The fair-trade label was created decades ago to help artisans in developing nations. Now, there are fair-trade soccer balls, fair-trade soaps and fair-trade ice pops. Next up for the movement: the American dairy industry.

The yogurt maker Chobani is working with Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit group in Oakland, Calif., on creating a label that would signal that the milk in its products came from farms that treated their workers and cows humanely.

Chobani will pay a small premium for milk supplied by farms that agree to the Fair Trade USA vetting process, in which auditors periodically inspect the herd, interview workers and look at environmental issues like the containment of runoff.

Chobani’s fair-trade initiative — and likely marketing push — could help the company continue to stand out in an increasingly competitive yogurt market. Chobani says it believes the premium can help farmers hit by persistently low milk prices and highlight good practices in an industry that’s under enormous strain and scrutiny. Environmentalists are concerned about carbon emissions from cows, critics question the health benefits of milk, and many small farmers are deep in debt and suffering from mental health issues as their livelihood is threatened.