December 17th, 2011 - Erin Shaw
Shamrock Farms is under fire from the USDA for questionable “split operation” livestock management practices that could get their organic certification revoked. The USDA investigation is in response to a formal complaint by the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog that first inspected Shamrock in 2008. Cornucopia found “inadequate, overgrazed pasture adjacent to their milking facility,” and learned from Shamrock employees that “the confined cows had not been out in weeks.” Federal organic regulations require that cows be grazed, a practice that some factory-scale dairies shirk according to Cornucopia’s investigations.
Read More:
Busted: USDA Finally Enforces Organic Standards at Shamrock Farms
Tags: certified organic, Cornucopia, dairy, Organic, organic certification, organic farming, shamrock, USDA
Posted in Health, Organic, Organic Food, Organic Living, Political Action, The Environment | Comments Off
July 26th, 2011 - Jill Ettinger
The controversial case surrounding Promisedland Livestock’s organic certification came to a close last week as the operation’s organic certification was officially ordered suspended, effective July 28, 2011.
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Livestock Operation Has Organic Certification Revoked
Tags: Aurora Dairy, cornucopia institute, mark kastel, organic certification, promisedland livestock
Posted in Green Living, Health, Organic, Organic Food, Organic Living, The Environment | Comments Off
October 21st, 2009 - Gerald "Gerry" Pugliese
Until now, Oregon farmers couldn’t call their crops organic without help from the private sector or from other states.
But not anymore, the Oregon Department of Agriculture will now perform its own certifications.
This makes Oregon the 16th state nationally accredited to bestow “organic” on a prospective farm.
Oregon joins states like Maryland, Iowa, Washington, and Idaho.
So if you have an aspiring organic farm in Oregon, it’ll cost you $75 an hour for the state to audit your books and check fields for certain pesticides and fertilizers, before you join the organic club.
Good news for the state, because organic sales in Oregon jumped from $10 million in 2002 to $90 million in 2007.
I wonder why Oregon waited. And what’s the deal with the other states too!
Via OPB News.
Image credit: Downing Street
Read More:
Oregon Set to Certify Farms as Organic
Tags: organic certification, organic farming
Posted in Organic, Organic Food | Comments Off
