On Sept. 12, Horizon Organic announced the 2014 recipients of two annual awards that honor its family farmers. Andrew and Saraetta Batdorf of McVeytown, Pennsylvania, received the Horizon Organic Producer Education (HOPE) Award for being advocates for organic agriculture.

Steve, Paul and Hope Galens of Clifton Springs, New York, won the National Quality Award, which recognizes the Horizon farmer who produces the highest quality organic milk in the entire Horizon milk supply. In addition, Dean and Terri Conant of Randolph Center, Vermont, and Jimmy and Tina Spaulding of Bethel, Vermont, were named as honorable mentions for the HOPE Award. This year’s recipients attended the annual Farm Aid concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Sept. 13 and were honored at a Horizon awards dinner on Sept 12.

“The success and growth of Horizon is made possible by the hard work and commitment from our nearly 700 family farmers nationwide and their passion for organic agriculture,” said Mike Ferry, Horizon president. “It is a pleasure to honor the Batdorf family with this year’s HOPE Award for their continued strong leadership and support of organic dairy. We are also pleased to recognize the Galens family with this year’s National Quality Award, a true testament of their commitment to producing high-quality organic milk.”

HOPE Award: Andrew and Saraetta Batdorf
Andrew and Saraetta Batdorf have shipped their milk to Horizon since 2008 and received the HOPE Award for their commitment to regenerative farming practices that respect and protect the environment, wildlife and livestock.

“I am proud to tell people what I do – that I’m an organic dairy farmer from Pennsylvania,” Batdorf says. “It is an honor to receive the HOPE Award, which is about organic stewardship and advocacy. This way of life makes for long days and a lot of constant, hard work. It takes time and commitment to help contribute to a cause that’s much larger than our day to day livelihood, and it's worth it to educate and help people understand what we do.”

Andrew has been dairying for most of his life, and conservation is second nature for him and his family. “Organic is an important part of our lives out here on the farm. We’re here on this earth for a short time, but we can make a lasting impact. We are stewards of the land,” he says. “People care where their food comes from and are concerned about keeping family farms alive.”

Andrew transitioned to organic in part because he wanted his four children to be able to stay on the farm and make a good living. The Batdorf family’s conservation practices include improving the farm’s existing contour strips into lanes so that cows can more easily walk to and from the pastures. They’ve also installed a solar-powered pump and 40-foot windmill to help supply water to their 50 cows without using electricity.

The Batdorfs are actively involved with Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) where Andrew is president of the board. Andrew also helped launch PCO’s mentoring program to help educate farmers about organic production. The Batdorf family helped establish a farmer’s market in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, in an area designated by the USDA as a food desert, to help bring fresh fruits and vegetables to local residents. The family has hosted numerous community farm tours and crop walks at their dairy to help educate families and other farmers about organic agriculture and sustainable practices.

National Quality Award: Steve, Hope and Paul Galens
Steve Galens, his wife Hope and brother Paul won Horizon’s 2014 National Quality Award for consistently delivering the highest quality milk of all of Horizon’s producers. The family also won the award in 2012. Steve has milked cows since he graduated from high school and today milks 21 cross-bred cows on the 160-acre farm where he grew up. He farms in partnership with Paul, who raises organic heifers and all of the organic feed for the farm.

The Galens started shipping organic milk to Horizon in December 2010, though Paul had started using some organic farming methods on his crops prior to starting the transition to organic because the brothers felt that it was better for the land.

Producing organic milk has had a major impact on how Steve views farming. “Organic gives me purpose to make a product that people want. My heart and soul is in it. There are no silver bullets to making high-quality milk, but if you observe closely, you too can get similar results,” Steve says.

Each year, Horizon also recognizes the top 10 percent of Horizon farmers in each state whose milk is the highest quality within the network. For consideration, farmers must ship organic milk to the company for one full calendar year, and the average test results for each shipment must be among the best in their respective states. PD

—From Horizon Organic news release