Brian Treece is one generation removed from a family dairy farm. His mother told stories of milking cows on the family farm and putting the milk in the cream can. She would then put the can in her wagon and take it down to the end of the road, where a truck would come pick it up and take it to a Sweet Springs creamery.

DAIRY TIES: City of Columbia Mayor Brian Treece welcomes Aurora Organic Dairy to the state, saying his city that shares the same values of hard work, dedication and commitment to organic stewardship.

While the process of transporting milk from cow to carton has changed, the mayor of the city of Columbia says his city is changing with it. The groundbreaking of a new milk processing plant in Columbia "symbolizes the advancements of the dairy industry," Treece says.

Aurora Organic Dairy recently broke ground on its second dairy processing facility along Route B north of I-70. It is expected to create more than 90 jobs initially and up to 150 total new jobs over the next five years. Marc Peperzak, founder and CEO of Aurora Organic Dairy, expects the plant to be fully operational in early 2019. The company produces milk to supply the house brands of Walmart, Costco and other major retailers.

"It is a big deal for us," Peperzak says. "It makes us more efficient to customers across the country, allowing them to get better-quality product because of shelf life." The groundbreaking was a result of about five years' worth of work that covered three different states. The Colorado dairyman was looking for the right mix of workforce, highway infrastructure and organic feed sources. "There are a number of reasons we made our choice here," he says, "but one is because it is a good cultural fit."

CONSUMER COMMITMENT: Aurora Organic Dairy founder Marc Peperzak says that his organic dairy model is one that has the highest standards, quality and value in the marketplace today.

Different organic dairy
Aurora Organic Dairy, based in Boulder, Colo., it is a vertically integrated system, which includes a supply chain of organic dairy farms, milk processing plants and organic heifer and calf ranches in Colorado and Texas.

"Our style dairy farming is very expensive and very intensive," Peperzak explains. It is not the typical organic dairy many consumers might picture. It is an organic dairy with its operation in Colorado housing 15,000 cows over 6,000 acres. It has come under fire from press and consumers for its production methods.

Still, Peperzak does not back down. "We are a large dairy operation," he says. "There is no doubt about that. But we support many independent dairy farmers." He says its starts with sourcing certified organic feed crops.

In total, the feed ration requirement of Aurora Organic Dairy cows supports more than 84,000 organic acres used for grazing and harvesting crops. Of this, approximately 70,000 acres are operated by more than 120 independent farmers, and more than 14,000 organic pasture and crop acres are operated by the company. In addition, there are currently roughly 15,000 acres of land used for facilities, and farmland actively transitioning to organic.

PROCESSING PRODUCTS: This architect's rendering of the soon-to-be-built Aurora Organic Dairy processing plant will be built along Route B in Columbia. It will be home to 90 new jobs when it opens, with the intent to add more jobs over the next five years.

Can Missouri farmers get in?
Peperzak says his company has no plans to build a large-scale dairy operation in Missouri. In fact, the company has purchased property in Nebraska for its next dairy farm. However, he does look for opportunities in the future to source feed — and perhaps milk — from organic dairies in the state.

While feed may be a possibility, organic milk might be a tall task since the state is struggling to build dairy numbers. Still, interest from other organic dairy companies has some producers making a change.

According to Dave Drennan, Missouri Dairy Association executive director, roughly 20 dairies across the state are in the transition phase from conventional to organic. "With milk prices tumbling at the farm level, our folks have looked around to see how they can get more for the milk from the cows they've got, and they chose to transition to organic," he says. It is a three-year process.

Most of the farms have already been recruited by Organic Valley, based in Wisconsin; or Horizon. Still, Drennan remains optimistic that the addition of an organic dairy processing facility like Aurora will offer an outlet for organic milk in the state. "Hopefully there will be more opportunity with Missouri producers and Aurora in the long term," he says.