West Salem, WI: An estimated 150-200 organic dairy farmers, and their
supporters, from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa held a “demonstration”
at the La Crosse County Fair on Thursday. Their goal was to convince
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to take immediate and aggressive
enforcement action against a handful of “factory farms” allegedly
saturating the market with illegal organic milk.

Secretary Vilsack’s comments indicate that the farmers may have been
successful in their mission. “We are focusing on rules that will level
the playing field so that small and medium size producers have a fair
shot,” said Vilsack, sparking applause from the crowd. “We are, as you
are, asking questions about how producers can make so little and how
others who are in the chain can make so much,” added Vilsack.

One farmer shouted a question to the Agriculture Secretary, asking
when the USDA will take action against organic lawbreakers. “I commit
to you that we will enforce the rules,” Vilsack responded.

Under the Bush administration the USDA was accused of “looking the
other way” as large corporate agribusinesses invested in organics while
allegedly violating federal standards. In the dairy sector there are
now estimated to be 20 large industrial dairies, each milking 1500-7000
cows, producing as much as 40% of the nation’s organic milk supply. A
glut of factory farm milk has flooded the organic dairy sector
squeezing the incomes of family farmers as dairy processors cut
payments and demand production cutbacks.

Mark Kastel, rally organizer with The Cornucopia Institute, told
Secretary Vilsack that, “We’d like you to re-open the Aurora
investigation.” Aurora, operator of five factory farms in Colorado and
Texas and the organic milk store-brand supplier for Wal-Mart, Target,
Safeway, Costco and other national chains, was found to have
“willfully” violated numerous organic regulations by USDA investigators
in 2007. The company received mild sanctions from USDA political
appointees who rejected staff recommendations calling for revocation of
Aurora’s organic certification.

Cornucopia has questioned the legality of the USDA’s agreement with
Aurora allowing the nation’s largest corporate organic dairy operator
to remain in business. The Bush administration permitted Aurora to
retain over 10,000 conventional cows illegally brought onto their
operations.

Darlene Coehoorn, a dairy farmer from Oshkosh, WI, and president of
the Midwest Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, noted that she milked her
own cows before coming to the rally. “Keep the dream alive,” she said
between tears, asking for the ability to pass her farm down to the next
generation. “Independent family farms are becoming an endangered
species,” Coehoorn added.

Bruce Drinkman, a fourth generation dairy farmer from Glenwood City,
WI told how his wife had to cash in their IRA this past spring so they
could continue operating their farm. “We deserve better,” Drinkman
said. “We have to stand together and we have to do it now,” he implored
the crowd.

In addition to USDA Secretary Vilsack, Wisconsin’s Governor Jim
Doyle visited the event at the fairgrounds in West Salem, and was well
received, as did the state’s Secretary of Agriculture and other local,
state and federal officials.

“It used to be fun,” said Jim Goodman, of Wonewoc, WI, a dairy
farmer who has been certified organic for 10 years. “See our plight and
listen to us,” Goodman told Vilsack. “We aren’t asking a lot – make
organic mean organic.”

One of the strongest supporters of the development of organic food
and agriculture has been the nation’s 270 natural food cooperatives.
Michelle Schry, the manager at People’s Food Co-op in Lacrosse, WI came
to the rally to show their solidarity with struggling family dairy
farmers. “Whatever we can do to support you, we will do,” Schry told
the crowd. “We want that (organic) label to be protected as much as you
do.”

Pat Skogen said she was a school teacher before she decided to “go
broke as a dairy farmer.” She mentioned how crazy it was that farmers
are being forced to apply for food stamps from the USDA to feed their
families because their incomes have crashed. “We need help,” added the
Loganville, WI farmer, calling for a national farm policy that would
recognize farmland as a national resource.

One representative of a dairy processor spoke at the rally. Steve
Pechacek, of Organic Choice, said they used to have 19 buyers for their
organic milk and dairy products produced by their farmer owners when
they started operations four years ago. “Today we have two,” Pechacek
observed, referencing the corporate consolidation taking place. He
noted the problems caused by factory farms abusing organic rules and
called for enforcement. “We can’t wait another four years, this has to
work right now,” he said.

With all the negative fallout for organic dairy farmers rally
organizers reminded consumers that, according to Cornucopia Institute
research and the scorecard that can be found on their website, 90% of
all namebrand organic products are produced with high integrity by
family farmers. “These factory farms are a bad aberration,” according
to Kastel. “We encourage organic consumers to do a little bit of
homework and make sure the brands they buy are supporting the families
that are working so hard to produce legitimate organic milk.”

“We small farmers are being discriminated against,” said John
Kinsman, a dairy farmer from LaValle, WI. He asked where the openness
and transparency was that was promised by the new Administration. “Our
urban counterparts are not aware of what is happening because the price
has not changed in the grocery stores.”

Rally organizers and participants strongly illustrated their
solidarity with their neighbors milking conventional cows. “It would be
profoundly positive for organic dairy if conventional producers were
receiving a fair price for their milk,” said Kastel. The price gap at
retail, between conventional and organic fluid milk, is the largest in
the history of the industry based on the crash of prices paid to
conventional producers.

“We are quite heartened by the respectful appearance of Secretary
Vilsack,” added Kastel. “His response was ‘spot-on’ in terms of
committing to a crack down on organic scofflaws and reforming the
carryover-management at the USDA’s organic program.”

Rally participants said their most important message was to instill
“a sense of immediacy” with the Secretary in terms of addressing the
stepped-up enforcement actions that he has promised.

In addition to The Cornucopia Institute, the emergency organic dairy
farmer rally was cosponsored by Family Farm Defenders, Center for Rural
Affairs, Missouri Rural Crisis Center, Midwest Organic Dairy Producers
Alliance, Church’s Center for Land and People, National Family Farm
Coalition, and the Interfaith Program Action Council.

Those attending the rally brought organic food products for donation
to a local food pantry and passed the hat for additional donations.
Cornucopia’s Kastel said they collected 50 pounds of non-perishable
foods for donation as well as $125 that is being donated. A symbolic
milk dump took place using some of the surplus as organic fertilizer
and to feed hogs at the county fair.

Video of much of Secretary Vilsack’s comments can be found here:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2009/07/17/news/00lead.txt

WKBT-TV covers the rally:
http://www.wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=10741162#