6 Dairy Processors Join New York State Grown & Certified Program

From Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office:

Six additional dairy processors have joined the New York State Grown & Certified program. 

Consumers will soon be able to find the Certified label on select milk, yogurt and cheese products from Byrne Dairy, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, McCadam Cheese, King Brothers Dairy, Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy and Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. 

These dairy processors source their milk from more than 1,200 farms across the State, providing significant support to New York’s largest agricultural sector.

"Dairy is a major part of our agricultural industry and the New York State Grown & Certified program will help to further grow this critical sector of this state's economy," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "By expanding this program to dairy, we promote even more of New York’s finest producers and hard-working farmers, connect consumers to high-quality products and support the growth of local economies."

New York State Grown & Certified is a promotional program that distinguishes agricultural products that are sourced from New York farms and made by producers who meet safe food handling practices and demonstrate environmental stewardship.

Last month, the governor announced a new partnership with Stewart’s Shops to expand New York State Grown & Certified to include Stewart’s milk, ice cream, half and half, heavy cream and eggs. Today’s announcement further advances the program’s goal of growing the State’s vital agricultural industry by highlighting New York farms and processors who meet a higher standard.
  Central New York
 
Byrne Dairy, a fourth generation, family-owned dairy processor and distributor, has already placed the New York State Grown & Certified label on its new line of Byrne Hollow Farm organic milk products, which are sold in Whole Foods Markets, Byrne Dairy stores and other select retailers. 
Later this month, consumers can begin to look for the Certified label on Byrne Dairy’s new line of Byrne Hollow Farm grass-fed milk products sold at BJ’s Wholesale Club locations. In the coming weeks, Byrne Dairy also plans to announce another new and exciting line of products bearing the Certified label. 
Since the very beginning, Byrne Dairy has prided itself on working with hundreds of local and family farms — most of which are located no more than 40 miles from the company’s processing plants — to produce the freshest and best tasting dairy products.

Western New York
  Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. is a food and beverage company owned by 345 New York dairy farm families, and has offered innovative, award-winning, high-quality dairy products to New York State residents for generations. 
With a commitment to quality that extends to every stage of production, from the farm to the consumer, their products include milk, flavored milk beverages, yogurt, dip, sour cream, cottage cheese, and ice cream mix products marketed throughout New York State under the Upstate Farms^®, Bison^®, and Intense Milk^® brands.  
Headquartered in Buffalo, Upstate Niagara will be adding the New York Certified seal to many of their fluid milk products in the coming months.
    North Country
 
McCadam Cheese, which is owned by Agri-Mark, the leading dairy farmer cooperative in the Northeast, has also joined the New York State Grown & Certified program. McCadam, located in Franklin County, manufactures award-winning New York Cheddar, Muenster and European-style cheeses using milk from 588 New York dairy farms that adhere to the highest quality standards. 
McCadam cheeses are sold in over 500 stores across the Northeast, including Hannaford and Price Chopper. Consumers can expect to see the Certified label on their products next year.
  Capital Region
  King Brothers Dairy is a family-owned farm and processor in Saratoga County. It is one of the remaining few dairy processors in the country that continue to deliver glass-bottled milk directly to customer’s doors. 
It is known for its top, purebred Holstein cows and high-quality milk. King Brothers Dairy delivers to customers across the Capital Region, and their products can be found in an increasing number of groceries and small markets in the region.
  Mid-Hudson
  Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy is a cooperative of 10 dairy farmers located in Dutchess, Columbia and Ulster counties. It is dedicated to preserving the agricultural heritage of the Hudson River Valley and produces a wide selection of premium-quality dairy products. 
Its milk, whole-milk, ice cream, half and half, heavy cream, yogurt and sour cream will all carry the Certified label. Consumers can find Hudson Valley Fresh products in nearly 100 locations in the Hudson Valley.

New York City
 
Beecher’s Handmade Cheese is an award-winning, urban cheesemaker located in New York City’s Flatiron District. Its unique, glass-enclosed cheesemaking kitchen gives visitors the opportunity to watch the company’s centuries-old cheesemaking process as it happens. Using milk from four local farms, Beecher’s produces a variety of specialty cheeses that are free of artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

"The addition of these incredible dairy processors to the Grown & Certified program not only supports hundreds of family-owned farms in nearly every region of the state, it also gives consumers an opportunity to easily identify New York's world-class agricultural products that are made to a higher standard," said state Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball. 

"Shoppers can feel good knowing the milk, cheese, yogurt and other dairy products made by these companies comes from farms and processing facilities that are committed to food safety and environmental sustainability,” Ball said.

“Byrne Dairy is proud to join the New York State Grown & Certified Program. Having locally sourced, farm-fresh milk for over 84 years, we believe that the Certified label will give our producer partners the recognition they deserve,” said Carl Byrne, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Byrne Dairy.

New Owner to Keep Open Campbell Kraft Plant

A Kraft plant that was going to close has been saved.

Go to http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2017/06/30/new-owner-keep-open-campbell-plant-save-150-jobs/103310382/ to check out the story.

June is Dairy Month -- Cooperatives Play a Big Role in New York State Dairy

Most dairy farmers don't have the time to go out and sell their milk and dairy products to stores or manufacturing plants.

That's where dairy cooperatives come in. And some of the top dairy cooperatives in the United States are here in New York or handle milk from New York farms.

Photo from Wikipedia

One of the biggest -- often coming in at number 5 on Hoard's Dairyman's list of the top 50 cooperatives -- is Dairylea, right here in Syracuse. Others that make the list are Upstate-Niagara, Agri-Mark (Cabot Creamery Cooperative), Organic Valley/CROPP, Lowville Producers Dairy Cooperative and Cortland Bulk Milk Producers Co-Op.

The largest cooperative is Dairy Farmers of America, which has its Northeast office in East Syracuse. According to its website, the Northeast area consists of 1,467 member dairy farms, handles 3.1 billion pounds of milk annually and provides milk to customers such as Chobani, Hershey Foods, HP Hood, Great Lakes Cheese, Kraft Foods, Leprino Foods and Sorrento/Lactalis.

According to a 2007 study of cooperatives in New York done by now-retired Cornell Senior Extension Associate Brian Henehan, cooperatives have a long history in New York state, dating to the 1800s when a group of dairy farmers in Orange County got together in 1844. 

"The Orange County Milk Association was organized to represent members in bargaining for prices received for their milk from cheese processors," Henehan wrote in his story. 

Henehan said in 2007, there were 64 milk cooperatives in the state -- the most of any state. In 2003, New York accounted for 32 percent of all the dairy cooperatives in the United States, Henehan said in his study.

While most cooperatives still market farmers' milk to milk and dairy product manufacturing plants, Henehan said there are different types of cooperatives.

Photo from Cornell University

According to Henehan's study, Services and Bargaining coops offer products and services to members, while Export Cooperatives export bulk, dry milk products to other countries. Operating coops manufacture finished, branded consumer products such as cheese or fluid milk while Bargaining coops negotiate prices, coordinate collection and hauling of milk and negotiate terms of delivery of milk.

So, during Dairy Month, we all should not only thank the farmers, but also give a shout out to the cooperatives who move the milk, make sure it gets to a place to be made into milk to drink or fabulous cheese, yogurt or ice cream to eat and work to get the best price they can for their member farmers.

Go to https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13f80c82b4a675e4&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dce9dcad029%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13f80c82b4a675e4%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbThqc0hRf7LJZaXH3sD3gg_SMWUwQ to see the Hoard's Dairyman most recent list (October 2012) of the top 50 dairy cooperatives in the United States.