A year or so after opening the first organic dairy research farm at a land-grant school, the University of New Hampshire recently started shipping milk through the Organic Valley cooperative.

No organic clones here. With 48 Jerseys to start, the farm saw its first-born heifer in December. The naming rights to the heifer were auctioned off on eBay for $1,275. The winning bidder, the President of Stonyfield Farm and his family, named her “Charley.” In exchange for Stonyfield’s support, UNH has agreed to name its second calf “Gurt” so that, according to the Stonyfield customer who picked the name, you can call it by yelling “Yo! Gurt!”

Question: if you are born on a non-organic farm to a non-organically raised cow but you’ve been assimilated into an organic dairy farm, does that make you less organic than a heifer of the same quality and breed who’s born on an organic dairy farm to a cow who’s lived most of her life on an organic dairy farm?

For more about the UNH dairy farm, visit its website. In addition to the dairy farm, UNH also has an Office of Sustainability. Interesting article about it here.

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