Cattle battle: Big dairies irk organic farmers

updated 11:00 a.m. ET June 28, 2006

JORDAN, Minn. - The cows on Pam and Jeff Riesgraf's farm chomped happily away on lush green grass on a warm, sunny afternoon. Their milk would soon find its way to grocery stores, where organic dairy products are a hot item.

The Riesgraf farm represents one vision for organic dairy — small-and medium-sized family farms where the cows have names and spend the growing season on pasture.

A different kind of organic dairy farm is emerging out west — corporate-owned feedlot operations with thousands of cows that are fed organic grain but, according to critics, get little chance to graze.

Fears that big operations will muscle out family farms have produced a backlash, including a boycott by the Organic Consumers Association against the country's biggest organic milk brand, Horizon Organic.

Organic farmers and consumer groups are hoping the U.S. Department of Agriculture will level the field. The agency is considering whether to mandate that milk bearing the “USDA Organic” seal come from cows that have significant access to pasture, a move smaller producers say would give them the protection they need.

‘It really ticked me off’

Chris Hoffman drank Horizon milk until she learned about the dispute and switched brands.

The Sherburne, N.Y., woman said she'd thought she was buying milk from “family farms with happy cows.” To her, feedlot milk does not follow the spirit of organic farming.'

“I just think it's patently dishonest. And it just really ticked me off,” she said.

Horizon, part of Fort Worth, Texas-based Dean Foods Co., sells about half of the organic milk in this country, through retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Its president and CEO, Joe Scalzo, said Horizon is a strong supporter of family farms, helping hundreds make the transition to organic. Horizon is just trying to meet the “exponential” growth in a market where demand outstrips supply by some 20 percent, he said.

However, Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst with the research group Cornucopia Institute, countered, “There's been a near consensus in the organic community that these factory farms are repugnant to the consumer and put organic farms at a disadvantage.”

Kastel said organic milk consumers are willing to pay more because they believe it's produced to higher ethical standards that benefit the environment, the animals and family farmers.

“They don't think they're supporting rich corporate investors who think organics is a great way to cash in,” he said.

Organic dairy sector on the rise
The Organic Trade Association says the U.S. organic dairy sector racked up $2.1 billion in sales last year, up 24 percent from 2004. The OTA says organics now make up 3.5 percent of all dairy products sold in the U.S.

While Scalzo said the boycott has had “very, very little” effect, he acknowledged Horizon has had to spend time explaining its position to stores.

While Broomfield, Colo.-based Horizon has taken the most heat, the critics also slam Aurora Organic Dairy, of Boulder, Colo., which provides private-label organic milk to chains including Costco, Safeway, Giant and Wild Oats.

Aurora says it milks about 4,100 and 3,500 cows at its farms near Platteville, Colo., and Dublin, Texas, respectively and will open a 3,200-cow operation near Kearsey, Colo., this fall.

The company says its approach is unique in the organic dairy sector, allowing it to keep prices affordable while producing the highest quality milk. Aurora says its cows get a balanced diet that includes organic grain and hay, as well as grazing on organic pasture.

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