WHY THE ORGANIC PASTURE RULE IS A GOOD THING

1. The large “organic” (meaning “fake”) operations will have to change (and already are). One of the major issues with organic dairy was the presence of essentially confinement operations in the West that did not allow animals access to pasture, or the pasture that was available was not adequate for dairy. Essentially the animals were fed their necessary ration for milk production in confinement, and then possibly allowed out for a short time (but didn’t eat anything). These large operations supplied major chains like Wal-Mart and others. Consumers were becoming more and more aware of this, and realizing what they thought “organic” meant was not what they were buying. This was extremely bad for the organic label.

2. Ruminant livestock in general will have to have more pasture in their diets. This absolutely is a good thing. Cows, sheep and goats are geared for grazing. The resulting meat and milk from these animals will be healthier. I know there will be those that disagree, but speaking as a producer and a processor I can tell the difference in a big way through taste and the health of my family.  One doesn’t have to look far to find study after study supporting the nutritional value and quality of organic foods vs non-organic. The information that refutes this is heavily influenced by large economic interests that profit off of confinement feeding with a lot of grain.

3.  The increase in opportunity. One opportunity that I can see is a custom grazing operation that would take replacement heifers from an organic dairy for the grazing season. This would have several positive benefits: (1) the dairy would realize a decrease  in labor in regards to not having to take care of those animals, (2) a decrease in feed requirement in terms of pasture,  and (3) an increase in pasture for the money-making milking herd OR additional land on the home farm for grain production. In addition, another local farm would have a good business helping the dairy adhere to the organic pasture rule and make some additional money. The more economic activity I see happening, the better it is for the local economy. I can attest to this: I graze a local dairyman’s replacements for the summer. It works very well, as I get paid per head/per day, the dairyman brings a grain mix as a supplement and minerals, I get animal impact on my pastures, and the dairyman can increase his milking herd and actually make more money in the long run.

WHY THE ORGANIC PASTURE RULE IS A BAD THING

1. The increased paperwork. One thing that grates on organic producers is the paperwork involved. It seems backwards that an environmentally better agricultural production model has to “prove” itself, when probably the reverse should be true.  I know for certain that the increased paperwork has resulted in organic producers making the decision to give up certification.  In the dairy world the increased paperwork has put off those that are on the fence of deciding to transition. Also, on the certification end of things that increased paperwork and scrutiny has resulted in increases in costs and fees, which increase the costs of certification — which could lead to an increase of cost to the end consumer. Someone has to pay for all of that.

2. The hit to the small guy. I say this with tongue in cheek, because the small guy needs to play by the rules as well. Already there is a move afoot to modify the Pasture Rule, only because of the unintended consequences to the small producer. HOWEVER, I think that generally speaking everyone needs to move towards increasing the amount of pasture ruminant animals have under their care for their enterprise to be certified organic.

This is just a short analysis of a very impactful ruling. One thing for sure that I believe will be the short-term result, and that will be a shortage of organic milk and organic meat. I havent’ even addressed the issue of pasture or access to pasture for organic chickens. That’s another story in itself.

Now, how do I feel about it? I love it! Rain waters my grass. Managing the cows properly will also result in timely planting of future seed. Since my grass this year shot to the reproductive stage in May before I could graze it, a lot of grass went to seed. Utilizing high-density grazing, my first time through the paddocks with the cows resulted in a lot of grass seed being planting in moist soil with cattle hooves. As I’ve said before, I strive to organize the grazing paddocks so that the cows have enough to eat for one day or less plus trample at least half of the forage available. That trampling effect lays a layer of grass down as mulch and future organic matter, plus shakes loose all the grass seed ready to increase my grass sward.

I believe that years like this can help focus the debate. We grow way too much corn and soybeans in Iowa. We use way to much questionable hilly erodible ground for row crops, when those areas should be planted to grass or some long-term perennial that will hold the topsoil. The more grass we plant and the more focus we have in managing animals in such a way as to create more topsoil, the more water we’ll hold, the less floods we’ll have, as well as minimizing drought.

1. In nature the overriding principle is diversity – which creates stable ecosystems. The more diversity on my farm, the more stable and resistant to weather shocks (like drought, rain, etc).

2. Cattle and sheep are dead-end hosts for each other’s parasites. The cattle suck up a lot of sheep parasites in their grazing rotation, which help lessen the load in the sheep as they come behind and graze after the cows. The opposite is true with the sheep grazing and cattle parasites.  Every little bit helps.

3. Sheep and cows eat different plants – thus utilizing more available forage and allowing for more animals (albeit different species) to graze ( and increasing farm income, btw). The key to grazing, however, is time of exposure and return. What I mean by this is the initial exposure of the plants to grazing pressure, how long the plants are exposed, and how long does the plant have to recover before being exposed to grazing pressure again.

Ultimately I’d like to have chickens, goats and maybe even pigs in my rotation. This would help diversify my operation even further, encourage different forages to grow, and focus my efforts on maximizing the farm’s potential as a revenue source without compromising my ecological goals.