Bringing Dairy Customers to Where It All Begins

There are plenty of places where we can talk with major food companies about dairy farming. Conference rooms, video calls and presentations all have their place.

But there is no substitute for standing on a farm and seeing firsthand where food production begins.

That was the thinking behind our recent 2026 Customer Forum in Tennessee. Through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, the dairy checkoff brought representatives from major companies including Costco, Ben & Jerry’s, Sargento, fairlife and Mars together with dairy farmers and industry experts for three days of learning, conversation and, most important, firsthand experiences.

These companies are key customers of U.S. dairy, and the people who attended work in areas ranging from procurement to marketing and communications. They make decisions that can ultimately affect dairy demand and market opportunities.

We wanted them to hear directly from the people who produce their dairy ingredients and products. That meant working with our checkoff colleagues at The Dairy Alliance who arranged for visits to two Middle Tennessee dairy farms – Flowers Creamery and Hatcher Family Dairy.

The operations are different, which was part of the value. At Flowers Creamery, Brian and Morgan Flowers grow their own feed, use practices such as cover crops and no-till farming, milk with robots and operate an on-farm processing facility. At Hatcher Family Dairy, a farming legacy dating to 1819 continues with cows grazing on pasture and the family bottling milk on the farm.

What our customers saw at both farms was stewardship on full display.

They saw the care farmers provide their cows. They learned how farmers manage land and other natural resources, invest in technology and their workforce and continually look for ways to improve their operations. Just as important, they could ask questions directly of farmers and understand the thought and experience behind the decisions they make every day.

That interaction matters.

As Lori Captain, executive director of the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, said, “There is no better place to discuss the future of our industry than where it all begins. Gathering customers on the farm helped ground our conversations in the realities, opportunities, and innovations shaping agriculture today.”

I saw that happen throughout our visits. No questions were off limits, as the farmers explained what they do, why they do it and why practices may look different from one operation to another.

For customers whose responsibilities can span many agricultural commodities, this focused interaction is invaluable. They return to their companies with a better understanding of dairy farming and greater confidence in the people producing U.S. milk.

So, what does all of this mean?

It means the checkoff continues to build relationships with companies that buy and sell dairy products and is giving farmers and importers a voice in important conversations.

The Innovation Center has a unique ability to convene the dairy value chain in a pre-competitive setting. We can bring farmers, cooperatives, processors, retailers, foodservice companies and other organizations to the same table to discuss challenges and opportunities affecting dairy.

And these relationships can produce results.

We held a similar customer forum last year at a Colorado dairy with companies including Walmart and Chipotle. Since then, Walmart has invited the checkoff to participate in its dairy supplier summits and has reinforced its support for programs and practices U.S. dairy farmers have put in place.

That support matters because it can help reduce the burden on individual farmers to continually prove what they are doing on their farms. When major customers understand our industry’s programs and practices and are willing to support them, we strengthen trust throughout the dairy value chain.

The Tennessee forum was not a one-time conversation. Our team engages with these companies throughout the year, learning about their business challenges and looking for ways U.S. dairy can help solve them. The relationships formed on the farm give us a stronger foundation for those discussions.

Ultimately, that is why convening customers matters.

We can tell people about farmers’ sound commitment to practices. We can show them data and give presentations about industry programs. But when customers stand on a farm, talk with a farmer and see it all in action, they leave with something much harder to create in a conference room: trust.

And trust can help keep us in the conversation when companies make decisions that influence future demand and market opportunities for U.S. dairy.

To learn more about your national dairy checkoff, visit DairyCheckoff.com or to reach us directly, send an email.