Raising the
bar on
cow care and
comfort.

We’re all in on helping cows live their best lives.

To us, that means making compassion and empathy a habit in how we treat our cows, our farmers, and our teams. Here’s what we’re doing to keep pushing our animal welfare standards forward.

Willow Creek Farm

Quality & Care Program

Quality the Horizon Organic way

Our program is a comprehensive animal welfare program that includes quality of life and enrichment for our cows. Cow brushes are an example of enrichment–they just make cows’ day-to-day lives better. The program also focuses on optimizing milk production through care, not maximizing it to get more milk. Veterinarian Dr. Jen Walker leads the program, bringing her vast experience and passion for bettering the lives of cows. Dr. Jen, as we call her, is a 2019 U.C. Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Science Award of Distinction recipient.

Quint S Farm

Program details

Our program is also unique in recognizing that the care and empathy shown to farm workers directly impacts the care and empathy given to the animals in their care. The conditions of farm workers, along with milk quality, are key elements of the program.

The Quality and Care Program:

Sets clear non-negotiables
Puts empathy for cows first
Emphasizes care for farm workers
Creates high standards regardless of farm size

Willow Creek Farm

Quality & Care Audit

Staying accountable

We regularly take part in a third-party audit across all our partner farms to make sure we’re walking the walk. It’s created by an external Animal Welfare Advisory Council.

Horizon Organic Animal Welfare Council

Animal Welfare Council

Learning from Experts

Our external Animal Welfare Council is made up of academics specializing in animal welfare science and dairy cattle health. They meet regularly to share insights and help develop industry-leading standards for quality and care. They also build the audit we use across all our partner farms.

Meets regularly to develop industry-leading standards for quality and care
Creates the audit used for all Horizon Organic farms
Pilots recommendations with our partner farmers and gets feedback

Fair Hill Farms

Horizon Cow Champions

Are “cow champions” cows or people?

They’re people–all cows are champions to us. Our Cow Champions are a traveling staff of seven. Our Northeast Regional Quality Specialist, Dr. Paul Biagiotti, is such an expert that he’s written a book on organic dairy farming.