Organic Valley Rebuilds First Stage of Oregon Plant Damaged by Last Year’s Fire
Nearly a year ago, dairy farmer Jamie Bansen of Forest Glen Jerseys, located in Dayton, Ore., received alarming news that the creamery her family ships milk to was on fire. Thankfully for Bansen and the other Organic Valley patrons, the McMinnville, Ore., creamery has since dusted off the ashes and is almost finished with its first phase of rebuilding.
The cooperative shares it will hire eight new employees on May 2 to resume making nonfat milk powder at the original site. Fourteen employees are already back to work.
“Our first phase will be completed this summer when we will resume making nonfat milk powder to be used by our customers as an ingredient in ice cream and yogurt. We will also begin utilizing our expanded receiving bays and pasteurized silos for storage, processing, and segregation of raw liquid milk,” Mark Pfeiffer, Organic Valley vice-president of internal operations says.
Forest Glen Jerseys has shipped milk to that very same processing plant for more than four decades. First as Farmers Cooperative Creamery (FCC) and then as Organic Valley when they purchased that plant back in 2017.
The plant has seen several upgrades since the purchase, as Organic Valley has invested nearly $23 million in renovations and upgrades. On April 20, 2021, the 25,000 – square-foot main building was destroyed after the fire erupted at the plant. The milk dryer, butter churn and storage tanks all survived the blaze.
"If it had been a total loss, I'm not sure we'd be rebuilding anywhere, quite frankly,” Pfeiffer shares.
Nearly 500,000 lb. of milk is shipped daily into the McMinnville plant to make butter and milk powder, stemming from 42 local family farms, including Forest Glen Jerseys.
Bansen represents the fourth-generation farmer in her family. In 1965, Bansen’s father, Dan, left the home farm in California and moved to Oregon with 35 cows and six kids. Today the family owns and operates two dairies, all of which are home to Registered Jersey cows and ship all of their milk to Organic Valley.
“The plant has been our livelihood for all these years. Dad was president for FCC for 10 plus years and helped develop that business, really to the point that helped make it an attractive purchase for Organic Valley,” Bansen adds.
Bansen applauds her cooperative creamery for acting immediately and working well on behalf of its farmer patrons.
"They kept farmers well informed and quickly diverted milk to other homes last year," Bansen says. “We are happy to soon be back to processing healthy, delicious butter and powder locally. We as well as the other Organic Valley farmer owners are looking forward to being back online in McMinnville and resuming more efficient milk transport and processing here in our back yard rather than having the extra expense of rerouting milk elsewhere.”
Pfeiffer says rebuilding the creamery will help save and sustain small organic family farms in the region.
“Without the expertise of our partners, such as the City of McMinnville, McMinnville Water and Light, and our general contractor, this project would not have progressed so rapidly – especially with supply chain issues and a global pandemic – and we are very grateful,” Pfeiffer states.
While the timeline for the second phase is still to be determined, Pfeiffer shares that they will prioritize employee offices and the potential for butter production. The anticipation is that phase two will extend in 2023.
“We’ve come a long way from last year,” Pfeiffer says. “We look forward to growing our capabilities in McMinnville, Oregon, and turning organic dairy from small family farms into delicious products for families across the Pacific Northwest.”