In a challenge to the Trump administration’s drive to erase Obama-era regulations, the organic food industry accused USDA of unlawfully delaying animal welfare rules that give livestock on organic farms more elbow room than allowed at conventional operations. Livestock groups and their allies in Congress have alternated between ridiculing the organic livestock rule and trying to scrap it.
The rule would require farmers to provide outdoor access for their livestock on all but the hottest or coldest days. It also would effectively end the practice of confining egg-laying hens in small “battery” cages and require group housing of swine. Large-scale conventional farms use battery cages and so-called sow crates that restrict the movement of sows in the name of efficiency and labor savings.
When it took office, the Trump administration included the livestock rule in its overall freeze on new regulations — the rule was issued in the final two days of the Obama presidency — and then delayed it again until Nov. 14, while asking if it should kill the rule, re-write it or let it take effect. The lawsuit, filed by the Organic Trade Association (OTA), asks a federal judge to vitiate the USDA review and let the rule take effect immediately.
“The government’s failure to move forward with this fully vetted regulation calls into question the entire process by which organic regulations are set,” said OTA chief executive Laura Batcha. George Simeon, chief executive of Organic Valley cooperative, said, “For the administration to now let political pressure derail that process is an assault on the trust in the organic process that the organic industry works so hard every day to earn.”
When it issued the organic livestock rule on Jan. 18, the USDA said it would set a consistent standard nationwide for production of organic livestock and treatment of food-bearing animals.
Critics have said the requirement for daily outdoor access would expose animals to the risk of disease while driving up the cost of production and, inevitably, grocery prices. The law governing organic food production, however, mandates pasture for livestock.
Organic food accounts for more than 5 percent of U.S. food sales, which, thanks to year after year of increased sales, is a fast-growing sector in the grocery industry. The bulk of organic sales are fruits, vegetables and dairy. As the industry has grown and expanded its range of products, relations with conventional agriculture have become increasingly fractious.
Also pending at USDA is an OTA proposal for a producer-funded research and promotion program, modeled on the checkoff programs that promote milk, beef, cotton and other goods. If approved, it would be the first checkoff based on a method of production rather than a specific product. The USDA held a comment period on the proposal early this year. The next step, if a review of comments finds support for the checkoff, would be to call a referendum among producers.
To read the OTA lawsuit, click here.