The USDA spent a decade writing livestock welfare rules for organic farms before, in a regulatory U-turn, it decided last December that it lacked the power to implement the rules. The decision sparked a lawsuit by the organic community. Now a federal judge in San Francisco has rejected the government’s attempt to quash the lawsuit, clearing the way for a trial.
“We look forward to protecting the public’s right to a meaningful organic seal,” said attorney George Kimbrell of the Center for Food Safety, one of the seven organic groups that filed suit in March to overturn the USDA decision to withdraw the rule. The so-called organic livestock rule was finalized on the last day of the Obama administration.
The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate the organic livestock rule, which would require farmers to provide outdoor access for their livestock and poultry on all but the hottest or coldest days. The rule would effectively end the practice of confining egg-laying hens in small “battery cages” and require group housing of hogs. The standards would draw a contrast in the marketplace between organic products and those from large-scale conventional farms, which use battery cages, so-called sow crates, and veal-calf stalls that closely confine animals in the name of efficiency and labor savings.
Critics said the USDA, by withdrawing the rule, had kowtowed to large egg farms that didn’t want to modify their barns or operations.
U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg upheld a central point of the lawsuit: that consumers and organic farmers would be at a disadvantage without regulations to assure that producers meet the same standards. But he ruled against the organic groups on two points, saying that the USDA was within bounds to consider the costs of the livestock regulation and that it had not been obliged to consult the advisory National Organic Standards Board before withdrawing the rule.
The National Organic Coalition, one of the plaintiffs, said it was “thrilled to see our legal challenge move forward. The Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule represents more than a decade of work to clarify and improve animal welfare standards in organic and has the support of thousands of stakeholders, including farmers, consumer advocacy groups, and other members of the organic industry.”
A separate lawsuit was filed by the Organic Trade Association in September 2017 because the USDA had repeatedly delayed implementing the livestock welfare rule. The OTA amended its lawsuit in April to reflect the USDA’s plan to withdraw the rule. In a notice on its Agricultural Marketing Service website, the USDA said it “believes the OLPP final rule exceeded USDA’s statutory authority.” In a Federal Register notice, the USDA said that while it is empowered to oversee healthcare practices for livestock on organic farms, its authority does not “encompass stand-alone animal welfare concerns” because Congress did not explicitly say that it did.
To read the U.S. district court ruling, click here.