Organic-milk reform

Farmers vs. the USDA

By Caroline Cummins

December 15, 2008

Even in the current recession, organic milk is big business — which is why dairy producers have been caught cheating on organic production rules. As a result, the advocacy group the Cornucopia Institute has been trying to force the USDA to enforce its own rules. The problem? The USDA rewrote the rules — and now small farmers are worried the new rules are both too lax and too restrictive.

So a farmer consortium has come up with an alternative plan. According to the institute, the rules suggested by the proposal would “require that all organic dairy, sheep, goat, and beef producers graze their animals for the entire grazing season and set a minimum percentage of feed from pasture.” Check out the plan and leave your comments by the end of the month.