In an extraordinarily rare move, an industrial-scale dairy has been stripped of its organic certification due to serious violations of organic standards. Organic, Inc. author Samuel Fromartz broke the story at Chews Wise blog.
In a sign that pressure is mounting on big confinement organic dairy farms, Quality Assurance International, a major organic certification agency, has yanked certification for the Case Vander Eyk organic dairy in California, an operation with an estimated 3,500 cows.
This dairy in the central valley of California has been the subject of complaints by the advocacy group, Cornucopia Institute. But QAI's decision marks the first time a certifier has suspended a big confinement dairy, though these farms have been criticized for years.
Reasons for the drastic measures include insufficient record-keeping in terms of verifying that Case Vander Eyk's cows were managed in compliance with the USDA's National Organic Program's livestock standards, which apply to animals used for meat, milk, eggs, and other animal products represented as organically produced.More...
Animals for slaughter must be raised under organic management from the last third of gestation, or no later than the second day of life for poultry. Producers are required to feed livestock agricultural feed products that are 100 percent organic, but may also provide allowed vitamin and mineral supplements. Producers may convert an entire, distinct dairy herd to organic production by providing 80 percent organically produced feed for 9 months, followed by 3 months of 100 percent organically produced feed. Organically raised animals may not be given hormones to promote growth, or antibiotics for any reason. Preventive management practices, including the use of vaccines, will be used to keep animals healthy. Producers are prohibited from withholding treatment from a sick or injured animal; however, animals treated with a prohibited medication may not be sold as organic. All organically raised animals must have access to the outdoors, including access to pasture for ruminants. They may be temporarily confined only for reasons of health, safety, the animal's stage of production, or to protect soil or water quality.
Case Vander Eyk Dairy has run what is commonly referred to as a split operation, i.e. an operation that produces or handles both organic and nonorganic agricultural products. This leaves considerable potential for legitimate error or outright fraud. While the use of pesticides and herbicides are allowed directly on commercial-production animals and the feed that they eat, such practices are forbidden in organic production, though industry insiders claim that mislabeling is not an uncommon occurrence.
Part of the farm's record-keeping practice would be documentation of access to pasture. The Cornucopia Institute had first filed a legal complaint with the USDA against Case Vander Eyk in 2005 claiming violation of pasture rules.
The institute says Vander Eyk has access to 10,000 acres of pasture, but that is located near Ducor, miles from the dairy's main operation. "The dairy reportedly trucks cows to the Ducor pasture, but the Cornucopia Institute contends that this approach is not used with lactating animals (those being milked)."
A group of students from UC-Berkeley toured the Case Vander Eyk farm as part of a research project. The following photographs were taken during the visit.
Vander Eyk's organic certification was originally provided by Quality Assurance International (QAI), a private San-Diego based company. I asked Mark Kastel, Cornucopia's senior farm policy analyst about QAI's role in this.
"(Case Vander Eyk) would have received a Letter of non-compliance from QAI, which provides a 30-day period to respond. There is due-process built in. All farmers or processors who would be suspended have the right to appeal this. We were told that Mr. Vander Eyk did not take advantage of his right to appeal."
"Let me say this in the strongest terms: Not only should QAI not have certified this company, no reputable company should have ever done business with them. This is just grossly wrong. They're flim-flam operators."
On Feb. 5, 2005, the same day that Cornucopia filed their original complaint against Case Vander Eyk, they filed a similar complaint against Dean/Horizon, the country's largest organic dairy marketer. At that time, Case Vander Eyk was supplying milk to Dean/Horizon. One month prior to that, yet another very similar complaint was filed against Aurora Organic Dairy, another Dean/Horizon milk supplier.
In August of 2005, National Organic Program management ordered the complaints closed without investigating. Below is the memorandum which orders the dismissal, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Even though the memo specifies only Aurora and Horizon, the Case Vander Eyk complaint was dismissed at the same time according to Cornucopia.
Click on memo to enlarge.
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Cross-posted at Ecotality Blog.
Title stolen from Micronotz.