In the fall of 2006, Horizon Organic held a meeting for local dairymen to talk to them about selling organic milk. I was not able to attend the meeting, but three neighbors did attend and afterward told me about it. One of them gave me the packet of information they gave out at the meeting. We still have that packet. The packet contained 2 business cards with names and phone numbers. One was for Greg Dabney, Manager Producer Relations, Northwest, the other business card was for Mike Bandstra, Producer Relations Manager.
    Those who attended the meeting said that Horizon told them that the demand for organic milk was growing faster than the supply and they (Horizon) were looking for more milk. Due to the fact that we had already been using many organic practices, we were very interested.
     Throughout the winter of 2006-2007, I called Mr. Dabney several times with questions and concerns. He was always very helpful and supportive. After talking with Mr. Dabney and others, we determined that we were close to having most of the farm already transitioned to organic. In the spring of 2007, we decided to sell our existing herd of milk cows and buy young cows. This was done because it is expensive to transition cows and we did not want to invest a lot of money in old cows that might not be around long enough to get a payback from the transition. Before we sold our old herd I talked to Mr. Dabney and told him our plans, he said that starting out with young cows was probably a good idea.
      During the late spring and summer of 2007, we purchased springing heifers (female cows that are getting ready to have their first calf) and began to rebuild our dairy herd. During this time I talked to an organic dairyman in this area who sells his milk to Horizon, and he told me to be sure that  we had a market for our milk before we started transitioning our herd. We wanted to start our transition on October 1, 2007, so prior to that I called Mr. Dabney and told him we were getting ready to begin our transition. Because of what the other dairyman told me I requested a contract  so I knew that we had a buyer for our organic milk.  Mr. Dabney told me  that I did not need to worry about having a contract for my milk  because there was a great demand  for organic milk. I understood  this to mean that  Horizon would  buy our milk when we were organic because as far as I knew Horizon was the only buyer of organic milk in our area.
        During this phone conversation Mr. Dabney said that he would like to visit us on our farm sometime when he was in our area, and I told him he was welcome anytime and that we looked forward to meeting him. He never accepted our invitation to visit.
       In December 2007 or January 2008, I again visited with Mr. Dabney and told him we were in the process of transitioning. During the spring and summer of 2008 I tried twice to call Mr. Dabney but he did not return my calls. As the end of our transition period was getting close (Sept. 2008) I called Mr. Dabney several times to try to get it set up for Horizon to buy our milk as soon as we were certified organic. He never returned my phone calls.
       At an organic seminar held near Shoshone, Idaho in Sept. 2008 I visited with a different organic dairyman from south of Twin Falls who sells to Horizon, and he told me that Mr. Dabney was no longer over producer relations (but still with the company) and gave me Mr. Larry Hansen' s phone number. I then called Mr. Hansen and told him we were about ready to start selling organic milk and he told me that Horizon had enough milk and was not taking on new producers in the northwest. When I told him that Mr. Dabney had told me that they would take our milk he said, "I did not make you any promises". 
       We did not feel that this was right or fair so we called Horizon headquarters in Colorado and visited with Mr. Craig Fullmer, who is over all the Producer Relations Managers. He said that he would look into our situation and get back with us - this was about mid October 2008. He asked if we would be ready to sell organic milk by November 1st and we told him that we were already certified and ready.
       Shortly after that Larry Hansen called us and said that he would like to meet with us and see the farm, but he could not until the week of Thanksgiving. We told him he was welcome. On November 26, 2008 Larry Hansen, Horizon Organic Producer Relations Manager - West, came to our dairy for a visit. He told us that Horizon still did not need milk in our area, and that Mr. Dabney had also "made promises" to other dairymen.
         Mr. Hansen told us that the decision as to whether or not to take our milk was not his, but that he would recommend to his boss (Craig Fullmer) that they DO buy our milk. Mr. Hansen said that he would get back with us the first of the next week, which he did not do.
         On Thursday, December 4th, we called him and he told us that they did not think they could get a milk truck into our dairy. (Milk trucks have been getting into our dairy for over 20 years.) He said he would call the trucking company that hauls their milk and have them come and take a look and he would get back with us. That afternoon a representative of Idaho Milk Transport came by and looked over our dairy facility. He said that they could get a milk truck in the way things are now but it would be helpful if we moved a utility pole and a water hydrant. Mr. Hansen again did not get back with us, so we called and left a message with Craig Fullmer asking what was going on.
       On  December 10, 2008  Mr. Hansen called and told us that Horizon would not buy our milk at this time but possibly they would in the future. They would not commit or offer a contract. On December 12, 2008 Craig Fullmer called and reiterated what Mr. Hansen had said 2 days before. Horizon has not contacted us since then.

Don and Renae Halverson
Owners Halverson Dairy
Rupert, Idaho