Critics challenge status of Aurora Organic Dairy

PLATTEVILLE — A Wisconsin-based group alleges Platteville’s Aurora Organic Dairy is nothing more than a conventional dairy with the word organic in the title.

The Cornucopia Institute of Cornucopia, Wis., filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, asking the agency to investigate violations of the federal organic law by Aurora’s Platteville operation. The 5,600-cow dairy and processing operation caught the eye of the organic activist group after a story published in the Chicago Tribune.

The group takes issue with the legality of confining organic dairy cows in what they consider an industrial setting without access to pasture.

“We have been interested in these confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, for some time,´ said Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst for the Cornucopia Institute. “It is our contention that you cannot milk 3,000 to 6,000 cows and offer them true access to pasture as required by the Organic Foods Protection Act of 1990, the law that governs all domestic organic farming and food processing.”

Officials with Aurora Organic Dairy, which also operates a dairy in Texas, issued a rebuttal statement saying the operation “strives to uphold the values of the organic movement as summarized by the National Organic Standards Board in 1995. Organic agriculture is an ecological management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.”

Aurora admits the cows are not continuously on open pasture and cite Colorado’s arid climate as the limiting factor. Clark Driftmier, senior vice president of marketing for Aurora Organic Dairy, said the company ensures the cows are on the dairy’s 2,900 acres of pasture at some point during the year, depending on the state of the pasture and on the cow’s production status.

“We are operating a dairy in a dry and arid climate — we are managing the ecological stage of the pasture, animal health and the efficiency of the pasture,” he said.

Aurora is managed by two certification agencies: Quality Assurance International and the Colorado Department of Agriculture. The company said the certification of its facilities is updated regularly and its comprehensive farm plans have been approved for organic certification, including all requirements for access to pasture.

Cornucopia’s Kastel said Aurora should not be exempt from the pasture rule, and using Colorado’s climate should not be used as an excuse.

“There are many places in the United States that are not ecologically compatible with livestock agriculture,” he said. “If the Aurora dairy cannot incorporate a meaningful amount of pasture into their operation, because they are located in an extremely dry, arid region, that is no excuse for them to scoff at the organic regulations.”

Kastel did not say the dairy needed to close, but he alluded to removing the organic-certification because consumers may find it misleading.

“The consumers in this country, who go out of their way to purchase organic milk, believe they are supporting an environmentally sound system of agriculture, humane animal husbandry practices and family-scale farmers,” he said. “The USDA needs to deal decisively with corporations who pay lip service to the ethics of organic agriculture at the expense of family farmers and the consumers who so loyally support them.”

Aurora’s Driftmier said he is unaware of anyone associated with Cornucopia visiting or touring the dairy to validate its claims.

“We have never spoken with anyone with direct connections to Cornucopia,” he said. “This is an activist group based out of Wisconsin that has admitted they are against Western dairies.”

Aurora said it provides its cow’s with a full-time large-animal veterinarian who understands the organic needs of the cows. The company also said its animals are given regular outside residence as well as protective shelter in case of inclement weather.

Environmentally the company reports it has established a renewable wind energy program and that it uses bio-diesel to fuel the equipment.

“There has always been a lively positive debate and idea exchange among members of the organic movement as our industry grows and evolves,” Aurora officials state in its rebuttal. “Organic standards and their interpretation have also evolved and will continue to do so. Aurora Organic Dairy welcomes the development of the organic mission, the evolution of standards and the spirited exchange of issues as all of us jointly create the future for our promising system of sustainable agriculture.”

Kim Lock is the agribusiness reporter for The Northern Colorado Business Report. To suggest a column feature contact her at (970) 221-5400 ext. 222 or by e-mail at klock@ncbr.com.

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