FEATURED ISSUE
Organic milk still not protected
This is an alert for those of you who pay extra for organic milk. There is a loophole in the organic regulations Origin of Livestock Rule that allows some milk to be labeled “organic milk” when it has not passed all organic criteria.

Why the Origin of Livestock Rule?
When the organic rules first came out, there were not yet animals (cows, goats, sheep) that had been evaluated against these new rules to be considered organic. So the government had to figure out steps for conventional dairy livestock to become qualified for organic dairy production. The National Organic Program established an allowance for farmers to convert a specific herd to qualify for organic milk production. This complex, multi-year procedure first “transitioned” the land to gradually incorporate the rules required to be organic. Then the procedure “transitioned” in the animals for a herd. After the full herd had been managed organically for a year on the fully transitioned land, the animals could be certified “organic animals for milk production” (but not for meat production, since the animals were not born and raised organically their entire lives).

The Origin of Livestock Loophole
Some large dairies figured out a loophole so they could continually transition cows into an organic farm. They remove organic calves from an organic farm, raise them elsewhere using less expensive non-organic milk. Then during the important year before they can be milked, they bring the calves back into an organic milking herd. This does not embody the intention of organic standards.

The Solution
Organic industry associations have a history of calling for action for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service to fix the Origin of Livestock Loophole. Here are a couple of specific examples: (1) The Organic Trade Association submitted comments “in support of the proposed rule to clarify and narrow the allowance to transition dairy animals into organic milk production as a one-time event, and urged USDA to move expeditiously to implement the final rule.” (2) The Organic Farmers Association urged “We need the USDA to issue a Final Rule on the Origin of Livestock that is enforceable, consistently interpreted by organic certifiers, stops continuous dairy animal transition, and provides specificity on what the transitioned animals and their progeny can be used for.”

However, three times there have been USDA official proposed Origin of Livestock rule modifications with the accompanying official requests for comments from the industry: in 2015, 2019, and 2021. The proposed 2021 rule modification includes “We are reopening the comment period to solicit views on whether the final rule should prohibit organic dairy operations from acquiring transitioned animals to expand or replace animals to produce organic milk.” Note the 2021 deadline for submitting comments was July 12, 2021. It has been five months since the close of comments and again no action has been taken by the USDA.

In the meantime, some of the large dairy farms are getting bolder in their endeavors to corner the market for organic milk production by undercutting the small and medium-sized organic dairy farms that follow all of the expensive organic regulations.

Issue: Is the organic milk I am buying really organic?

AHHA strives to maintain a neutral position on issues and views knowledge as power. For those interested in this month’s issue, the articles below were selected to support your understanding of some viewpoints on this matter in 2021.

Origin of Livestock Rule (2/20/21)
by Ed Maltby
Organic Farmers Association

Letter to Paul Lewis, PhD, Standards Division, National Organic Program from Organic Trade Association (12/2/19)

National Organic Program; Origin of Livestock; Reopening of Comment Period (5/12/21)
Comments Submittal Deadline: 7/12/21
Federal Register

Origin of Organic Dairy Livestock (May 2021)
Organic Trade Association

Action Alert – Tell USDA to Close Loopholes in Organic Dairy (6/14/21)
National Organic Coalition

Letter to The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary, United States Department of Agriculture from  Congress of the United States (9/22/21)

Northeast lawmakers urge federal government to close organic loopholes (9/22/21)
by Emma Cotton
VTDigger

To review past ISSUES, visit the Special Updates Archives.