by Sally Colby

   When people in the Thompson, CT area kept approaching dairy farmers Peter Orr and his wife Kristen about purchasing milk directly from their Fort Hill Farms, it seemed as if establishing an on-farm production facility might be a good idea. However, the Orrs weren’t satisfied that the investment required to establish an on-farm bottling plant would pay off.    They decided to hire a consultant to formulate a business plan, which they hoped would provide a clear answer. 

   Unfortunately, the plan did not reveal a promising outlook. The Orrs would have had to sell 80 percent of the milk they produced under the farm label — immediately — in order for such a business to work. “It wasn’t a very good risk versus reward scenario,” said Peter. “We had to be able to sell a lot of milk to be able to put up a building with farm-scale processing.” 

   At about the same time, Peter became involved with Very Alive, a group of proactive agricultural businesses interested in promoting agriculture as a business in Connecticut. The group talked about a number of issues that affected all of them, including milk marketing, and Peter saw that his fellow dairy farmers faced similar challenges. As the group discussed how they were going to survive in today’s marketplace, they realized that geography was on their side. “With our location in the northeast, we’re sitting right in the middle of the #1 milk market in the country, and possibly the world,” said Peter.    “That’s where we came up with the concept. If the numbers didn’t work on an individual farm basis, would it work if the six of us worked together and pooled our resources?” This time, the answer was yes, and after 4 years of careful planning, The Farmer’s Cow became a reality.

   Peter describes The Farmer’s Cow, now in its fourth year of operation, as ‘a group of like-minded farms whose paths crossed while we were looking for ways to propel our farms into the future.’ The Farmer’s Cow is a premium milk brand produced and marketed by family owned Connecticut dairy farms representing over 2,000 cows on six family dairy farms and more than 6000 acres of Connecticut farmland. Although most of the 300-plus retail outlets for The Farmer’s Cow products are in Connecticut, stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island also carry the label. Milk is available in half-gallon cartons as whole, 2 percent, 1 percent and skim. Related products including half and half, eggs, summer beverages and apple cider are also marketed under The Farmer’s Cow label. As to why the brand is successful, Peter said, “It’s a shift in the consumer’s mind — they want locally produced products. I firmly believe that in getting the word out about the importance of having local dairy farms. With our brand, we put our face and our story behind our milk.” 

   To that end, The Farmer’s Cow conducts numerous outreach activities throughout the year, including visits to member farms, participation at fairs and member farmers who are willing to talk about the benefits of maintaining local agriculture.    “We want to educate people about what we do and where their milk comes from,” said Peter. “We invite them to come to our farm on organized farm days.” Graywall Farms in Lebanon, Connecticut is partnering with The Farmer’s Cow to raise funds for the Connecticut Farmland Trust at the 9th annual Celebration of Connecticut Farms, Food, Wine & Art on September 13th. Visitors can see cows at milking time, visit calves, and tour the barns and fields at Cushman Farms in Franklin on October 3rd. 

   No only is he sold on the idea of a unique label, Peter is convinced that local dairy farms are a critical part of the state’s economy. “In Connecticut, and throughout the northeast, dairy is a local economic engine within an area,” he said. “A lot of the infrastructure for agriculture relies on the business of dairy farms.” Peter related the story of a major feed plant that recently closed, forcing farmers to obtain feed from out of state. “That plant also provided feed for the local feed and grain store for horses and small animals,” said Peter. “Once the infrastructure is gone, it takes a lot to turn it around.”

   Peter says that the significant contributions of capital and time to launch The Farmer’s Cow have been well-received in the area. “This is something we thought we had to change a while ago,” he said, “but we realized that we couldn’t pull it off ourselves. We were fortunate to be able to have teamed up with other farmers and we’ve learned to work together.”