What Makes Milk Organic? New Standard Proposed

When consumers pay top dollar for organic milk, they know they're getting dairy that's free of synthetic growth hormones, pesticides and antibiotics.

Now there's a move to ensure cows are feeding on plenty of fresh grass if producers want to label the milk as organic.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued draft rules that would require cows to be on pasture during the entire grazing season. The regulation would also require that cows on organic dairy farms get a minimum of 30 percent of their diet from grazing.

The proposals are intended to close a loophole that has allowed some huge feedlots, with thousands of cows, to sell their milk as organic even though their cows rarely graze on fresh grass.

It's not a perfect proposal, according to the organic watchdog group The Cornucopia Institute. "What we need to do is level the playing field" says Cornucopia's Mark Kastel.

100 Percent Grass-Fed

Natural by Nature is an organic co-op in Pennsylvania that sells milk produced by dairy farmers who have switched to grass-feeding operations. Mennonite farmer Roman Stoltzfoos of Kinzers, Pa., is among the co-op's producers. Stoltzfoos says he supports the USDA's proposed rule, with some modifications.

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