The year was 1924. Gary Moore’s grandfather, Melissa Collman’s great grandfather, bought acreage in Boring, Oregon to start his dairy farm. But there’s a backstory. The grandfather left Switzerland for the U.S. at age 15. He then travelled to Wisconsin to milk cows by hand, and finally trekked across the US to Oregon to found what is now Cloud Cap Farms. He was a colorful character and even had a reindeer herd he would put in the local parade at Christmas time. He also was a traditionalist, using horses to plow the fields and milking the cows by hand as he had learned. When the farming age changed, he grudgingly accepted tractors and milking machines, although he never trusted them. Then in the late 70s, grandson Gary came back to be part of the company and began getting the farm in tune with the times, including implementing artificial insemination to strengthen the heard. In the 80s, things got tough and the family had to try new and revolutionary methods to keep the farm alive. In 1999, a visit from George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley Coop changed everything. George came through the area looking to increase the organic milk run into the Pacific Northwest. George had been told to visit specific farms, luckily including Cloud Cap, to join the Coop. Gary was thrilled but Grandpa was terrified that the cows would get sick from converting to the organic model and that the whole farm would go bankrupt. Gary deferred to his Grampa for the time, but after Grampa’s passing, Gary got hold of Organic Valley and joined in 2004. Being part of the Organic Valley has been great because their model and mission is to protect the family dairies. It’s also been great for Melissa as she actually worked for the coop for some years and still helps occasionally. Organic Valley also makes their farmers part of their marketing team and gives them all a chance to get to know each other and to learn from each other. The coop is now 1,700 farms with over 80% of the dairies with herds less than 100 cows. Currently Clud Cap's milk is processed in Portland, Oregon. So has it been worth it to be part of the coop? Absolutely. According to Melissa, Cloud Cap Farms probably wouldn’t be around today without the coop. As proof, she points out that there is no dairy within 45 minutes of Cloud Cap, when there used to be 20 on their road alone. Her county alone has seen a 50% drop in dairies in two years, so there is no doubt Cloud Cap is a survivior and Melissa credits the coop. Dairy farmers are in the industry for the passion, for the cows and they rarely get rich. So when the market eventually swings down, those farms without some financial padding get wiped out. But being part of Oraganic Valley has added stability to the financial side of the business by taking out the high and low swings of the market. This has created a much more solid future for the family and now the fifth generation is fully and happily engaged.

"Masoni and Marshall the meaningful Marketplace" with your hosts Sarah Masoni and Sarah Marshall

We record the "the Meaningful Marketplace" inside NedSpace in the Bigfoot Podcast Studio in beautiful downtown Portland.

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#98 Still Around Because of the Coop - Melissa Collman, Cloud Cap Farms

Meaningful Marketplace Podcast