From the time we turned animal husbandry into a science project, we have created artificial growing and production conditions in order to turn a huge profit while keeping the price of food artificially low. I say artificially here, because while the price may be low, we are discovering more and more now that the cost – to the environment, to animal welfare, to our own health – that may not be reflected in the price is passed on to us nonetheless.
Access to the outdoors, for raising any sort of animal from ruminants to birds has become somewhat of a joke – a barn door opened into a small muddy pen or the like. It seems that things might be at a turning point however. This February, the USDA set forth new guidelines for organic dairy products, which affects organic beef cattle as well.
According to a press release from the USDA, the main components of the Livestock Access to Pasture Rule demand that for ruminant animals:
Animals must graze pasture during the grazing season, which must be at least 120 days per year;
Animals must obtain a minimum of 30 percent dry matter intake from grazing pasture during the grazing season;
Producers must have a pasture management plan and manage pasture as a crop to meet the feed requirements for the grazing animals and to protect soil and water quality; and,
Livestock are exempt from the 30 percent dry matter intake requirements during the finish feeding period, not to exceed 120 days. Livestock must have access to pasture during the finishing phase.
Sounds like a big score for the good guys; now consumers purchasing organic dairy will know that the ruminants that provided it were also provided for in a natural way. It is also great that the USDA is demanding that producers manage pasture as a crop in order to support the ruminants in a way that works with the land.
This new access to pasture clause will surely improve conditions on organic farms. Most smaller farms are already using these practices, so the ones who will suffer in this case are the agro-giant organic producer/processors who have ridden the organic wave on the loopholes in the former ‘access to pasture’ standard.
But there may be more to this than it appears, organic beef does not equal cruelty free. The final provision for the ‘finish-feeding period’ was the USDAs way of letting beef producers off the hook for the final four months of the cows’ lives. Considering it only takes about two years to raise a calf to slaughter, those four months are a considerable period. During ‘finish feeding’ cows are held in feedlots where they are fed a diet of corn and grain to fatten them quickly. The USDA has extended the period it will accept comments on this final provision until April 19, however the final ruling on this has already been closed.
And not everyone is thrilled about the rule changes. Some small organic farmers (and many large) have voiced protest over the rules’ non-flexibility over the number of days on pasture, arguing that it may come into conflict with local land and groundwater quality.
In any case, we are definitely moo-ving in the right direction when it comes to food standards, especially food that is labeled organic. Consumers have an expectation for what that label means, and these new standards will help to ensure that those expectations are met.
