Organic farmers will have stronger and more consistent standards for treatment of their livestock under an animal welfare regulation that could take effect by the end of this year, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The rule requires unlimited outdoor access for animals, an industry norm, and prohibits the small enclosed “porches” that some poultry farms have said are sufficient.
Producers must also provide enough room for their cattle, hogs, and poultry to stand up, turn around, lie down, fully stretch their limbs, and carry out natural behaviors, such as rooting by pigs. Those are a contrast with conventional agriculture, where egg-laying hens are often housed in “battery” cages and sow crates restrict the movement of pregnant sows in the days before they give birth and until their piglets are weaned.
“We shout from the rooftops how grateful we are,” said Montana farmer Nate Powell-Palm, chair of the National Organic Standards Board. The new rule makes organic “the gold standard of animal care,” he said. Powell-Palm took a break from an NOSB meeting to join a teleconference on the livestock rule.
The USDA spent a decade working on an organic livestock rule before proposing it in the final days of the Obama administration. The Trump administration withdrew the rule in 2018 on grounds that it lacked the authority to enforce humane treatment standards on organic farms. The Biden administration unveiled its proposal, largely similar to the withdrawn rule, in August 2022. The final rule, previewed on Wednesday, was expected to be published formally soon and would take effect 60 days later. Farmers would have a year to comply, with poultry farmers having five years to meet the requirements for outdoor access and space indoors to move about.
“USDA is creating a fairer, more competitive, and transparent food system,” said Vilsack. “This organic poultry and livestock standard establishes clear and strong standards that will increase the consistency of animal welfare practices in organic production and in how these practices are enforced.”
The Organic Trade Association said the animal welfare rule would help level the playing field for organic producers and “ensure consumers that the organic meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs they choose have been raised with plenty of access to the real outdoors and in humane conditions.” Sales of organic food topped $60 billion in 2022, said the OTA.
A pre-publication version of the rule was available here.
A USDA fact sheet on the rule was available here.