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In Georgia, lawmakers are introducing legislation to legalize raw milk. From the Jacksonville News:
"It will be regulated like any lawful milk product," McKillip said. "It puts it under the Department of Agriculture. If you're producing raw milk, you're under the same regulations as dairy farmers producing pasteurized milk."
With an interesting note in the comments: Read more...
It's fashionable to smack Obama these days, and while I share the instinct of both my lefty and wingnut pals to shake their heads in confusion at Washington, I remain wowed by one aspect of this presidency: The Obama USDA. His appointment of Tom Vilsack continues to impress me and prove my initital fears wrong.
Two cool pieces of news, if you're a proponent of organic ag and small farming like I am. First, the USDA's National Organic Program announced that it was tightening up organic dairying rules in a way that fortifies pasturing at the expense of feedlot dairies (all eyes are now on the USDA and the obviously non-compliant Aurora Organic Dairy). Read more...
New USDA Rules Establish Strong Organic Standards for Pasture and Livestock Read more...
The president trotted out his proposed $3.8 gabajillion dollar budget this week, and we should note that the USDA's National Organic Program is receiving a 44% increase in funding: A $10.1 million budget, with $2.1 million earmarked specifically "for regulatory review and enforcement and to forge agreements with other countries to help expand exports" (Burlington Free Press). Read more...
Last week, Fair Food Fight petitioned dairy farmers for their take on ABC's piece on dehorning, and it was an excellent discussion. Read the whole thread if you want a nice, strong cup of farmer know-how. Read more...
I speak to quite a few farmers on Twitter -- sustainable, conventional, and organic operations -- and I'm seeking comments to find out what they think about this. From ABC:
Via Cornucopia Institute: Family farmers from around the country, who produce organic milk, are petitioning president Obama, and the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for the swift adoption of new strict rulemaking that will rein in the abuses of a handful of factory farms they claim are violating both the spirit and letter of the federal organic law.
Read more...
If you were up late, you saw that Fair Food Fight tweeted this last night: The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has issued a statement saying that it doesn't intend to grant a new permit to stinky Excel Dairy in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Read more...
A cow with an excess of 129 times the legal limit for penicillin was yanked from the slaughter line in Minnesota. From the Star Tribune:
J&L Dairy, in Clarissa, Minn., sent a dairy cow to slaughter in March, even though it was drugged with 129 times the amount of penicillin allowed under federal regulations. Read more...
On October 27th, Idaho's Magic Valley-based Times-News blared: "Dairy's Social Impact Studied." The article, not surprisingly, is a joke.
Rather than do his journalistic homework and compare the actual methods and data found in the so-called "study" (which you can access in full here) with the researchers' and industry's glowing spin--dairy was the Magic Valley's economic lifeboat during this economic downturn, uninsured underpaid dairy workers don't overly burden hospitals, and similar familiar tripe--the writer, Joshua Palmer, clearly takes what they have to say for granted. Read more...
