MORRILL, NEBRASKA – In a recent newsletter, Chapman Family Farms and Dairy in Morrill, Nebraska announced their small farm and dairy had been listed in the Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI), a first for Nebraska. 

“Chapman Family Farms and Dairy is a raw milk dairy that is situated on the family farm making up of 158 acres. It is owned and operated by Elliot and Melanie Chapman. The dairy was started in 2020 to fulfill the passion Melanie has for cows,” according to the farms RAWMI listing profile. “Chapman Family Farms and Dairy is proud to supply the community with local, wholesome and nutritious products.”

“I have been working diligently on becoming listed with RAWMI since last October,” Melanie Chapman wrote in her recent newsletter. “I went through hours of training, presented our farm to the board, had a couple meetings with their board members, changed up some practices to better our operation, and even bought an on-farm lab to start culturing our own milk for Standard Plate Counts (SPC) and Coliform Counts (CC).”

RAWMI was founded by Mark McAfee in 2011 to assure farmers had resources to assist them in producing very low risk raw milk for their consumers, according to their website.  McAfee is passionate about “grass to glass” risk reduction management and he believes raw milk cannot be a trusted food unless it is a very low risk, the site continues. McAfee co-founded the world’s largest organic raw milk dairy in 1999 which sells products in over 900 store locations. 

“RAWMI has audited Chapman Family Farms and Dairy’s Risk Analysis Management Plan (RAMP), including its Standard Sanitary Operating Procedures (SSOP) and Test Results. Chapman Family Farms and Dairy exceeds the RAWMI Common Standards requirements for production of low-risk raw milk,” RAWMI released. “Chapman Family Farms and Dairy is hereby congratulated and welcomed into the distinguished and dedicated community of RAWMI LISTED raw milk dairies as of this day February 20, 2024.”

Becoming listed in the RAWMI is a tedious process and frequent testing is continuously required, Chapman explains.

“Each month I report our SPC & CC numbers to them, and they update their website with our numbers for the past 3 months. We must stay under a certain number for each. Our RAMP, SSOP and Critical Control Points are all listed on the website also so you can see what thorough procedures we do here (at the farm),” the newsletter continued. 

According to Chapman, the Morrill farm is the first micro dairy to be listed in the RAWMI in the state of Nebraska, with the next closest listing 500 miles away. 

“We started the dairy to provide the community with a wholesome, healthy, clean product,” Chapman said. “The additional products we offer in the store we hope benefits out customers to be able to get what they need in one spot.”

Per raw milk guidelines in Nebraska, Chapman is permitted to sell products on-farm only.

More information can be found at https://chapman-family-farms.square.site