Go.Coop

Jim Wedeberg's sons, John and Jake, are the fifth generation to farm the land Jim's great-grandparents bought when they emigrated from Norway in the 1800s.

In January of 1988, Jim read an announcement in the local paper inviting organic farmers to form a cooperative. Jim and his wife, Julie, attended and agreed with the idea: if small family farms would pool their products, they could sell what they produced without falling prey to the industry standard at the time: "Get big or get out." They were intrigued, but nobody spoke specifically about dairy, so Jim made a proposal. Seven months later, they became one of the founding members of the CROPP Cooperative, which began as a dairy cooperative and has since diversified to include eggs, meats, produce and other products. CROPP markets its products under the Organic Valley and Organic Prairie brands today.

These days, most of the daily business of the farm is managed by Jim's oldest son, John (and, increasingly, Jake). Like many who buck the stereotype of kids who can't wait to leave the family farm, John and Jake loved growing up there. So after graduating from college with a degree in agricultural engineering, Jake returned to the farm to share duties with John, which include managing the dairy, the pastures and the acreage they use to grow 90 percent of the feed for their cows.

As an agricultural engineer, Jake's creativity has been piqued by the growing need for alternative fuels, and he helped design and build a mobile press unit for Organic Valley, which presses crops into oil for use in biodiesel fuels. A key part of Organic Valley's Renewable Energy Program, an effort to enable co-op members to be both green and competitive, the oil press unit can be moved from farm to farm for use by farmers who want to grow and process their own fuel. Jake and John have also begun a wind study on their farm to determine the feasibility of adding a wind turbine to their energy sources.

Jim is thrilled to have his boys back on the farm. He said, "I have a passion for this, and I'll do it as long as I can. I hope more farmers learn to produce food to satisfy the consumer, not the industry."

Learn more about Organic Valley at www.organicvalley.coop.