Addition of Oregon, Washington To Dairy West Going “Really Well"

As of January 1st, Oregon and Washington joined Idaho and Utah under the Dairy West umbrella. Bryce Chambers, Director of Industry Relations with Dairy West, said incorporating the two new states makes them the largest, SR, or State Region, within Dairy Checkoff.

“Which I think really brings a lot of value to the farmer," Chambers said. "And let's not forget that Checkoff is a farmer-funded organization and is run by our farmers and our board of directors. And it's great to have Oregon and Washington and some of those board members that are bringing that perspective within our region, not discounting Utah and Idaho, but having more of those voices in the room, I think really speaks volumes to the impact that our industry is making.”

This Merger Makes The Northwest A Bigger Player In The Dairy Sector

Chambers points out that dairy is big business in the Northwest. Not only is Idaho the #3 dairy producing state in the country, but now with companies such as Darigold, Tillamook, Idaho Milk Products, High Desert, which he noted are all big players in the industry, incorporated into Dairy West, there's a lot more collaboration with the U.S Dairy Export Council.

Photo: Glenn Vaagen

Chambers noted while things are progressing nicely right now, there’s still a lot of work that remains.

“There's a lot of great projects that are happening currently with collaborative efforts that are incorporating each one of those states. specifically in business development and some other products that we're trying to really push in our region that really touches all four of those states," Chamber noted. "But to your point, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done as we're in the early growth stages of the partnership within the four-state region. But I'm really excited to see what's happening and see the trajectory of where we're going.”