Kalona SuperNatural prioritizes regenerative farming, earns verification

Posted 2/1/23

Acting to save Iowa farms and the environment, dairy company Kalona SuperNatural announced that 42 of its dairy farms are now Verified Regenerative by Land to Market. The farms, located primarily in …

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Kalona SuperNatural prioritizes regenerative farming, earns verification

Posted

Acting to save Iowa farms and the environment, dairy company Kalona SuperNatural announced that 42 of its dairy farms are now Verified Regenerative by Land to Market. The farms, located primarily in Iowa, provide organic milk for Kalona SuperNatural’s fluid milk, cream, buttermilk, kefir, and yogurt that are sold nationwide. 

Land to Market uses a scientific protocol, Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV™), that proves that farming practices are improving ecosystem health including topsoil, water, air, and biodiversity.

“Most of Iowa is farmed using monoculture practices that rely on the heavy use of synthetic inputs, herbicides, and pesticides, or that encourage overgrazing,” says Phil Forbes, Director of the Kalona Regenerative Network, a nonprofit that helps farmers use organic and regenerative methods. “These practices barely maintain crop yields while destroying topsoil quantity and quality, severely damage farms’ ability to withstand drought, and strip food of its nutritional value. Regenerative farming methods can help Iowa farmers make more money by being better stewards of the earth. The Land to Market Verified seal on products assures retailers and consumers that their purchases are helping save small farms and the planet.” 

Kalona SuperNatural is highly regarded for buying organic milk from Amish and Mennonite family farms that would struggle to find a market in a technology-based, corporate controlled economy. 

Organic dairy products are produced at the Kalona Creamery (formerly the Cheese Factory/Twin County Dairy) and Farmers Creamery in Wellman and sold in all 50 states. Products include milk, chocolate milk, buttermilk, whipping cream, half and half, kefir, yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, sour cream, and French onion dip. 

Many independent natural food stores and co-ops carry Kalona SuperNatural products, as do larger chains including Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, and Hy-vee, with home delivery options through Instacart and Amazon Fresh.

“Our customers tell us they love our grass-fed minimally-processed dairy,” says Marketing Director, Sam Ingersoll, “But they also want our farms to go beyond organic practices to proactively protect farmland and Iowa watersheds from extreme weather events and pollution. They know that the best carbon sequestration solution is to restore topsoil quality. The Land to Market Verification seal on our products tells customers that there is proof that our farms’ regenerative methods are working.”

Land to Market (L2M) is a public benefit corporation established by the Savory Institute, the world leader in regenerative agriculture. The L2M regenerative certification program is the gold standard for land health. L2M uses an Ecological Outcomes Verification™ protocol that collects empirical data to prove that ecological health indicators including biodiversity, soil organic matter levels, water infiltration rates, and soil carbon storage - are increasing or decreasing over time. The Savory Institute’s Holistic Management framework is then used to determine which farming practices should be changed while sustaining farm profitability.

“Since the 1940s, the nutritional quality of food has decreased as the minerals, microbes and fungi in the topsoil have been destroyed,” says Ingersoll. “Not only has Iowa topsoil been severely degraded, most conventional farms lose 1 to 9 tons of topsoil per acre due to run off. Our organic regenerative farms are rebuilding Iowa’s topsoil and turning it into a diversity of nutrient dense plants that our cows turn into nutritionally delicious dairy. We want our farms, milk, and food to be as nature intended them to be.”