|
|
| Back to the Table of Contents |
Giant Organic
Livestock Operation Decertified by USDA
|
by Mark Kastel, Cornucopia
Institute
|
In an investigation and
legal case that dragged on for almost four years, one of the largest
organic cattle producers in the United States, Promiseland Livestock,
LLC, was suspended from organic commerce, along with its owner and key
employees, for four years. The penalty was part of an order issued by
administrative law judge Peter Davenport in Washington, D.C. on
November 25.
Promiseland, a multimillion dollar operation with facilities in
Missouri and Nebraska, including over 13,000 acres of crop land, and
managing 22,000 head of beef and dairy cattle, had been accused of
multiple improprieties in formal legal complaints, including not
feeding organic grain to cattle, selling fraudulent organic feed and
"laundering" conventional cattle as organic.
Promiseland became the focus of Cornucopia's investigation into giant
factory farms, milking thousands of cows, that were allegedly operating
illegally. Promiseland sold thousands of dairy cows to giant factory
dairy farms owned by Dean Foods (Horizon Organic), Natural Prairie
Dairy in Texas and Aurora Dairy based in Colorado. Aurora and Natural
Prairie supply private-label, store-brand milk for Wal-Mart, Costco,
Target and major supermarket chains such as HEB, Safeway and Harris
Teeter.
It appears that it was the investigation into improprieties by Aurora
that finally led to the hammer coming down on Promiseland. Aurora
operates five dairies in Texas and Colorado and was found by USDA
investigators to have "willfully" violated 14 tenets of federal organic
regulations in 2007. However, Bush administration officials let the
$100 million corporate dairy continue in operation under a one-year
probation.
Although Cornucopia has praise for the professionalism of law
enforcement agents at the USDA, and the career staff at the National
Organic Program (NOP), who carried out the Aurora and Promiseland
investigations, the farm policy research group has harshly criticized
past management at the USDA which allowed Promiseland, and Aurora, to
operate illegally for years.
"From formal legal complaints that we filed, Bush administration
officials at the USDA were alerted, starting in January 2005, to the
alleged improprieties by massive factory farms masquerading as
organic," said Will Fantle, research director for the Cornucopia
Institute.
Documents secured under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the
Cornucopia Institute indicate that the initial investigation was
squashed for political reasons by Dr. Barbara Robinson, who until
recently directed the USDA's organic program.
"It is inexcusable that these improprieties took place for so long and
that justice was delayed," said Gary Cox, an attorney who represents
Cornucopia. "Ethical organic dairy farmers have been placed at a
distinct competitive disadvantage and consumers were obviously taken
advantage of."
An investigation by the Office of Inspector General at the USDA,
focusing in part on the relationship between Robinson and prominent
agribusiness lobbyist and lawyer Jay Friedman, was profiled in a July 3
Washington Post story. Friedman, in addition to representing Aurora and
Dean Foods, also was the lawyer for Promiseland when they were targeted
by the USDA for investigation.
New documents made public have prompted Cornucopia to prepare
additional legal complaints asking the USDA to focus attention now on
Quality Assurance International (QAI), the certifier for Promiseland
when many of the alleged abuses took place.
"This is not the first time QAI has been suspected of incompetence or
improperly accommodating corporate agribusiness," said Fantle. The
Robinson, Friedman and QAI connection is part of an investigation by
the USDA's Inspector General. QAI also certifies portions of Aurora's
operation and Dean Foods' corporate-owned industrial dairies.
Cornucopia and other organic policy groups have been delighted by what
they have called a "decisive shift" that has taken place since Obama
administration officials have taken over at the USDA and its organic
program. At a recent industry meeting in Washington, D.C., Miles
McEvoy, USDA deputy administrator and the new director of the National
Organic Program, stated emphatically that we were now entering the "age
of enforcement" at NOP. In addition to investigating QAI, Cornucopia
has formally asked USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to reopen the Aurora
matter, alleging that the consent agreement allowing their probation
included illegally favorable provisions. The farm policy group also
asked that complaints involving Dean Foods and its Horizon label, which
had languished under the Bush administration since early 2005, now also
be actively investigated by the new administration.
Cornucopia's Fantle stated: "We think that organic consumers and the
family farmers who have built this industry have good reason to be
optimistic and confident that from this point forward, when they see
the organic seal on a product, they know that the public servants in
Washington share their steadfast desire to maintain the integrity of
the organic label."
|
The Cornucopia Institute (www.cornucopia.org) is a Wisconsin based nonprofit farm
policy research group.
|
| Back to the Table of Contents |
|
|
|
