Speaker

In 2004, at the age of 32, Tim Joseph followed his lifelong dream and decided to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer. With no experience in dairy farming, it was trial-by-fire. He and his wife Laura started with 63 cows on 250 acres of land in upstate New York while still working a full-time remote corporate job. Tim and Laura started feeding and managing their dairy cows in the traditional system, but very quickly realized that conventional farming wasn’t for them. They decided to start grazing and work towards a transition to organic certification in 2006. By 2007, the Josephs had stopped feeding grain. Tim believed that while organic was a positive change to existing farming and food systems, 100% grass-fed could take it even further. With the help of Pete Meck and his wife, Tim’s sister Julia, they gained a growing foothold in stores across the Northeast. Today, Maple Hill Creamery is the first national dairy brand to be third-party certified as 100% Grass-Fed and over the course of two years, Maple Hill Creamery went from being on shelf in 600 stores—mostly independents in the Northeast—to over 5,000 stores, including Whole Foods Market, PCC Markets, Hy-Vee, Ahold, Safeway, Natural Grocers, EarthFare, and many others. Tim, Laura and their now five children continue to live and work at the Maple Hill Creamery farmstead in Stuyvesant with Pete and Julia Meck. In addition to running a successful yogurt company, Tim is committed to building a 100% grass-fed milkshed in the Northeast. Maple Hill Creamery purchases milk currently from over 40 small family farms in New York State, and is recruiting organic and conventional farms to transition to 100% grass-fed organic. By year end, Maple Hill Creamery will pick up milk from close to 60 farms, proudly and consistently paying dairy farmers a premium price for their milk, allowing them and their families stability, as well as growing an ecologically regenerative dairy system by feeding “just grass”.