Bishop Dairy Farm celebrates industry award
DERBY DAY ON WEST END -- Tyson Welch, who says he lives in both Sequim and Forks, nets a large fish while the pond is filled with lines, poles, kids and adults at the annual Kids Fishing Derby at the Bogachiel Rearing Pond west of Forks. The derby, which drew about 450 children, was sponsored by the West End Sportsmen’s Club. -- Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News
By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News
Print This |
Email This
Recent Headlines
Port Angeles to stay in FEMA fight -- 2/7/12 -10:52 PM
Port Angeles City Council approves final esplanade plan -- 2/7/12 -10:42 PM
(No heading) -- 2/7/12 -10:32 PM
SPORTS: Webb sparks Sequim to 58-51 win over Port Angeles for second place in boys basketball action Tuesday night -- 2/7/12 -10:22 PM
MV Coho ferry back on the job today after maintenance hiatus -- 2/7/12 -05:42 PM
"I've been doing this for 50 years, and this is my best year ever," said Bishop, whose family a year ago shifted his dairy's milk sales to Organic Valley CROPP Cooperative.
The move saved the 100-Holstein dairy, making it the first state-certified organic milk producer in Jefferson County.
Before going organic, Gerald Bishop was selling his milk at the same price he got in the early 1970s.
The benefits of going organic included a substantial increase in the dairy's milk price, now at $27.30 per 100 pounds, which has increased more than $2 per 100 pounds over the past year to compensate for rising feed prices.
A year ago, the Bishops were selling to Darigold at about $11 per 100 pounds.
Celebrate a year
On Friday, the Bishops celebrated the "Gold Award" the farm received from Organic Valley for producing top-quality milk, which Organic Valley routinely tests.
Also that day, Gerald Bishop, his brother, Ron, who operates the milking parlor, and the next generation of Bishop Dairy farmers — Gerald's grandson, Austin, and his nephew, Javan and Javan's wife, Chrissy — broke out Organic Valley T-shirts to mark the first year with the cooperative.
The Bishop Family Dairy is the only dairy in Jefferson and Clallam counties listed by the Washington state Department of Agriculture as certified organic for milk.
The Dungeness Valley Creamery in Sequim is certified by the U.S Department of Agriculture to sell raw Jersey milk.
The Bishop Dairy Farm is one of only two dairies left in the county — and one of only four in the North Olympic Peninsula — which once had a thriving milk-producing industry.
Phil Huntingford's Out Our Way Farm is the other dairy in Jefferson County, while Maple View Farm is near Sequim.
Gerald Bishop said there were about 15 other dairies in Jefferson County before the market decline caused by low prices and high costs.
Family tradition
Easily spotted west of state Highway 19, the picturesque Bishop Farm on Egg and I Road has a family tradition of more than 100 years.
The Bishops own 500 acres outright and lease 120 acres more for pastures and growing organic grass hay.
The Organic Valley cooperative, which now has more than 500 family members and stretches across 25 states, was formed in 1988.
Organic Valley standards do not allow even the use of natural hormones to increase milk production, or the use of treated wood fences, which the cows can chew on.
The higher price for milk has allowed the Bishops to invest in such improvements as modern milking equipment.
"Working for Organic Valley has made it fun," said Javan Bishop.
________
Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: May 04. 2008 9:00PM