Co-op Members Vote 'Yes' to Create FarmFirst Dairy

By CnAgri Print

Members of three Wisconsin dairy cooperatives have given their blessing to a plan that would merge their groups into one and create the largest dairy marketing cooperative in the Midwest. On Tuesday, patrons of Family Dairies USA, Manitowoc Milk Producers Cooperative and Milwaukee Cooperative Milk Producers voted to establish the new FarmFirst Dairy Cooperative as of January 1.

After announcing plans to unify the companies last month, members have been given the opportunity to vote on the merger over the past several weeks. Those ballots were counted yesterday, which immediately followed a unanimous board vote to go ahead with the merger.

"Today, our members made history," said MMPC General Manager Dennis Donohue, who will become FarmFirst's GM for the company's first year. "This membership vote to merge the three cooperatives affirms our members' goals for industry success through collaboration. Collectively, the strength of our three organizations becomes one unified and powerful voice."

The newly created Farm First Dairy Cooperative, to be headquartered in Madison, will at first have 20 directors within nine districts made up of seven existing board members from Family Dairies, seven from MMPC and six from Milwaukee Milk. Within three years, the total number of directors will be reduced to nine.

There will also be two main divisions of the company, including a lab testing, which is currently operated by Milwaukee Milk's Fox Valley Quality Control Lab in Nenah; and the Family Dairies' milk program, which specializes in marketing milk products throughout Wisconsin and Michigan.

David Cooper of Family Dairies and Jim Bird from Milwaukee Milk will assume the roles of assistant general manager and director of lab services and special projects, respectively. Donohue will retire in 2014.

The new group will serve around 5,100 patrons and 30 individual dairy plants in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota. The company is poised to become the third-largest dairy co-op in the country behind Dairy Farmers of America and California Dairies; and would be the largest in the Midwest, ahead of Land O'Lakes.