Will Aurora Organic Dairy lose certification?

The USDA appears to revoke the organic certification of the largest industrial dairy operator in the US, Aurora Organic Dairy. Aurora milks thousands of cows in several giant factory dairies and has been subject of a series of formal legal complaints filed with the USDA by the Cornucopia Institute. Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst of Cornucopia, stated that they had found 98 % of the cattle in feedlots instead of grazing on pastures. Cornucopia also reported that Aurora had been procuring cattle from a non-certified organic source.

The organic industry is carefully watching how the USDA deals with Aurora because of its size and impact on the marketplace. Aurora is the country’s largest private-label producer of organic milk and packages store-brand organic dairy products for Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Wild Oats and other grocery chains.

The 10,000-cow Vander Eyk factory dairy in California lost its organic certification recently after an investigation had revealed numerous violations of federal organic rules. The company had been publicly spotlighted by the Cornucopia Institute for organic management irregularities.

www.cornucopia.org