Leaders of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association (Minnesota Milk) and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative have signed an agreement aligning administrative and program duties.
Under the agreement, Minnesota Milk will focus its work on state-level issues in Minnesota. Edge, a verification cooperative, will provide services previously provided to Minnesota Milk by Midwest Dairy, such as event planning, human resource and financial services, communications and more. The transition began on Nov. 1 and will be completed by Dec. 31.
Under the agreement, the 500-member Minnesota Milk remains its own organization focused on state policy, education and membership. Its board will maintain independence in budgeting and decision-making.
Lucas Sjostrom, who joined Minnesota Milk in 2016 and was named executive director in 2017, will continue in his role for the organization, carrying out the vision set forth by the farmer-led Minnesota Milk board, with Edge staff providing other services. He will also support the Edge board’s goals with a federal focus.
The new arrangement ends a decade-long business relationship between Minnesota Milk and Midwest Dairy. Beginning in 2012, Minnesota Milk and the Minnesota division of the Midwest Dairy Association partnered to streamline staffing, accounting, information technology, human resources and communications services, while maintaining separate budgets to address promotion programs and policy issues.
Today, Midwest Dairy is a checkoff-funded organization representing dairy producers in 10 states: Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. However, with checkoff restrictions on dairy policy involvement and a desire for a greater policy focus, Minnesota Milk sought to replace the administrative and program services provided by Midwest Dairy.
The Minnesota Milk relationship with Edge is seen as more financially prudent than operating on its own.
“We see many efficiencies in working with a policy-focused dairy organization," said Shelly DePestel, Minnesota Milk president and dairy producer at Lewiston, Minnesota. "We appreciate being able to remain independent while still tapping into the efficiencies of shared communications, human resources and accounting.”
She said Edge’s policy involvement at the federal level made them a natural fit, allowing Minnesota Milk to tap into resources and grow its members’ voices, while increasing the organization’s focus on state-level policy and giving Edge members better representation in Minnesota.
“We are excited to connect with another grassroots dairy group driving positive change for farmers,” said Brody Stapel, Edge president and dairy producer at Cedar Grove, Wisconsin. “Minnesota Milk and Edge share many members. This agreement allows both groups to pool resources and amplify the voice of milk – in Minnesota and across the Upper Midwest.”
Edge, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is the third-largest dairy cooperative in the country based on milk volume produced by its members in nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. It provides representation on state and federal dairy-related policy issues, Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) qualified verification of milk and milk components at testing laboratories, bulk tank calibrations, and market information and news impacting the dairy community.
Edge and Minnesota Milk have already collaborated on several dairy policy issues. In 2020, Edge supported Minnesota Milk’s Dairy CORE (Coronavirus Relief) program. Since that time, the two groups partnered with four other Upper Midwest state trade associations on a nearly two-year-long task force evaluating the FMMO system. They have also lobbied together on immigration reform and most recently pushed members of Congress for fixes to the Federal Crop Insurance program’s silage rules and requirements. Minnesota Milk also supported Edge’s successful $50 million climate-smart grant application.
The organizations also share another characteristic: Dairy economist Marin Bozic, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota and a co-creator of Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP), serves an adviser to both Edge and Minnesota Milk.
Edge’s annual meeting, held in conjunction with the annual Dairy Strong Conference, is Jan. 18-19, 2023, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Minnesota Milk’s annual meeting is Feb. 14, 2023, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
