Grass-fed organic dairy company, Maple Hill Creamery, has received $20 million in funding from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The funding is designed to grow markets for sustainable, regenerative grass-fed organic dairy farming. It is part of the USDA’s ‘Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities’ programme, awarding $2.8 billion to pilot projects that will help build and expand opportunities for consumers to purchase food grown in a climate-friendly way.
According to Maple Hill, it is the “largest” 100% grass-fed focused dairy business in the US.
Mitch Clark, senior VP of supply chain for Maple Hill, said: “Over the past year, leaders from Maple Hill have worked to develop a programme called ‘Pay for Progress’ to educate farmers, measure and improve our industry-leading regenerative practices and expand regenerative dairy farming…With this support from the USDA, Maple Hill will expand its leadership in regenerative agriculture and be able to provide best practices to more farmers.”
Maple Hill will use the funding to educate its dairy farmers on how to improve pastures with climate-smart practices to upgrade soil health. ‘Pay for Progress’ is designed to incentivise implementation and provide training support to help farmers enhance regenerative and environmental practices.
The creamery will host around 30 regional educational events annually, with resources and experts providing one-on-one guidance, as well as the implementation of pasture scoring to provide trackable data on soil health, diversity of plant cover and ground cover.
The company will also use the funding to help consumers understand the regenerative farming practices and the advantages of grass-fed organic dairy for consumers, farmers, cows and the environment.
Jim Hau, president of Maple Hill, added: “Once consumers learn about the benefits of regenerative farming and 100% grass-fed organic dairy, they’ll recognise the correlation between these practices and their desires for a healthier environment, healthier animals and healthier dairy products”.
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