A new Cornell University effort is aimed at promoting organic milk production in New York state. The NY Organic Dairy Initiative, funded by the farmer-led New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI), is targeted at the state's small and mid-sized dairy farms. This includes more than 200 farms that are certified as organic or are in transition to becoming certified.

The Cornell Small Farm Program, which received the NYFVI grant to manage the initiative, has asked the dairy industry to help identify barriers to and opportunities for organic milk production.

"New York farms currently produce only one-third of the demand for organic milk by New York consumers," said Fay Benson, a small farms educator at Cortland County's Cornell Cooperative Extension and coordinator of the organic dairy initiative. "The barrier identification process ties together all the aspects of the industry so we can build projects to respond to farmer-identified needs and opportunities. New York has a tremendous potential to become a leader in the organic milk industry."

Benson will lead workshops for organic and transitioning producers around the state to help farmers understand how organic production impacts animal health, crops and farm finances. He says transition to organic does not create instant success and is not for everyone.

"Managing organic farms follows many of the same principles that govern management of conventional dairy farms. The big difference is that organic producers must rely more on preventing problems without the use of synthetic fertilizers, livestock medicines and other tools that are available to conventional producers," Benson said. "There is a learning curve that takes income down before it goes up for an organic producer."

Business planning specialists with Cornell's NY FarmNet program, Cornell's PRO-DAIRY Team and the Tompkins, Cortland and Tioga Counties Dairy and Field Crops Teams will work with producers participating in the organic dairy initiative to develop plans specific to each farm.

The NY Organic Dairy Initiative also will produce organic-production educational materials to help farmers statewide.

NYFVI provides New York's farmers and growers with access to a network of production, business planning, marketing and agricultural and horticultural specialists that includes Cornell faculty and extension educators.

Kara Dunn is a freelance writer in Mannsville, N.Y.