ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Helping Prevent Extinction

On Organic Valley family farms, life thrives. Home to millions of beneficial insects, birds, bees, butterflies, microbes, and critters of all shapes and sizes, small organic family farms are refuges for life on Earth, with many small organic family farms shown to have 34% more biodiversity than conventional farms. Birds are especially loved on many Organic Valley farms, and a few of the birds that are under threat of extinction and call our small family farms home are described on this page. Thank you to our friends at the Audubon Society for helping us understand more about these beautiful creatures.

Eastern Meadowlarks songs are beautifully flutelike but are heard less and less throughout the rural countryside. These birds love the kinds of grasslands that are often paved over by urban sprawl and development, eliminating their habitats one by one. Thankfully, our farmers in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and throughout the Midwest provide plenty of habitat in the form of grasslands grazed by cows and called home by all sorts of bugs, birds, and beetles.

Streaked Horned Lark is a stunning bird that is in danger due to the loss of their natural habitat caused by urbanization and development. However, Organic Valley farmers in Oregon, Washington, and across the Pacific Northwest are working to preserve and protect grasslands that provide a haven for these beautiful birds and other wildlife. Through sustainable and conservation-focused practices, these farmers are creating healthy grassland habitats that support the streaked horned lark and other essential species.

Bobolinks sound like R2D2, chirping a nearly robotic melody from the grasslands they call home. In the Northeast, in states like Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York, bobolink populations are rapidly declining. These enigmatic birds thrive flying just above wide-open grasslands, the kinds our farmers grow and care for to feed their cows and provide a home to nature in all its forms. This is just one of the many species of birds, bees, and butterflies that call our family farms home.

We Exist To Save Small Family Farms

Member Farms

Over 1400

Dairy

TOTAL over 1600

We serve over 50% of the organic dairy farms in the U.S.

+4000

Farm Contacts Last

YEAR

+2500

Average farm size is

Cows80

Farms have an Annual Animal Care Check-in and full audit every 3 years

KEY ANIMAL CARE STANDARDS:

Pasture and Outdoor Access Standards – we recognize the importance of letting animals outside.

Preventative Care – we emphasize preventative care and proactively promoting health.

Treatment – requirement of treatment if illness arises.

Farm Visits

3.5x smaller than U.S. dairy average

Farms can be triggered for a full audit to address signi cant concerns

Metrics and Outcomes – our standards are focused on measuring animal welfare as this is the key outcome we are looking for rather than de ning narrow means of reaching that outcome.

Trigger Standards – in our latest dairy animal care standards we are piloting the use of trigger measure to allow us to reward farmers while also delving in deeper where challenges exist.