A report released by the Union of Concerned Scientists earlier this month finds greater economic opportunities and jobs for rural communities where organic dairy farming methods are employed over conventional farming methods.

The two largest providers of organic milk in the U.S., Organic Valley and Horizon Organics, are in the midst of a lawsuit over what Horizon alleges was a breach of contract and the misappropriation of confidential information and trade secrets, according to Wisconsin-based farm policy research group, The Cornucopia Institute.

While the regulations over what counts as legitimate when companies tout 'free-range', 'cage-free' and 'grass-fed' continue to confuse ethical meat, egg and dairy customers, hopes to change some of that with its newest product, "Grassmilk."

One major cheater: Aurora Dairy, the nation’s largest organic milk producer and supplier to Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Costco and others, is still not playing by the rules.

This week, the Cornucopia Institute, an organic industry watchdog group, filed a formal legal complaint with the USDA alleging that one of the five industrial-scale dairies operated by Aurora is failing to graze their dairy cattle as required by the federal organic standards.

Aurora’s bad behavior includes…

• Confining their dairy cows in giant barns and pens instead of allowing them to graze on fresh forage as the federal law mandates.

• Allowing cows access to substandard crops that wither in the desert-like heat, instead of more hardy perennials that stand up to continual grazing throughout the growing season.

Not the First Time

In response to a previous legal complaint filed by The Cornucopia Institute, in 2006, career staff at the USDA found that Aurora was in violation of 14 tenets of the organic regulations including confining their cattle to feedlots, instead of grazing, and bringing thousands of illegal conventional cows into their organic operation.

Killing the Competition

The above is not only bad for consumers, who are buying an organic product that doesn’t meet organic standards mandated by law…it hurts small farmers too.

Competitors to Aurora and Dean Foods, another ‘big organic’ dairy company (makers of the popular organic brand Horizon), have been forced to lower prices paid to family-scale farmers, institute cut backs on production or even cancel their contracts with some dairy producers.

"This is an unmitigated disaster for many family farmers who are now facing no market for their organic milk and possibly losing their farms because of the softening economy and the overload of milk coming from these giant factory farms," said Kathie Arnold of Truxton, NY, an organic dairy farmer milking 130 cows.

The Bright Side

According to Cornucopia, 90% of all name brand organic dairy products on the market are produced with true integrity.  "No matter where someone lives in this country there are many wonderful brands of organic milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and ice cream that conform to not only the letter of the law but the spirit of what has made organics such a successful and fast-growing segment of our nations' food supply."

Use the Cornucopia Institute’s recently updated online scorecoard can help you make smarter consumer choices when buying your organic dairy products. Spoiler alert: organic dairy props go to Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative that garners a four-cow rating in the Cornucopia scorecard.

Other blogs on organic milk:

Organic Food Supermarket Trends:  Got Milk? Discover The Delicious Health Benefits of Organic Food Illegal Organic Milk? Shameful Milk Farmers in Crisis...and less Safe Milk Keeping an Eye on Organic Dairy

“She’s a beautiful, healthy calf, and May handled the birth like a pro,” says “Uncle” Charles Schwab, a UNH professor of animal and nutritional science. “We’re anticipating a busy month ahead, as 46 cows in the herd give birth and begin producing organic milk.”

Now, here’s the fun part: The calf will be named by the highest bidder on an eBay auction, with proceeds going to the university’s organic dairy project.

A registry for “baby gifts” will be established online. In lieu of diapers and strollers, the cows request contributions toward farm equipment and new facilities for their calves. (UNH has raised half the project total of approximately $1.5 million.)

Both May and her calf are resting comfortably at Burley-Demerritt farm in Lee, site of the organic research dairy farm. A maternity and fresh cow barn has been renovated, and a farm equipment building has been constructed. Planning and fundraising are in progress for a barn, state-of-the-art milking parlor and educational center.

UNH will begin shipping organic milk in early January. It launched its organic dairy in December 2005 as the nation’s first land-grant university to have an organic dairy farm. It provides much-needed education and science-based research for present and future organic dairy farmers, while helping to secure the future of the Northeast’s farming heritage.

The farm is located on 200 certified-organic acres in Lee, about five miles from the center of campus.

Yesterday, I shared a great organic food find: Coonridge Organic Goat Cheese. (Click here to read the blog entry.) I asked owner Nancy Nathanya Coonridge to share her thoughts on what it means to her, as a dairy farmer, to go organic. Her responses follow.

Why is it important to you to offer an organic product?

Being certified organic is a major part of what I am doing at my dairy. I want to make the best possible cheese. My goats, their milk and cheeses are all certified organic. I flavor my cheeses with certified organic herbs and oils because I want all those ingredients to be of the highest quality: GMO-free and without additives. Plus, it is what I can do to protect the Earth’s environment.

Any issues with shipping cheese during the summer months?

Coonridge Organic Goat Cheese ships without refrigeration at any time of year. I start with a living culture and then cover the cheese with herbed oils. The herbs and oil are part of the wonderful flavor of the cheese, but also serve to protect the cheese from the air so it cannot mold. It is continuing to age, so I ask people to refrigerate it on arrival to stop the aging process.

Part of my project at the dairy has been to make the cheeses that people made before there was refrigeration. These include cheeses submerged in oil, as my fromages are, or those made with salt, as in my feta cheeses.

What makes your goat cheese mild?

Healthy goats eating good feed produce excellent milk. If we take special care of the milk, the cheese will have that same excellent flavor. Goat cheese does not have to be strong and “goaty.” In France, they crave the stronger flavors, but I make my cheese for American tastes. Having my goats eating the wild feed they evolved to eat makes for a great and unique flavor.

Photo of the Coonridge goats courtesy of Nancy Nathanya Coonridge