USDA proposes new rules for organic milk production

A long struggle over what kind of milk counts as organic is coming to a head.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued draft rules for organic milk that would require that the cows be on pasture at least half the year and get plenty of fresh grass. The proposals are meant to close a loophole that has allowed some huge feedlots to sell their milk as organic even though their cows rarely grazed on fresh grass.

Advocates for family dairy farms and organic consumers say that’s not what shoppers think they are buying when they pay a premium for organic milk.

“Pretty much the entire organic community welcomes the long-overdue closing of loopholes for pasture and feed in the organic dairy regulations,” said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Assn.

The public comment period on the draft rules runs through Dec. 23.

The issue started to boil over a few years ago when it emerged that a handful of large dairy farms with thousands of cows, mostly in arid Western states, were feeding their cows organic grain but keeping them largely confined to feedlots while selling the milk as organic.

The Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute helped lead the charge, mainly against two companies: Aurora Organic Dairy, which produces private-label organic milk for national and local retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Costco Wholesale Co. and Safeway Inc.; and Horizon Organic, the largest national organic dairy brand and a unit of Fort Worth- based Dean Foods Co., the country’s largest dairy processor and distributor.

The Minnesota-based Organic Consumers Assn. called for boycotts and spread the word to its hundreds of thousands of supporters via the Internet.

Consumers filed class- action lawsuits.

Organic dairy products are a $2.7-billion industry, about 4% of all dairy products sold in 2006, according to the Organic Trade Assn. Organic dairy is growing faster than the organic sector as a whole, and is an important entry point for consumers who are new to organics, said Holly Givens, a spokeswoman for the association.

In the notice published in the Federal Register late last month, the Agriculture Department said consumers and others had made clear their feelings that organic cows should get their nutrition from grazing. In an earlier public comment round, only 28 of more than 80,500 comments were against tightening the rules. Organic advocates are happy that the draft rules would require that organic cows be on pasture at least 120 days out of the year, and that the animals get at least 30% of their dry-matter intake from grazing during the growing season.

Aurora Organic Dairy is reviewing the draft rules and will submit comments to the Agriculture Department by the Dec. 23 deadline, spokeswoman Sonja Tuitele said. The Boulder, Colo., company had said previously that it considered the 120-day standard unscientific. Tuitele said that was less of a concern to Aurora now, but that the proposals didn’t adequately provide for inclement weather. She also said the final rules would need to take geographic differences into consideration.

Horizon Organic has long supported both the 120-day and 30% requirements and considers the proposed rules a step in the right direction, said Sara Loveday, a spokeswoman for the Broomfield, Colo., company.