Feed supply, costs squeeze organic livestock farmers

From the Des Moines Register Online...
Facing sky-high crop prices, some in the organic food industry are borrowing an idea from their conventional counterparts.

CROPP Cooperative, best known for Organic Valley milk, seeks organic grain growers willing to sign three-year contracts to supply feed to the La Farge, Wis.-based co-op's livestock farms.

Such vertical integration is common in the conventional meat industry and parts of the organic business, but it runs counter to the independent spirit of many organic farmers. The tight supplies and soaring cost of organic corn and soybeans is forcing the Organic Valley cooperative to try to lock in feed supplies. The co-op has 1,200 farms that produce milk, meat and eggs.

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