In a move designed to support the farmers that supply milk to its dairy, Turkey Hill Dairy, a leading producer and distributor of branded ice cream and refrigerated drinks, has joined forces with the Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to form the Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership (THCWP).
Focusing on Lancaster County and surrounding central Pennsylvania counties within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, this partnership is the first of its kind in bringing together the private and public sectors, with Turkey Hill Dairy asking the local dairy farmers to implement a conservation plan and enact best management practices for the health of Pennsylvania rivers and streams.
The partnership combats a lack of resources by providing technical and financial assistance to meet farmers’ conservation goals. Because the Lancaster County area is highly populated by small dairy operations that often feel monetary pressure to use all available land for production, the result can be overgrazing and/or cropland production too close to streams, contributing to nutrient and sediment pollution and reduced stream health. Although these small dairy operations have the opportunity to significantly reduce pollutant loads to local waterways, Pennsylvania's dairy industry has been suffering from low milk prices for several years, leaving conservation practice improvements last on their list of operational concerns.
The THCWP has received funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to provide farmers with the necessary resources to meet Turkey Hill’s commitments for sustainable milk production. It will provide 75 percent cost share assistance to farmers implementing conservation practices - a huge boost to those farms that need additional resources to meet their conservation goals. After farmers implement all practices prescribed in their conservation plans, they will receive a premium from Turkey Hill for their milk - a measure that is considered critical to the partnership’s success. This economic incentive for conservation is essential to achieving conservation goals in today’s struggling dairy economy.
This new partnership represents a paradigm shift in attaining voluntary conservation action. The decision to assist, made by Turkey Hill Dairy’s former CEO and current chairman, John Cox, has resulted in 150 farmers beginning the process of achieving new conservation standards. This market-driven approach is applicable to many other agricultural sectors and has proven to be a technique that yields dramatic acceleration in the rate of conservation practice adoption.
Cox said, “We don't accept it when others say that green projects, products or sustainability has to cost the company. Instead, we seek out initiatives that will be both good for the environment and good for our company.”
Initiated by a Natural Resource Conservation Service grant, the Partnership has been designed to be replicated with hopes of demonstrating that leadership within the private sector can accelerate conservation action. Thus, Turkey Hill hopes that its initiative will motivate additional businesses to take a similar approach in improving their operations’ impact on local rivers and streams.
For more information regarding the Turkey Hill Clean Water Partnership, please visit www.allianceforthebay.org/THCWP. For more information about Turkey Hill Dairy’s green initiatives, visit https://www.turkeyhill.com/about/green.
About the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (Alliance) is a regional nonprofit organization whose mission is to bring together communities, companies, and conservationists to improve our lands and waters. The Alliance implements local programs that connect people to their local rivers and streams and become directly involved in local restoration efforts. The Alliance was founded in 1971 and has offices in Annapolis, MD, Lancaster, PA, Washington, D.C., and Richmond, VA. For more information about the Alliance, visit www.allianceforthebay.org.
About Turkey Hill LLC
Located in the heart of farm-rich Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Turkey Hill Dairy, founded in 1931, is a leading manufacturer and distributor of branded ice cream and refrigerated drinks for the retail, food service, and alternative channels, both nationwide and internationally. In 2019, the Dairy made the switch to 100 percent renewable energy, drawing clean, sustainable power from nearby hydroelectric dams and two wind turbines. For more information about Turkey Hill, its products and its environmental commitment, visit TurkeyHill.com or follow Turkey Hill Dairy on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or the Turkey Hill Nation.
About Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative
Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative is a community of dairy farm families passionate about cultivating dairy goodness and bottling fresh Maola brand milk and dairy products. Founded in 1920, the cooperative’s farmers produce three billion pounds of milk a year for consumers and manufacturers worldwide. Our dairy farm families take pride in creating dairy products people crave, operating with passion and integrity, responsibly caring for our resources and providing a rewarding livelihood for our farmers and employees. For more information about Maryland & Virginia, visit: www.mdvamilk.com
