U.S. Organic Dairy Politics : Animals, Pasture, People, and Agribusiness

Based on a decade of study, this book provides a scholarly overview of organic dairy politics, showing how politics, policy, and protest both inside and outside of agriculture can determine a future of pastoral landscapes resembling an earlier time in the western world or, alternatively, one made of dystopian ruralities. Since 1950, production of U.S. dairy cows has risen 250 percent, while the longevity of cows has plunged alongside the number of family farms. Additionally, farmers have had to respond to lower farmgate prices and commercial pressures by intensifying production with agribusiness technologies, including genetically modified hormones and antibiotics to fight disease and illnesses brought on by dairy cow confinement. This book examines the current resistance to corporate agribusiness being waged by organic dairy farmers, cooperatives, and consumer activists-commonly referred to as the 'Pasture War,' which resulted in strengthened USDA National Organic Program policies. Recent power shifts in the USDA, weak labeling laws, and dairy advertisement which blurs boundaries between conventional and organic food demonstrate the need for farmers to cut out the middlemen in dairy chains from cows to consumers Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 0 List of Photos and Illustrations 0 Foreword 0 Preface 0 Memoir: Bleak Winter to Spring Break 0 Acknowledgments 0 Acronyms and Glossary 0 1 Introduction: What Is Organic Dairying? 0 Background 0 Chapters 0 Chapter 1: Introduction: What Is Organic Dairying? 0 Chapter 2: Agricultural Revolutions: Winter Was Bleak before Haymaking 0 Chapter 3: USDA Organic Pasture War: Where Have All the Cow Herds Gone? 0 Chapter 4: Animal Welfare: From Rudolf Steiner to the St. Paul Declaration 0 Chapter 5: Stewardship in the Northwest: Dutch Stewards, Vets, and Researchers Discuss U.S., Canadian, and European Rules 0 Chapter 6: Antibiotics and Health in the Northeast and Beyond: Experts On U.S., Canadian, and European Rules 0 Chapter 7: Family Farms and Megadairies: Effects on Cows, Land, and Society 0 Organic and GMO Politics 0 GMOs in the Obama Era 0 A Dearth of GMO Health Checks 0 Dairy GMOs and Organics 0 Rural Livelihoods in the United States 0 Twenty-First Century Organics 0 CROPP Organic Cooperative 0 Transatlantic Comparisons 0 Black, White, and Grey 0 2 Agricultural Revolutions: Winter Was Bleak before Haymaking 0 Agricultural Revolutions 0 Biodynamics and Organics 0 Alar Prompts Organic Politics 0 Conventionalization of Organics 0 Mining the Earth 0 Organic Snapshot 0 Geographic Shifts 0 Cow Longevity Conference 2013 0 UK-U.S. Studies 0 Conclusion 0 A Note on Food Regimes 0 3 USDA Organic Pasture War: Where Have All the Cow Herds Gone? 0 CAFOs 0 McDonaldization 0 Upscaling 0 Rise of Cornucopia and Organic Consumers Association 0 Smouldering Pasture War 0 Organic Milk Boycott and Pasture Politics 0 Seattle Joins the Pasture War 0 Background: Awaiting the Pasture Ruling 0 Scale and Pasturing 0 Boycott Maneuvers 0 Outlook on Grazing and Future Welfare Issues 0 Grazing and CAFOs 0 MIRG Weakens Need for CAFOs 0 The Battle Turns 0 Final Pasture Rule 2010 0 Cornucopia’s Dairy Scorecard 0 Organic Timeline (Scholten 2006–14) 0 4 Animal Welfare: From Rudolf Steiner to the St. Paul Declaration 0 Confinement and Disease 0 Arguments 0 Conventional Lives Worth Living 0 Welfare Definitions 0 Antibiotics Dwindle 0 Singer’s Animal Liberation 0 California or Bust: Westward Upscaling 0 Dutch Barn 0 Steiner, Biodynamics, and Organics 0 Steiner, Balfour, and Howard in Britain 0 Pfeiffer and Rodale in the United States 0 IFOAM 0 IFOAM’s International Conference 2006 0 St. Paul Declaration 2006 0 5 Stewardship in the Northwest: Dutch Stewards, Vets, and Researchers Discuss U.S., Canadian, and European Rules 0 LeCompte-Mastenbrook on Dutch Stewardship 0 6 Antibiotics and Health in the Northeast and Beyond: Experts on U.S., Canadian, and European Rules 0 IFOAM on Antibiotics 0 Hue Karreman on Antibiotics 0 Conclusion 0 7 Family Farms and Megadairies: Effects on Cows, Land, and Society 0 U.S. Organic Dairy Politics Survey in 2013 0 Survey Construction and Methods 0 Farm Models 0 Survey Questions and Comments 0 Conclusions 0 8 Conclusions and Outlook: Agribusiness, Cooperatives, and Power to 2050 0 GMO Revolving Doors in Washington, DC 0 Farmers Lose Political Clout 0 GMO Labeling: I-522 Denouement in Washington State 0 Sting in the Tale 0 Dairy Farmageddon? 0 Culling Crisis 0 Valentine Surprise 0 Watchdogs 0 Status Quo Ante 0 U.S. Government 0 Bibliography 251 Index 279 Front Matter....Pages i-xx Introduction: What Is Organic Dairying?....Pages 1-40 Agricultural Revolutions: Winter Was Bleak before Haymaking....Pages 41-71 USDA Organic Pasture War: Where Have All the Cow Herds Gone?....Pages 73-117 Animal Welfare: From Rudolf Steiner to the St. Paul Declaration....Pages 119-153 Stewardship in the Northwest: Dutch Stewards, Vets, and Researchers Discuss U.S., Canadian, and European Rules....Pages 155-170 Antibiotics and Health in the Northeast and Beyond: Experts on U.S., Canadian, and European Rules....Pages 171-184 Family Farms and Megadairies: Effects on Cows, Land, and Society....Pages 185-204 Conclusions and Outlook: Agribusiness, Cooperatives, and Power to 2050....Pages 205-239 Back Matter....Pages 241-291