+Sustainability
Sustainability to us means running a dairy farm that has a positive social impact, emphasizes the animal's well being, benefits its surrounding environments, and is profitable. On our dairies we see sustainability as a practical tool to help us be efficient.
Community
Cows
Crops
+Community
From a community standpoint we focus on the safety and well being of our employees and regard our partnership with our neighbors and surrounding towns as an integral part to our dairies.
Boosting local economies
Our dairies add over $213.4 million to the regional economy through job creation and purchases of crops, services and supplies from our local farmers and businesses,
Restoring local ecosystems
2,200 trees have been planted on our dairies to control odor and add to the beauty of the farm. Our farms have are also adding grassy buffer strips along ditches and waterways, while also planting native grasses where possible.
Employee Wellness Program
As a part of our employee wellness program, we give free flu shots on all our farms to employees and their families. It's a way to give back to our employees and protect their health and the health of our community.
+Cows
Check out how we milk our cows and feed our calves above, and
see how our animals are an equal part of our sustainability plan with how we utilize every gallon and recycled sand.
Every Gallon
Each gallon of water that our cows drink is recycled water that we first used to cool our milk.
Recycled Sand
All the sand our cows lay on is constantly being recycled through flow separation, so we can use it for bedding again and again.
Animal Care
Every dairy location is annually audited by a third party to access our practices and for us to strive for improvements on how we care for our animals. All of our Employees are trained and retrained from day one on proper animal care and handling.
View the crops, feeds, and environmental practices that make up our Regenerative Farming Initiative. This initiative supports our crop farmers who use practices such as no-till, crop rotation, cover crops, and natural fertilizers for erosion control and biodiversity.
cover crops
They are usually grown in the off-season (winter) to protect the soil from erosion. Our fields’ soil health has improved from the added organic matter of the cover crops.
No-Till
You see last season's wheat stubble is still visible in between our rows of soybeans. This is because the soil is not tilled or plowed up after harvest. With no-till we have retained 2,300 tons of CO in the soil and out of the atmosphere.
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crop rotation
Besides alfalfa and grass, we try to never plant the same crop two years in a row on our fields. This is called “crop rotation." It mitigates the number of pathogens and pests and can also improve soil structure and fertility by increasing biomass from varied root structures
Soil Testing
All the manure produced by our animals is used as fertilizer on fields. All fields are regularly tested so we appropriately apply nutrients that our crops use and need to grow and which end up going to our animals.