Cargill will donate three servings of milk to The Great American Milk Drive for every person who shares how they care for dairy animals using the HerdFirst Facebook frame and #putyourherdfirst. From now until Oct. 31, 2018, Cargill can give up to 80,000 servings of milk with farmers’ help.

Cargill Animal Nutrition is celebrating the launch of a new line of advanced calf and heifer nutrition, HerdFirst, with the Facebook campaign to support The Great American Milk Drive.

“We are proud to recognize the dairy farmers who put their herds first every day with a donation to The Great American Milk Drive,” said Daryn Kracht, commercial director for Cargill’s U.S. dairy feed business. “This campaign is one way for us to live our mission of nourishing the world while supporting the industries and communities we serve.”

Cargill provides dairy farmers across the U.S. with nutritional solutions and services, and the new HerdFirst calf and heifer nutrition line is designed to help dairy farmers balance the needs of their young animals with the needs of their business so they can continue to produce the nutritious milk that consumers need. 

“Cargill’s gesture is a win-win for dairy farmers and for people who are challenged by hunger,” said Marilyn Hershey, Pennsylvania dairy farmer and chair of Dairy Management Inc. “Times are tough for dairy farmers, but we also recognize that many people in our communities have it tough, too, and they don’t have access to nutritious foods such as dairy. While Cargill’s commitment to The Great American Milk Drive will help farmers, we are very pleased to also see families getting the food they desperately need.” 

Since its inception, The Great American Milk Drive has delivered more than 1.8 million gal. of milk – 28 million-plus servings – to Feeding America food banks through this first-of-its-kind national program.

Yet, there’s still work to be done to help ensure that the 12 million children who rely on Feeding America food banks have regular access to milk, which is one of the most requested but least often donated items at Feeding America food banks. On average, these food banks are only able to provide the equivalent of less than 1 gal. of milk per person per year.

“Not many people realize how much fresh milk is needed at food banks across the country,” said Victor Zaborsky, vice president of marketing for MilkPEP, the group behind The Great American Milk Drive. “We’re grateful for programs like this one that not only help spread the word for that need but are also helping us to meet our goal of providing more than 50 million servings of milk to kids and families in need by 2020.”

Cargill is excited to help provide more fresh milk to families in need and is hopeful that the campaign will encourage other organizations to get involved.

“This campaign is genius and very thoughtful,” said Maryland dairy farmer Katie Dotterer-Pyle, owner-operator of Cow Comfort Inn. “It’s a great way to show the public that we do indeed put our herds first. If a good number of farmers participate, I think it will make a positive impact on consumers.”

The HerdFirst frame can be found on Facebook by searching the term HerdFirst in the profile picture frames or by following the Cargill Cares Facebook page. For more details on the campaign and to learn more about HerdFirst products, visit www.putyourherdfirst.com.