CAN Speaker Series: George Siemon of Organic Valley Cooperative
On May 1, 2023, the Cooperative Agriculture Network (CAN) was excited to host George Siemon, founder and long-time CEO of Organic Valley cooperative to the CAN Speaker Series.
In the late 1980s, when dairy farmers in Wisconsin faced a “get big or get out” market dominated by chemical industrial agriculture, Siemon and several other farmers banded together to create a co-op of dairy producers. Today, that co-op is a billion-dollar national cooperative that is still owned and governed by small, organic, family farmers. Siemon will discuss founding a farmer’s cooperative, financing, how to scale up, and what other farmers can learn from Organic Valley as a successful cooperative enterprise.
