Organic Farming Rule Change

Organic dairy farming has become controversial due to the fact that loopholes in regulations defining “organic” have qualified many concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to produce officially “organic” milk. This has depressed pricing and threatened the survivability of small farms, which previously defined the organic market. Now, proposed rule changes from the United States Department of Agriculture may curb CAFO qualifications in this dairy sector–but the rules are so narrowly defined that they may eliminate small farms instead. It’s another example of how large farms are becoming the true norm, and why stronger environmental controls, such as lined waste lagoons, are even more important.