Family Dairy Farmers Appeal to Obama Administration for Swift Enforcement WASHINGTON, DC: Aurora Dairy, based in Boulder, Colorado, the nation’s largest organic dairy producer, is once again facing allegations of improprieties. Aurora had previously been found in “willful” violation of multiple federal organic standards by USDA investigators in 2007. This week an organic industry watchdog,… Read more »
Aurora Dairy Exemption from Check-off Program Challenged
USDA should demand retroactive payment from faux organic milk producers Cornucopia, WI “The Cornucopia Institute has sent a formal request to the Chief of the USDA’s Dairy Promotion and Research Program, requesting that the program collect almost three years’ worth of unpaid dairy promotion “check-off” assessments from the Colorado-based Aurora Dairy. Since February 2005, the… Read more »
Organic Dairy Allowed to Continue Operations Near Gill Until Hearing in August
The Greeley Tribune Andrew Villegas Aurora Organic Dairy near Gill will be allowed to continue operations despite a substantial fly problem bothering neighbors. The Board of Weld County Commissioners decided on a split vote Wednesday to continue a hearing until August 2008 that could revoke the dairy’s special permit to operate the dairy with 4,500… Read more »
Huge Dairy Doesn’t Fit Organic Image
Aurora operation foes say farm pays lip service to ideal Rocky Mountain News By Joyzelle Davis PLATTEVILLE, CO – Not far from the truck stops that mark the I-25 turnoff to Longmont, Colorado’s largest organic dairy spreads across 500 acres. Some of the farm’s 1,075 black-and- white Holsteins amble across a pasture while others in… Read more »
An Organic Milk War Turns Sour
Now that his dairy company has settled charges that it violated organic food standards, Aurora president Mark Retzloff wants to muzzle foes. Fortune’s Marc Gunther reports. Fortune (this link no longer available) By Marc Gunther, Fortune senior writer (Fortune) — Mark Retzloff, a pioneer of the $16.7 billion organic food industry and president of Aurora Organic… Read more »
Was Target’s Organic Milk Just Regular?
Claims that “organic” milk sold to Target and Wal-Mart was conventional highlight a dispute over dairy-farm practices. Minneapolis Star Tribune By Matt McKinney Ever wonder how Target Corp. could sell its organic milk for dollars less than other stores? Turns out the milk might not have been truly organic after all. Last month, the U.S…. Read more »
USDA Enforcement Action At Nation’s Largest Dairy Fails to Levy Fines or Yank Certification – Findings of Investigation Appear to Constitute Fraud
Watchdog: Organic Community “Taking the Law into Its Own Hands” CORNUCOPIA, WI: Announcing the filing of additional legal complaints with the USDA, and threatening civil litigation, the nation’s most aggressive organic watchdog, The Cornucopia Institute, blasted the USDA for not penalizing the industry’s largest organic milk producer after government regulators found that they have perpetrated… Read more »
Willful Violations
On April 16, 2007, the Mark Bradley, the head of the National Organic Program, sent a letter to Marc Peperzak, the CEO of the Aurora Organic Dairy. Mr. Bradley summarized the results of the USDA’s investigation into complaints filed with the Agency by The Cornucopia Institute concerning Aurora’s organic farming practices: During the course of… Read more »
Update on Aurora and Trader Joe’s
We have verified that although some of the milk that Trader Joe’s is buying does indeed come from a factory-farm, milking thousands of cows, that particular farm is not under Aurora’s ownership. All the other brands that The Cornucopia Institute referenced (Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Safeway, and many others) get all or some of their milk… Read more »
USDA Enforcement Hammer Falls on Nation’s Largest Organic Factory Dairy
USDA Requiring Aurora Organics to Reduce Dairy Herd Size and Remove Organic Label from Some Milk At 7:20 p.m. EST, August 29, the USDA issued an emergency news release announcing that they had sent a Letter of Revocation to the Aurora Organic Dairy. In lieu of revoking Aurora’s organic certification, the Agency has instead entered… Read more »
