BAINBRIDGE – In 2006, after more than 30 years of traditional dairy farming, Barry and Nancy Rusweiler went organic.

Making the transition was all his son Adam’s doing, according to Rusweiler. “It was his idea to go organic,” he explained, but he, too, has embraced the organic philosophy.

“We believe, as far as the health of the children in this country, they all should be drinking organic (milk),” said Rusweiler.

The family had always valued quality and taken great pride in the milk they produced, he said, which made the transition of their Bainbridge farm a smooth one. Especially since they found a distributor who appreciates quality as much as they do and which, according to company literature, happens to be “the nation’s leading brand of certified organic milk” – Horizon Organic.

According to the Horizon Organic website, more than 80 percent of the milk they sell comes from family farms like that of the Rusweilers. More than 440 dairy producers across the country are “on the truck” with the company, a quarter of which are in the eastern portion of New York State.

That number includes six Chenango County farms, including the Rusweiler’s Bainbridge farm and the one operated by his son Adam in Sherburne, according to Peter Slaunwhite, a regional field representative for Horizon Organic.

According to Rusweiler, the relationship has been beneficial. One of the things that he said he appreciates the most about Horizon Organic is that they pay premiums for quality, which can add up to $3 or 4 more per hundredweight of milk.

“It doesn’t take much to capitalize on these things,” explained Rusweiler, saying he does it by keeping his operation clean.