Clover Storenetta Farms, based in northern California, “will become the first major dairy in the United States to sell non-GMO conventional milk,” says the San Francisco Chronicle. “With its newest product, Clover is betting that there is also a market for conventional milk produced without GMOs that is cheaper than organic milk.”
Milk provides 75 percent of business for Clover; about half of its milk is organic and half is conventional. The new non-GMO milk will replace the conventional milk and be sold alongside the organic product. To qualify as non-GMO, the feed for dairy herds will have to come from non-GMO corn, soybeans and hay. Organic milk comes from cows fed non-GMO organic feed, while the cows themselves are not treated with antibiotics or growth hormones.
Marcus DeBenedetti, Clover chief executive, says the non-GMO milk will cost slightly more — perhaps at a difference of 25 cents a gallon — than conventional milk, but will not carry the premium price of organic milk. Analyst Sara Dorland of Daily Dairy Report told the Chronicle that non-GMO milk “will find a market,” just as other non-GMO products are gaining a foothold. Dorland said Dannon is converting some of its smaller product lines to non-GMO.