Vt. organic farmers say current dairy standards create uneven playing field – WCAX

WHITINGHAM, Vt. (WCAX) – Organic dairy farming was first pitched as a way to make Vermont farmers more competitive by adding value to their product. Many transitioned and found success, but the national landscape has changed. Our Kevin Gaiss investigates how some of the changes left some farms financially strapped.
“The initial incentive was financial. We began to see there were other benefits,” said Leon Corse with the Corse Farm Dairy in Whitingham.
Corse says his cows have always been close to organic. The switch in 2006 was a no-brainer, with the idea of higher revenue, healthier animals, and taking better care of the land. Corse says over time, as more tapped into the organic milk market, he noticed a concerning trend.
“One of the things I’ve learned is that the certifiers do not hold all of the farmers to the same level of pasturing requirement,” he said.
Vermont Organic Farmers, also known as VOF, is part of NOFA Vermont and handles dairy certification in the state. To be certified organic, farms have to comply with specific food and rules for raising livestock, as well as comply with set pasture times and other standards. Farmers track all of this in records, submit those to VOF, and then are subject to routine inspection of records and on-farm conditions.
According to the USDA, the National Organic Program is the only federally regulated food label in the country, meaning everyone is certified to meet the same standard. It’s a public-private partnership where the USDA defines the standards and groups like VOF check for compliance.
“The inspection is really the key piece for verification of compliance,” said Kyla Bedard, a VOF certification specialist.
But some dairy farmers in our region say despite the national requirements, not everyone is up to par. Bedard understands the concerns but says how certifiers read the rules is what makes the difference. One rule that recently gained more clarity is over the origin of livestock.
“Our interpretations, we have always interpreted that origin of livestock rule allows for a one-time transition,” said Bedard.
The USDA last month finalized rules to clarify when an animal could be transitioned to organic. Previously, there was an acknowledged loophole that allowed dairy cows to be raised conventionally during the most expensive part of their life and transitioned to organic later on, potentially saving around $1,000 per calf. That can add up for farms with hundreds in a herd. Closing the loophole was met with applause from farmers, lawmakers, and officials in our region. Bedard says it can only benefit the end product for the consumer.
Now, while one loophole was addressed, attention has turned to another. “Vermont dairy farmers work really, really hard to get their animals out on pasture for as many days as possible,” said Laura Ginsburg with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. She says, ideally, all organic cows would be out on pasture. The federal standard is 120 days and VOF aims for its farmers to be at 150. But some parts of the country struggle to hit the minimum.
“You look at images out west where cows are essentially on dry lots. Maybe they have access to a little bit of pasture, but those places don’t support grazing in the same way we do,” Ginsburg said.
The national standards allow for lack of pasture time under extreme weather conditions, like drought, but Ginsburg says even still, pasture rules could be tightened. “That is another area of production that would help level the playing field because it would ensure everyone is working towards the same feeding standards,” she said.
VOF officials say they know that simply by an economy of scale and access to resources, large organic farms have a leg up, but they also say consistency is something the National Organic Program is trying, by doing things like strengthening enforcement.
But back in Whitingham, Corse says he hopes consumers look beyond just the organic label, but also pay more attention to where their food is coming from. “We are a family that believes in playing by the rules,” he said. “As consumers become more concerned about where their food comes from, that can only be good for New England farms, not just dairy.”
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