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Consumers Buy Into Dairy Farmers' Eco Label

An ambitious collaboration among Penn State University, the U.S. EPA and others has shown that consumers care about protecting water quality, and some even are willing to pay for it.

An ambitious collaboration among Penn State University, the U.S. EPA and others has shown that consumers care about protecting water quality, and some even are willing to pay for it.

This program, called the Environmental Quality Initiative Inc., wanted to test people's willingness to purchase milk in an eco-labeled milk carton, "with successful results," says Les Lanyon, professor of soil fertility at Penn State. In December 1998, with support from a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection grant, Chesapeake Milk hit the shelves in test areas.

The milk, produced by dairy farmers in southeastern Pennsylvania, was sold in specially marked cartons at Fresh Fields grocery stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, northern Virginia and Washington, DC.

"When consumers purchase Chesapeake Milk, dairy farmers who are doing a good job of protecting water quality receive a premium," Lanyon explains. "A nickel per half-gallon goes directly to these farmers."

In order to join the program, farmers have to undergo a yearly evaluation that examines how well farmstead structures and management practices protect water quality on the farm. The evaluation, performed by Leon Weber, Rodale Institute's on-farm coordinator, looks at six areas around the dairy farmstead, such as whether cows are kept out of streams, how barnyard runoff is managed and how pesticides are stored and handled. So far, 20 Pennsylvania dairy farmers have participated.

Those involved in the initiative found that even if farmers didn't qualify for the program, they made changes in the way they did business, showing they are concerned about the environment and realize eco-friendly practices make business sense as well.

"Agriculture is still considered by many to be the number-one cause of non-point source pollution," Lanyon explains. "Historically, government cost-share programs paid for some of the cost of water quality protection on farms to reduce the 'burden' on farmers. But many people have become disillusioned with the level of environmental quality resulting from this approach. Other methods, such as direct regulation, are likely to be implemented.

"Typically, regulations specify conditions that must be met or practices that must be installed," Lanyon says. "To deal with additional costs, farmers often have to increase milk production or increase the number of cows they milk. This could accelerate the evolution of farms in the 'get bigger or get out' direction and does little to preserve small, family farms."

The group learned that introducing an eco-labeled product is not without its challenges: "It's not easy to achieve buy-in from players in the food system whose agendas may not include environmental protection," Lanyon says. "It's also not easy to communicate new ideas to milk consumers.

"However, we learned that dairy farmers are very interested in this effort. Top government officials also supported the concept. And consumers purchased enough of the Chesapeake Milk for premiums to go back to farmers.

"Now, the challenge is to create more opportunities for eco-labeled products," Lanyon says. "If we're successful, the costs of environmental protection will be shared by those who care and are committed enough to act on what they value."

Joining Penn State in this program are the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, the Rodale Institute, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

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