DIXFIELD — A local dairy farm recently signed a deal with a Wisconsin-based milk distributor to become one of its six suppliers from Maine.
Darlene Brann, who runs Eagle View Farm in Dixfield with her husband, Mike, said their farm is one of six from the now-defunct Maine’s Own Organic Milk company to sign with Organic Valley.
“We had been producing milk for the Maine’s Own Organic group before we approached Organic Valley,” Brann said Wednesday. “I believe it was around the first of May that MOO Milk called us and said they’d be stopping production. After that, we knew we needed to find a new market. We felt that Organic Valley would be the best fit for a small dairy farm like us.”
In May 2014, the 12 Maine dairy farms that were signed with Maine’s Own Organic Milk were released from their contracts after failing to reach an agreement on a new processor.
“Technically, we were the ones who approached Organic Valley about the idea of supplying milk to them, but the field adviser, Steve Getz, already knew that we were here,” Brann said. “In the farming world, there’s very few of us that are organic, so news travels pretty fast when there’s an organic dairy farm. We talked with Getz and Organic Valley, and we felt as if Organic Valley would work best for us.”
The other five farms that joined with Organic Valley are Webb Family Farm in Pittston, Two Loons Farm in South China, Clovercrest Farm in Charleston, HB Farms in Woodland and Chase’s Organic Dairy in Mapleton.
Brann said Eagle View Farm was once a conventional dairy farm, which means they weren’t prohibited from giving their cows antibiotics or giving them GMO feed.
It supplied milk to Oakhurst Dairy of Portland.
“My husband, Mike, was born and raised on this piece of property,” Brann said. “His family owned this property, and they always had cattle on it so he’s always been involved in it. In 2007, we built our first milking tower. When we first started, we were a conventional dairy farm, but we slowly transitioned into organic. Organic is something that we try to practice in our own lives, in order to live a healthier lifestyle, so it was a natural form for us.”
Brann said that as of Wednesday, they were milking 20 cows.
“We’re probably on the low side of what dairy farms usually milk,” Brann said, “but it’s only my husband and I that do this. We have no hired help or anyone else associated with us. We’re doing this work every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”
Brann laughed and said, “Vacations and holidays are non-existent for us.”
Organic Valley will pick up milk every other day.
“We milk twice a day, and the amount of milk we have will depend on the time of year, or how many dairy cows we have at the time,” Brann said. “Sometimes, we have up to 25 dairy cows, and other times, it’s closer to 20.”
The milk from the six Maine farms likely will be used for Stoneyfield’s organic yogurt, Brann said.
“It’s my understanding that all of the milk from Maine goes to Stoneyfield for their yogurt,” Brann said. “I suppose Organic Valley could ship it to another facility, where they’d dry it into milk powder and sell it down the line, but at this moment in time, I think they’re using it for yogurt.”
Brann said she’s optimistic about the relationship with Organic Valley.
“Organic Valley has gone above and beyond to get us onto a truck as quickly as they could,” Brann said. “They’ve been extremely helpful and have done an amazing job working with us so far.”
mdaigle@sunjournal.com
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