key farmer organizations, dairy cooperatives, companies, manufacturers and brands. The Innovation Center is staffed by Dairy Management Inc. Visit USDairy.com for more information about the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.
Midwest Dairy Association® is a non-profit organization funded by dairy farmers to build demand for dairy products through integrated marketing, nutrition education and research. Midwest Dairy is funded by checkoff dollars from dairy farmers in a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.midwestdairy.com. Follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook at Midwest Dairy. 4.11.2015