This Week In Ag 0017 - Family Dairy Farm Goes Organic.

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Why has your family operation chosen to be organic?
What were the hurdles to go from "conventional" dairy farming to organic dairy farming?
Emily Zweber once tweeted 'Organic does not mean "return to the practices of the 1940’s"' Can you share what that means?
To become certified USDA organic requires some planning and time. Can you walk through some of the steps you went through to obtain the certified USDA organic status?
How do you treat sick cows and maintain organic certification?
Organic is part of the "food movement" but doesn't address social justice (fair wages) or energy issues. Is this a downfall or outside of what organic can/should address?
How does being part of the Organic Valley Coop help Zweber Farms, from a marketing/ public relations point of view?

There are some marketing 'games' food product companies play with labeling. A good one is labeling milk "Antibiotic free", implying other milk is not antibiotic free. This can cause confusion for consumers. What is a consumer to do?
Besides Organic Valley Coop, how do Minnesota Grown, the Land Stewardship Project, the Farm Bureau, and the Farmer's Union play a part of your operations and marketing?
What are some challenges to staying organic in the next several years.
Where are the cost differences in being organic vs conventional.

website pick of the week/Ag information we all need to know about:

iCurrent, for news searching and filtering.
Newseum.org, provides access to interesting newspapers and history about the newspaper.
AgWeb.com provides daily information on ag markets and events.
Agweb.com

Where can we find you?

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