Closing in Loopholes in Organic Meat and Dairy Regulations

A modern dairy farm. Photo courtesy of TriangleJr.com – North Carolina Child Care & Family Resource.

What do we expect when we see that green and white USDA organic label on meat and dairy products? We expect that those animals are treated humanely; allowed to graze on open pastures; and not given poor quality feed with synthetic filler, hormones, and antibiotics.

For the most part, this is what we’ve gotten every since the National Organic Program went into effect a decade ago, requiring that animals be given access to outside pastures.

The festering problem in the industry has always been the regulation’s vaguely written language. The National Organic Coalition has complained that, “in recent years, it has become clear that some organic dairies have been permitted to sell milk as ‘organic’ even though the cows have not had access to pasture.

“When challenged about why they are permitting some dairy operations to skirt the pasture standards, the USDA’s National Organic Program has stated that the regulation is too vague for them to adequately enforce.”

In response to widespread protest - from consumers, organic certifiers, public interest groups, and dairy producers who comply with the rule - the USDA opened the issue for public and industry input to amend the regulation.

To get some perspective, formal discussions on this issue have been going on since 2005. Only last month, did the USDA finally release the details of the final regulation regarding the “access to pasture rule” for organic livestock operations.

Cows grazing. Photo courtesy of Lisa McCrory, Earthwise Farm and Forest.

“Under the provisions, all organic farms must have their ruminant animals (cows, sheep, and goats) spend at least 120 days per year on growing pasture that provides at least 30 percent of their nutritional needs, measured by dry matter intake,” said Jeff Moyer, farm director at the Rodale Institute, and a member of the National Organic Standards Board.

“The majority of organic farms already follow these reasonable pasture requirements. With pasture access now defined and clarified, consumers can feel increasingly confident that all the organic milk they see will be from cows managed in similar ways and expressing natural grazing behaviors, with regulations adopted to regional conditions,” added Mr. Moyer.

Urvashi Rangan, director of technical policy of Consumer Union (the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine), said in a statement that, “This new standard goes a long way to bridging the gap between consumer expectation and the realities of how much time organic animals are required to spend in the pasture.”

The National Organic Coalition expressed the importance for this new standard, saying, “Pasture intake has been shown to be scientifically correlated with increased levels of healthful vitamins and essential fatty acids in milk and meat, and well managed pasture reduces input and energy costs, and contributes positively to carbon sequestration goals.”

The USDA says that the final rule will become effective 120 days after publication on June 17, 2010. Operations which are already certified as organic will have one year after the effective date to implement the provisions. Operations which obtain organic certification after the effective date will be expected to demonstrate immediate full compliance.

The USDA also said that, “although this is a final rule, comments on the exceptions for finish feeding of ruminant slaughter stock may be submitted before April 19, 2010. This comment period pertains to finish feeding provisions only. The specific questions to consider and instructions for submitting comments are available on the NOP website.”

Reader comments and input are always welcomed!