Part 9: This installment in our history of organic agriculture will explore the challenges and contradictions of setting livestock standards using the scandalous abuse of the requirements for pasture to illustrate the very real limitations of organic certification.
organic milk
A Love of Jersey Cows – video
Dairyman Garry Hansen couldn’t count on a consistent price for his milk due to the volatility of the dairy market that nearly drove him out of business at one point. So to save his cows, he had to become a processor and distributor of his own milk.
The Unconventional Harvest: Tantré Farm
Riding in the hot July sun I could smell basil more than a quarter mile from Tantré Farm. Excerpt 7.
Radiance Dairy: Caring for His Cows and the Land
Most conventional dairy farms milk their herds until they no longer produce at large quantities and then “retire” them…usually to a feed lot. But Radiance Dairy is different.
Tom Trantham-Twelve Aprils Grazing Program Coming Soon
July 2, 2010; Pelzer, South Carolina. In 1989, dairy farmer, Tom Trantham, was facing almost certain financial collapse on his conventional, 92 cow dairy farm operation. With the costs of animal feed skyrocketing, many farmers were turning to BST to increase milk production, a hormone purported at the time of being safe, and as the […]
Organic Dairyman: Director’s Cut (video)
Director’s Cut: This is a story about Jon Bansen, a 3rd generation Oregon organic dairy farmer who switched from conventional to organic dairy farming.
Organic Livestock Recieve Emancipation Proclamation from USDA
February 15, 2010 On Friday, February 12, the USDA issued its final ruling for Access to Pasture organic certification requirements for all organic livestock producers. The National Organic Program (NOP) began in October of 2002, and up until the present was designed to ensure that pasture and ruminant animals received adequate access to pasture grass, […]
