USDA Scandal
The Cornucopia Institute harshly criticized the USDA for its failure to conduct an investigation of 14 legal complaints filed by the Wisconsin-based organic industry watchdog group last December. The complaints allege a systemic pattern of livestock management violations occurring on some of the nation's biggest certified organic "factory farm" poultry and dairy operations.
In their brief letter to Cornucopia, the National Organic Program's (NOP) director of Compliance and Enforcement stated that the agency "has determined that an investigation is unwarranted." Last December, after an investment of seven months and tens of thousands of dollars, Cornucopia filed 14 complaints with the NOP utilizing evidence primarily gathered through high resolution aerial photographic examinations of industrial-scale certified organic dairies and poultry operations. The hundreds of images taken documented an overwhelming absence of dairy cows on pasture, and the exclusive confinement of hundreds of thousands of egg laying hens and meat birds inside buildings.
"The organic regulations are clear," said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst at Cornucopia. "With minor and allowable 'temporary' exceptions, dairy cows should be out grazing on pasture and poultry should have access to the outdoors. These operations appear to have miserably failed to meet the criteria."
Among its justifications for refusing to investigate the complaints, indicated the NOP's Matthew Michael, was that the photographic evidence was "insufficient" and depicted only a "single moment in time." He also said that the various operations indicated were "in good standing" with their organic certifiers. "It must simply be an incredible and amazing coincidence that no birds – zero – were outdoors, and only a fraction of the tens of thousands of cows on the industrial-scale dairies were observed on grass. Most were confined to giant feedlots," noted Will Fantle, Cornucopia's Research Director. "This simply does not pass the smell test," Fantle added. "Who are you going to believe, the paperwork from the NOP and certifiers, or your own eyes?"
Cornucopia provided the USDA with hundreds of highly detailed 64 megabyte images that allow for a panoramic view of each operation with the ability to magnify down for ground level detail. One hundred percent (100%) of the images were shared with the NOP.
The detail was so fine that anyone interested in a careful examination could see, for example, that the the vast preponderance of the areas set aside as outdoor runs for poultry flocks was essentially undisturbed. Whether birds were outside or not at the exact moment of the photos, the grounds would clearly show evidence of being foraged and used by thousands of birds if that were occurring.
"When we flew over MBA Poultry, marketing their products under the Smart Chicken brand, at their 40 barns in Nebraska not a single chicken was visible," added Fantle. The perfectly manicured, undisturbed lawn was observed being mowed at the time.
