Anine-month-old grant program is offering help to young people who want to learn more about farming in the Midwest – and specifically dairy farming.
Crystal Farms Dairy Company has provided $38,000 to Minnesota and Wisconsin FFA’ers through a new program called Midwest Farms Forever.
“This is an ongoing program for us,” said Tim Bratland, president of Crystal Farms. “What is important to us is to make sure we have a good future with young farmers that want to get into dairy.”
Crystal Farms purchases cheese in 640-pound blocks from cheese makers throughout the Midwest. They further process cheese to make slices, grated cheese, smaller blocks, cheese sticks and more. Then they package and distribute cheese – not only to large supermarkets – but also to small- and medium-sized independent grocery stores in rural areas.
The new program reflects the company’s decision to source 98-99 percent of their cheese from the Midwest. Crystal Farms made the decision about two years ago to move away from purchasing cheese from the East or West Coast.
“We are a Midwest brand and that’s what we’ve been for 100 years,” Bratland said. “You need to walk the talk. We started sourcing our cheese from Midwest farmers and the milk they provide.”
He added that some other large providers in the U.S. are also moving operations away from California to Kansas, the I-29 corridor, or Texas, because of the availability of water and crops in the Midwest.
There’s a strong need for families and individuals to milk cows – now and in the future. Crystal Farms wants to support upcoming dairy farms, especially small- to medium-sized dairy farms, through the Midwest Farms Forever program.
The donations are going to FFA to fund Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) for dairy students. The SAE allows students to apply what they learned in the classroom within the context of their own farm, business, job or internship.
Also, through FFA’s Blue Jackets Bright Futures program, the Midwest Farms Forever program has helped purchase FFA jackets for students.
“We received personal thank you notes from many of the students, which was really cool,” he said.
The notes spoke of students unsure how they could afford a jacket if they hadn’t received this gift. They talked about wearing the jackets to their next FFA event.
Dollars are also available to help with continuing education, classes, seminars on farming, and opportunities to learn new techniques or technologies, as well as costs for attending dairy shows and showing dairy animals or dairy products.
Source: agupdate.com
Photo Credit: GettyImages-vwalakte
Categories: Minnesota, General