The challenges of certified organic milk production

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THE CHALLENGES OF CERTIFIED ORGANIC MILK PRODUCTION

by Judy Hurvid

One of the workshops that I attended at the 1997 Guelph conference was "The Challenges of Certified Organic Milk Production". Ted Zettel led this workshop and around 40 people, including dairy farmers and interested consumers, attended it. Ted is one of nine dairy farmers who have joined together with OntarBio Organic Farmers Co-operative to sell organic dairy products. At this time, these products include 2% milk, skim milk, butter, 10% cream and cheese. I tasted all these products at the trade show. The milk is delicious and creamy, the cheese full flavored, and the butter, well, I’ve never tasted better.

Ted is a fifth generation farmer, and together with his wife, Christine, and their six children, farms 250 acres near Walkerton in southwestern Ontario. He has 30 cows and grows all of his own cow feed and grain.

Fifteen years before organic milk was marketed, a group of farmers began to meet and share their expertise on how to achieve organic status on their farms. Under the leadership of several European immigrants, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) held courses and farm tours. They taught soil biology, crop rotation, cover cropping, weed control, composting, and holistic livestock management. Farmers then began to seek certification for their grain and other field crops. A co-operative, OntarBio, was formed to market these organic crops.

Ted explained how he grows crops organically. He reduces weeds and adds fertility to the soil through cover crops, rotation of fields, and the use of compost. Ted composts in a special barn that was built for that purpose. Compost is the link in the cycle between the livestock and the land – the link that makes the farm sustainable. Clover, oil radish and buckwheat are his green manures, and he grows oats, barley, rye and peas. He takes two cuts from his hay fields, in which he grows mixed grasses and legumes, a good mixture for the land, he says.

Ted told us why he feels that more farmers don’t convert to organic. He said that many farmers have to buy their grain, and organic grain costs $100 a ton more than conventional. He advises farmers to become self-sufficient in grain or reduce the size of the herd. This makes the farm sustainable and makes it easier to maintain an organic herd. Ted felt that it is hard for busy dairy farmers to find time to get educated and time to change. He quoted: "It’s hard to think about draining the swamp when you’re up to your ass in alligators!"

With respect to animal husbandry, organic farmers know that there is a direct health link between the soil, the plants, the herd and consumers. In Ted’s view, the hardest part of switching to organic disease treatment or control is "in the farmer’s head". Prevention is the key to herd health. This involves feed quality and suitability of feeds, grain-to-forage ratio, housing, air and water quality, calf rearing and other factors. Ted reduces the need for medicine by not stressing the animals. Their small herd has access to outdoors all year, is pastured from spring to fall, and eats mostly hay and a small amount of grain. Ted says that "what is good for the animal is good for the farmer." Every decision the farmer makes may impact on the health of the animals. "It is in this regard that organic farming differs most obviously from the conventional. Conventional systems have relied on a ‘quick fix’ solution to problems, whereas organic farmers must understand the connectedness of living systems on their farms."

Vet bills have dropped by half since Ted began this system. He uses the vet mainly for diagnosis, then he treats the animal using traditional, not conventional, preparations. He likes home remedies such as apple cider vinegar as a tonic to fight fever or stress, and for newborn calves. He gives probiotics to stimulate immune systems, and also uses vitamin therapy and modern homeopathic remedies. He will give cow colostrum instead of an antibiotic. If, in rare circumstances, the animal must go on antibiotics, its milk is taken out of the supply for a minimum of twelve days after treatment. Conventional farmers remove milk for 0 to 96 hours, depending on the antibiotic. Ted said that the farmers are using this holistic health system for the health of their families as well as their animals.

For many years organic dairy farmers had been trying to convince the powerful Dairy Farmers of Ontario to separate organic milk from the mainstream supply. This was unsuccessful until they used the argument that consumers were demanding organic dairy products. They asked the management staff, "Do you want the U.S. or Quebec farmers to supply this demand, or Ontario farmers?" The staff agreed to a two-year trial period, which ended in January, 1997. The organic dairy farmers now have "permanent" approval to market organic dairy products. This approval could be withdrawn at any time, however.

Organic farming takes careful planning. So many services that conventional farmers take for granted must be modified by organic farmers. For example, they cannot phone the local feed mill for grain, or buy a heifer at the local auction. Ted’s advice to someone trying to farm organically is to join a group of others who share their goals, for mutual support and advice.

Ted said that "modern agriculture is not listening to consumers." In view of this, he suggested, "Consumers should buy organic to influence farmers." He is pleased that his small group has more quality control and accountability to the consumers of their dairy foods. The group publishes a "moosletter" called The Organic Meadow Moos. In each issue they profile a farm family and give information on how the cows are faring, as well as answer questions. Last summer, the group invited consumers to an Open Farm Day: "See for yourself where this food comes from and how it is produced." As a result, a busload of customers spent a day on Ineka Booy’s farm. As Brewster Kneen would say, "it’s the process as much as the product. Part of this process is the fact that when people are buying food directly from the people that have produced it, the food becomes part of the story. It loses it status as a commodity, packaged, faceless and distant....the ‘package’ is the farm itself."

Every other day, the farms send out 14,000 liters of milk to be processed. The milk must be pasteurized by law. Called Organic Meadow, the milk comes in one-liter containers which sell for about $1.99 in health food stores. Zehr’s and Longo’s carry it as well. The group also markets unsalted cultured butter and 10% cream under the same brand name. The line of six cheeses, called Country Meadow, is processed by Pine River Cheese Company.

For more information about Organic Meadow and Country Meadow dairy products, contact OntarBio Organic Farmers Co-operative Inc., R.R. #1, Durham, ON N0G 1R0, phone: (519) 638-5056, fax: (519) 638-5645.

Judy Hurvid is a freelance writer and editor and a member of COGNITION’s editorial board. She and her family raise organic chickens and vegetables at Newtonville, Ontario.

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