New Organic Animal Welfare Rules are Now Final
This blog post describes what that means for organic livestock operations and the organic community.
After almost two decades of overwhelming support for clear animal welfare standards to be incorporated into the organic regulations, the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) will be enforced on January 2, 2025, with a few exceptions. The soil, vegetation, exit door and outdoor stocking density for laying hens and broilers requirement needs to be met by January 2, 2029, and the indoor stocking density for broilers only, is delayed until 2029 as well.
The new regulations provide certifiers and National Organic Program certifier accreditation auditors with detailed requirements in many areas, removing the subjective language that had been present in the past. For example, rather than requiring that poultry to have access to the outdoors, the rule defines the size and that it must be at least 75% soil with vegetation. The exit doors for poultry houses, rather than being “sufficient” to allow outdoor access, must have no less than 1 linear foot of exit area for 360 birds. While NOC suggested more linear feet than what is in the final rule, this rule gives inspectors and certifiers the clear language they need to require the birds have true access to the outdoors.
The organic regulations always had language promoting animal welfare, since lessening stress results in less health problems and inputs. However, the new rule spells out the required management needed to lessen that stress. Many of the new requirements are in-line with other animal welfare requirements, lessening the need for organic farmers to hold both organic and animal welfare certifications.
Final Rule is Stronger Than Proposed Rule in Some Areas
Many of the specific recommendations made by NOC were incorporated into the final rule and will make a difference in higher quality animal welfare. NOC recommended when monitoring ammonia in the poultry houses, this testing occur at the height of the birds’ heads, not at the height where humans breathe, since ammonia is heavier than air and is more concentrated at lower heights. This suggestion was incorporated in the final rule. In some nonorganic poultry houses, especially for ducks and other meat birds, the light spectrum and intensity is manipulated to encourage weight gain. NOC recommended this be prohibited, and this prohibition was incorporated.
For outdoor access, NOC recommended that the definition of soil be improved to not include gravel, or dirt dumped on top of concrete, as well as improving on the definition of how to achieve “maximal” vegetation. NOC also recommended that the 50% required soil and vegetative area be no further than 30 feet from the exit doors of the poultry house. The final rule removed the definition of soil altogether, as well as the word maximal, stating that everyone knows what soil is, and that it is too difficult and subjective to determine maximal vegetation. The final rule instead, increased the amount of soil with vegetation for poultry outdoor access to 75%, which somewhat addressed NOC’s concern of the distance from the building to the vegetation for the birds. NOC recommended that the temperature where birds can be temporarily confined indoors be lowered from 40 degrees F to 32, and this was also included in the final rule.
OLPS Will Result in Significant Changes
The preamble to the regulation stated that 70% of the currently certified organic eggs are produced on operations that use porches for outdoor access. This is one of the reasons that the implementation was set at 5 years, to give these operations a chance to change their systems. Porches cannot be considered part of the indoor stocking density requirement if the birds do not have access to this area year-round. Porches cannot be considered part of the outdoor access unless the poultry have access to the rest of the outdoor access area at all times, nor can these outdoor porches have any type of “walls”, including screens.
While the new rule has significant details for avian humane treatment, there are some improvements for mammals as well, including dealing with injuries, lameness, and improved transport to slaughter requirements. Producers are now required to have parasite control plans, and written plans for euthanasia for livestock suffering from irreversible injury. If transport to slaughter exceeds eight hours, there must be a written plan on how to maintain organic management and animal welfare.
The Proposed Rule Was Weakened in Some Areas & Organic Swine Requirements are Largely Absent
Two big disappointments between the proposed and final rule were in the target ammonia levels in poultry houses, raised from 10 to 20 PPM (25 PPM is prohibited), and the amount of floor scratching area required in slatted/mesh floor housing was lowered from 30 percent to 15 per cent. While gestation and farrowing crates are now specifically prohibited for organic swine, there are many other aspects where other animal welfare rules address swine physical alterations and living conditions, that are not covered under the organic rule. This is an area that will need further development.
This blog post was prepared by Harriet Behar, who serves as an advisor to the National Organic Coalition.
Learn More
· Read the final Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards Rule.
· Read this Fact Sheet from the USDA National Organic Program.
· For NOC Members & Network Affiliates:
Harriet Behar delivered a 90-minute presentation called ‘A Deep Dive into the New Organic Animal Welfare Rules’ on December 8, 2023. The presentation recording, slides, and written analysis from this presentation are available to NOC Members & Network Affiliates by request – email Abby@NationalOrganicCoalition.org if you would like copies of these resources.