Old Dutch Hops receives national grant

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Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), a national nonprofit that promotes the safe and humane production of meat, milk and eggs, awarded a Fund-a-Farmer Grant to Old Dutch Hops located in Hillsboro and owned by Amanda Wilson.

This grant award is designed to expand humane farming by helping farms make welfare improvements to receive specified animal welfare certifications. Old Dutch Hops will use its award to construct mobile housing and fencing for laying hens to attain animal welfare approved certification.

This is the second year that FACT offered grants for farm improvements that result in successful animal welfare certification. Like last year, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA) is underwriting FACT’s 2018 Animal Welfare Certification Grants.

“We are thrilled to partner with the ASPCA to provide an Animal Welfare Certification Grant to Old Dutch Hops,” said Larissa McKenna, FACT’S humane farming program director. “Small and mid-sized sustainable farms are essential to meeting consumer demand for humanely-raised food, but often face financial challenges due to high costs associated with economies of scale. Our organization supports farms like Old Dutch Hops by funding projects that improve animal welfare and also help farmers increase their profit margins.”

FACT awarded 28 grants to farms located in 19 different states with 18 Pasture Improvement Grants and 10 Animal Welfare Certification Grants. With these new grantees, FACT has now awarded 119 grants to family farmers across 31 states, directly impacting more than 83,320 animals.

A 2017 survey of grant recipients found that 91 percent of the projects still are in use, 95 percent had highly improved animal welfare, and 91 percent had improved the farms’ financial sustainability by improving profits, creating recurring cost savings, and increasing customers.

With this grant to Old Dutch Hops, Ohio residents will have additional humanely raised options to bring home to their kitchen table.

For more information on humane products, visit FACT’s website at www.foodanimalconcernstrust.org. Visit Old Dutch Hops’ website at www.olddutchhops.com to learn more.

Submitted by Sidney C. Freitag-Fey, Food Animal Concerns Trust.

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