St. Albans Cooperative was founded in 1919, and today consists of 500 member farms, including the Howrigan Family farm. St. Albans Cooperative handles 1.25 billion pounds of fluid milk annually, all of which is tested under direct microscope and then classified for quality. St. Albans created an annual quality recognition program in 1981, which encourages its members' farms to produce quality milk. All members' farms are inspected by the cooperative and graded. The farm grades plus the milk grades determines the final scores for the producers. Many of the farms are also inspected by the State to ensure quality of the milk. The Howrigan Family Farm has won the Most Distinguised Farm Award for 24 consecutive years. The highest quality of milk is separated at a rate of 90,000 pounds per hour. The speed of separation and the highest quality of milk means Crescent Ridge delivers superior milk to our customers. Crescent Ridge Dairy pays St. Albans a premium price for this milk to be shipped to our processing plant in Sharon, MA.
Additionally, Crescent Ridge pays further premiums to the Cooperative for milk supply from farmers who pledge not to treat their herds with rBST growth hormone. Crescent Ridge and St. Albans Cooperative have partnered for many years and are committed to providing our Crescent Ridge patrons with quality milk and milk products.
No difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST- supplemented (or treated) cows and non-supplemented cows. FDA
