'Grass Point' Offers Farmers, Consumers an Alternative
By Ron Johnson, Dairy Editor
Agri View
How does $16 milk sound? It probably sounds pretty good, especially when Class III prices are hovering more than $4 lower.
A handful of Wisconsin dairy farmers are getting $16 and more for their milk, thanks to a new company. Grass Point Farms is paying a base price of $16.05 for milk. A quality premium of $1.50 per hundredweight is offered, too.
"We're hoping to give our producers a mailbox price of $17 to $19," says Grass Point Farms President Chad Pawlak.
There are conditions to meet. Not every dairy farmer can meet Grass Point Farms' standards.
First, they must graze their cows "when it's feasible," Pawlak tells Agri-View. "The rest of the time we're still insisting on harvested grasses."
As part of the grazing requirement, Grass Point producers must abide by written grazing standards.
"This is the first set of written grazing standards. That's where we came up with the name - Grass Point," Pawlak explains.
The grazing standards insist on the farm having a "comprehensive grazing plan." This plan covers several aspects of farm-environment interaction. It encompasses woodland management, wetlands management, the soil plus animal health.
On top of that are 23 pages of "certified humane" standards a Grass Point farmer must agree to follow. Tail docking is not allowed. Nor is the routine feeding of antibiotics. Farmers wanting to ship milk to Grass Point Farms are not allowed to use bovine growth hormone (BGH), either.
Says Pawlak, "It all boils down to, 'What does it mean to be nice to a cow?'"
Grass Point Farms also includes a farm labor requirement. Its producers must have "more than 50 percent" of the farm labor provided by the family.
The idea behind that requirement, says Pawlak, is to assure people who buy Grass Point dairy products that the milk was not produced on large-scale farms that are more investor-oriented than family oriented.
In fact, the idea behind all of Grass Point's requirements is to please consumers. They're also intended to appeal to graziers.
On the consumer side, Pawlak says some folks want to purchase dairy products from farms that adhere to a higher standard of animal and environmental care. He says organics don't fill the bill. Besides, there's a 30 percent shortage of organically produced milk in the U.S. , he adds. Grass Point dairy products are aimed at filling that void.
Grass Point dairy products are being marketed by pointing out how the milk was produced. They're also being sold for less than organic dairy products, but for more than so-called "conventional" dairy products. Pawlak says Grass Point items will go for 30 percent below the organic price.
He calls this different approach a way to let consumers decide what's important to them.
Farmer appeal
Pawlak says this approach also contains a good deal of farmer appeal. Many dairy producers don't like practices such as tail docking, Pawlak says. And most want to protect soil and water, too. Plus, many farmers want to use an approach that's "sustainable," as managed grazing is, Pawlak adds.
"What is 'sustainable?'" he asks. "What makes sense? A grass-based farmer uses 40 percent less fossil fuel than other farmers, including organic farmers. They have less runoff and just less overall input costs.
"Grazing, from a soil conservation standpoint, water conservation standpoint and animal health standpoint is superior," Pawlak continues. "Animal care standards are nonexistent in organic right now. If an organic cow is ill, she's treated homeopathically. If that is not successful...and a shot of antibiotics could cure her, the organic farmer is not allowed to treat that animal. He has to ship her to a conventional herd or to the slaughterhouse."
Grass Point producers are allowed to treat sick cows with antibiotics and other drugs if it's absolutely necessary. And Grass Point farmers are allowed to use chemical herbicides on thistles, for example.
But all those procedures are recorded and allowed only on a "limited basis," Pawlak emphasizes.
He sums up Grass Point's requirements as being "more in line with what a managed rotational grazier is used to doing today."
Seven signed up
So far, Grass Point Farms has on board seven Wisconsin graziers. All are in Marathon County .
The company has a waiting list of 100 to 150. "I get calls every day now," Pawlak says.
Farmers who ship to Grass Point have the option of buying stock in the company. Plus, five percent of the firm's pretax profits will be set aside to go back to its milk suppliers.
"We want producers to be excited and continue to be excited when that milk truck leaves," comments Pawlak.
Four Wisconsin processing plants are under contract with Grass Point Farms. Its current offerings are four varieties of cheese, but that will go to six "soon," according to Pawlak. Planned for retail sales in June are milk and butter.
"By August we'll have what we consider a full line. Then we'll add yogurt and sour cream and cottage cheese later," the president says.
Grass Point Farms began shipping its cheese to retail stores nationwide last week. They will be available in specialty health food stores in the Madison , Milwaukee , and Chicago markets, plus part of New England .
Cheesemaker's son
Pawlak describes himself as a cheesemaker's son. His father worked at what was once known as Blue Moon Cheese, at Thorp. The plant was known, Pawlak says, for its blue cheese. "It was the best blue in the state for years and years and years," he asserts.
Pawlak chose college in the East instead of cheesemaking. He says his goal was "to save the world" but "found out it didn't need to be saved."
Armed with a degree in marketing, advertising and public relations, he returned to Wisconsin in 1994. He eventually met his current business partner, Bruce Ellis. Among other things, Ellis built a specialty coffee business.
A couple of years ago Pawlak became associated with Wisconsin Organics. Eighteen months ago he got the idea of using milk from managed grazing farms to help fill the shortage of organic milk. Wisconsin Organics and Grass Point Farms fall under the umbrella of another company - Organic Farm Marketing (OFM).
Pawlak began working with rotational graziers and "built a brand and a set of standards around their practices" that is now Grass Point Farms. The company employs Certified Humane, an independent certifier, to confirm that Grass Point farmers are adhering to their written agreements.
Besides providing consumers with dairy products from farms that are held to high standards, Grass Point Farms has other things in mind.
Pawlak says, "Part of our goal is to not only keep the family farm going, but to keep the family cheese plant going and reverse this adversarial relationship between the plant and producer. We want to revert it to what it was 30 years ago - a partnership."
Dairy farmers who would like to know more about Grass Point Farms are invited to telephone Pawlak at 888-299-8553. The company's Internet address is www.grasspoint.com.
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