Impact in Depth

It takes more than quality dairy and craftsmanship to achieve Cabot’s award-winning flavors – it takes a village.  From the hundreds of farm families in our cooperative who make our products possible, to every one of our employees, we’re all united in making our products a force for good in the world and on every table.

Environmental Highlights

Water continues to be a precious resource for Cabot. To further conserve water and keep up with increased capacity at our Cabot Campus, we upgraded our Milk Receiving Bay truck clean-in-place (CIP) system. Once the milk truck has been unloaded at the plant, the truck is washed, sanitized and ready to collect milk. This new system increased our water recovery ability and minimized the volume of wash water we generate. In addition to these savings, the new system will reduce chemical usage, diesel fuel expenses, and wash water truckloads and mileage. Our team anticipates 700,000 gallons/year water savings and added emissions savings with this new CIP system.

Farmer Highlights

FARM FRESH FEED

Approximately 70% of the feed our cows eat is produced on member farms or grown locally within 100 miles. The majority is grown utilizing conservation techniques such as cover-cropping, no-till or reduced-till planting, crop rotation and prescribed grazing. These crops include grass, corn, alfalfa, soybeans and hay. Much like people need a good mix to remain healthy, so do our cows.

THE ULTIMATE UP-CYCLER

Cows themselves are the ultimate up-cyclers. Industries like almonds, apples, and beer (yes, beer!) depend on local dairy farms to be a responsible outlet for their industries’ food waste. Our farmers work with their nutritionists to identify the correct ratio of byproducts, forage, and grains to feed their herd. In 2023, nearly ¼ of the milking cows feed on our farms was sourced and upcycled from the byproducts of other industries like beer (spent grains) and apples (apple pomace)!

COW CARE

Our farm families take animal care and wellbeing very seriously. The National Dairy FARM Program, an acronym for Farmers Assuring Responsible Management, is our official animal care program. The National Dairy F.A.R.M. Program became the first livestock animal care program in the world to be recognized internationally for its industry-leading animal welfare standards. FARM’s goal is to demonstrate and verify that our farmers are committed to the highest standards of animal care. We are proud to have 100% participation in the FARM Animal Care program.  

Beyond an attention to animal care, the FARM program has additional modules that focus on worker and environmental wellbeing. 

STEPS IN INNOVATION

In 2023, two newly built anaerobic digesters and one reconfigured digester came online on Agri-Mark/Cabot member farms, bringing the total number of digesters on member farms to twelve. These digesters are designed with the specific needs of the farm and surrounding community in mind.  

• Hytone Farm’s new digester has the capacity to generate enough electricity to power 367 homes. This digester cleans and recycles the sand the farm uses for cow bedding, allowing the farm to reuse this resource. In addition to its herd’s manure, the Hytone digester also receives bi-product and natural food waste from area businesses and retailers, helping to reduce waste in the neighboring community.  
  
  
• Flood Brothers Farm’s newly launched digester processes manure from six separate farms. Several of these farms are also Agri-Mark/Cabot member farms. This community digester is the first of its kind in the Northeast and has the capacity to heat over 722,000 homes annually. This digester will provide enough renewable natural gas (RNG) to satisfy 45% of Summit Natural Gas of Maine's (SNGME) residential demand.   

• The digester on Adirondack Farms has been operational since 2017. In 2023, it was transitioned from generating electricity to renewable natural gas to meet the specific power needs of the North Country. This digester has the capacity to heat over 440,000 homes each year.   

According to USDA census data from 2021, with twelve digesters in operation, our “big little co-op" represents nearly 4% of operational digesters on farms in the United States. 

Community Highlights 

600+ ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED

692 community organizations received support from Cabot through our in-kind donations program in 2023. Over 14,000 pounds of product was donated in the footprint of where our farmers and employees live and work.  Our donations supported land stewardship, education, agriculture, food initiatives and more. 

 
FOODBANK SUPPORT 

As essential members of the local food system, our farmers' purpose is to feed people. Since food is central to our co-op, the bulk of our giving is directed to foodbanks. Our company is proud to have donated 165,458 pounds of product (yogurt, cheese, and more) to the Vermont Foodbank in 2023. Beyond Vermont, we have supported other food security organizations in the region through their events like the Regional Foodbank of Northeastern New York’s Chili Cookoff. 

Employee Highlights 

THE MORE THE CHEESIER

Our newly expanded Chateaugay campus will increase milk production capacity by 23% (a win for our New York farm families) and improve employee ergonomics. When we craft our cheese, it is formed into 680-pound blocks at our creamery before naturally aging at our facilities. This new line features conveyor belts that move these heavy blocks of cheese throughout the facility, eliminating the need for employees to push or pull the blocks. Our team expects a decrease in work-related injuries from these updates. This state-of-the-art facility will provide an improved work environment and reduce manual labor tasks, resulting in more skilled positions for our valued employees. We are enormously proud of our Chateaugay team for this creative approach that ensures a higher quantity and quality of milk processing and handling.   
 
CHEESE PLEASE!

Cabot's employee appreciation program provides team members with Cabot brand favorites (like our mac and cheese shreds) and our latest and gratest (pun intended) innovations, like curds and the 10-year cheddar.

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