Across the country, dairy farmers participate in science-based animal care programs that promote accountability and demonstrate a commitment to excellent care of dairy cattle and the production of nutritious milk. Through the Innovation Center, leaders from farms, cooperatives, and processors come together to understand new research, share insights, and help ensure U.S. dairy continues to be a global leader in animal well-being.
The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care Program, created by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), is the first livestock animal care program in the world to be recognized by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Animal Welfare Management standards.
The FARM Animal Care Program provides standards used by dairy farmers to ensure their cows are well-cared for, while producing high quality, safe milk. These standards are developed by farmers, veterinarians, dairy welfare academics, and other industry experts, with the goal of showing both customers and consumers that the dairy industry is held to rigorous standards. In fact, 99% of the U.S. milk supply comes from dairy farms that are participating in the FARM Animal Care Program, demonstrating U.S. dairy farmers’ and the broader dairy community’s commitment to assuring the health and welfare of dairy cows through exceptional cow care.
As part of the program, second-party evaluations are completed by trained and certified evaluators on every participating dairy farm at least once every three years. As of June 2025, more than 450 trained and certified second-party evaluators have conducted more than 90,000 on-farm evaluations since the program’s inception in 2009. The evaluators check that participating dairy farms are responsibly managing all aspects of cow care including but not limited to:
.jpg?format=webp)
