TAKE ACTION: Tell USDA to Publish a Final Rule on Origin of Dairy Livestock
We need USDA to restore fairness for organic dairy producers and close loopholes in the organic regulations. The Origin of Livestock rule applies specifically to organic dairy producers, but all organic stakeholders have an interest in ensuring that USDA rulemaking respects the public-private partnership that makes organic unique and ensures the seal can continue to earn consumer trust.
Take action today by submitting a unique comment to USDA via the Federal Register: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=AMS-NOP-11-0009-1572
Comments are due on December 2, 2019.
Here are NOC’s full comments.
Express your support for the proposed rule, using these talking points:
1. I strongly support the proposed rule on Origin of Livestock and urge the USDA National Organic Program to publish a final rule as quickly as possible.
2. USDA should close loopholes to ensure that:
Organic dairy animals must be raised organically from the last third of gestation or be raised organically for one year if transitioning a conventional herd to organic, which is allowed only once.
Once a distinct herd is transitioned to organic, all animals must be raised organically from last third of gestation.
Cycling of dairy animals in and out of organic production is prohibited.
3. USDA should reject any efforts to dilute or weaken the proposed rule.
4. The delay in issuing a final rule has resulted in a great deal of economic harm for organic dairy farmers and put at risk the integrity of the organic seal. Rulemaking is critical to bring consistent enforcement and a level playing field to all organic dairy producers.
5. The oversupply conditions in the organic dairy sector, and therefore the low pay prices to organic dairy farmers, have been exacerbated by the continued existence of these loopholes.
6. Organic dairy producers, the National Organic Standards Board, Congress, and a broad range of organic stakeholder groups agree that USDA must issue a final rule immediately to prevent the continuous conversion of conventional dairy animals into organic herds.
Unique comments that include details about how this proposed rule impacts your farm, company, organization, and/or your stakeholders are the most meaningful. Please also include any personal details regarding the reasons you support the proposed rule.
Organic stakeholders need to speak with a unified voice to demand that USDA finalize the 2015 proposed rule to ensure a level playing field for organic dairy producers and to protect organic integrity.
Background
USDA Needs to Take Action to Restore Fairness for Organic Dairy Producers
In response to a 2013 Inspector General report critical of inconsistent enforcement of standards, USDA proposed an ‘Origin of Livestock’ rule in 2015 to clarify that section of the regulations and ensure consistent enforcement of the standards. Without explanation, the final rule was never published and in 2018, it was removed from USDA’s Unified Regulatory Agenda. There is widespread support among organic stakeholder groups and industry members that USDA must act immediately to improve clarity and consistency for transitioning organic dairy livestock into organic production.
In January of 2019, NOC launched a campaign to demand that USDA create a level playing field for organic dairy producers. During the spring and summer of 2019, NOC and our allies successfully advocated with Congress for the inclusion of a provision in House and Senate appropriations bills to require USDA to finalize the Origin of Livestock rule within 180 days of enactment.
On October 1, 2019, the USDA reopened the comment period for the proposed rule on Origin of Livestock that was originally published on April 28, 2015.
Lack of Consistent Enforcement Has Caused Harm to Organic Dairy Producers
Organic milk and dairy products labeled as organic must come from dairy cows continuously managed as organic since birth. However, in recognition of the short supply of organic dairy breeder stock in 1990 when the law was passed, the organic law allows a one-time conversion of conventional dairy cows to organic as long as they are managed organically for a one-year transition period.
Unfortunately, these rules about how animals are transitioned into organic production, known as ‘Origin of Livestock’ in the organic regulations, are being interpreted by certifiers in different ways. This has created a loophole. Some operations are circumventing the requirement to manage dairy livestock as organic from birth and are bringing conventional animals into their operations on a continuous basis, or are even cycling animals in and out of organic management.
Farmers who continuously transition conventional animals into organic systems or cycle dairy animals in and out of organic management can distort the market with rapid expansion of cow numbers and have lower costs of production, creating an economic disadvantage for organic farmers who are complying with the intent of the organic regulations. Several analyses indicate that organic dairy farmers who raise their calves according to the organic standard from birth spend an average of $600–$1,300 more per calf than farmers who raise calves conventionally and transition them to organic
Additional Resources