NC Growing Together is working to connect the state's small and medium-scale dairy producers with larger markets. North Carolina is a milk-deficit state, meaning we produce only about half of the milk we consume. Strong demand for local products - including produce, meat, seafood, and dairy - creates a potential market opportunity for smaller-scale producers. However, small-scale producers frequently need help connecting with larger buyers, as well as assistance navigating the complex world of legal and regulatory requirements they face.

 NCGT Dairy Team lead John Day recently connected two farms, Ran-Lew Dairy and Simply Natural Creamery, with Lowes Foods buyers, and helped them navigate the new vendor process. Ran-Lew, in Alamance County, plans to begin selling into 6 Winston-Salem area stores in February. Simply Natural, outside of Greenville, is selling to the Greenville Lowes store.

Randy Lewis and Red.

Randy Lewis of Ran-Lew Dairy farms on land that has been in his family for five generations. His family has operated a dairy there since the 1950's but now, he says, everything's "tired": him, the land, and the cows. "I really had to find another way or quit. You know, this is what I do, this is all I know, this is what I want to do, so I find another way to do it". A grant from RAFI-USA's Agricultural Reinvestment Fund helped him build an on-farm milk-bottling facility in a refrigerated trailer.
 
 He produces low-temperature pasteurized, non-homogenized "cream-top" milk that is also sold at some small corner stores and cooperatives. Still, his sales of farm-bottled milk only account for one day a week's worth of milk production - the rest is sold in bulk to one of the national milk coops at a much lower price. 

To increase his profitability, Randy hopes to find higher-volume markets for his farm-bottled milk so that he can bottle and sell all seven days' worth of milk production. Selling into Lowes Foods - with 100 stores statewide - is a big step. NCGT has also connected Randy with a North Carolina-based food distributor that plans to begin selling his milk. 

 Says NCGT Project and Research Coordinator, Rebecca Dunning, "We are trying to make the process of connecting with grocery store chains more transparent, understandable, and routine for small-scale producers. Lowes now has a vendor inquiry form so that producers have a local contact person. We are creating a dairy value-added fact sheet so dairies will know how to connect with retailers and wholesalers, and this semester, an MBA student research team will examine the feasibility of small-scale yogurt production." NCGT will also survey small-scale dairy producers this year to better understand producer needs and the status of the industry.