Massive Organic Cattle Farm Has 'Organic' Certification Revoked

Promiseland Livestock, LLC, recent was taken out of the organic market, after a four year investigation. Promiseland is one of the largest producers of organic cattle in the U.S., so they say. OpEdNews reports that the November 25 decision says Promiseland was doing fraudulent practices:

Promiseland, a multimillion dollar operation with facilities in Missouri and Nebraska, including over 13,000 acres of crop land, and managing 22,000 head of beef and dairy cattle, had been accused of multiple improprieties in formal legal complaints, including not feeding organic grain to cattle, selling fraudulent organic feed and “laundering” conventional cattle as organic.

“We are pleased that justice has been served in the Promiseland matter,” said Mark A. Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst for the Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute. Scrutiny from Cornucopia, one of the industry’s most aggressive independent watchdogs, was part of the genesis for the comprehensive USDA investigation and subsequent legal proceedings.

Promiseland sold products to many major supermarkets and stores, like Wal-Mart, Safeway, and Costco. Promiseland sold their cows to one of the largest organic dairy producers in the U.S., Horizon Organic.
Allegedly, the Bush administration let Promiseland operate with knowledge of what they were doing:

According to Cornucopia, the Bush administration allowed Promiseland and Aurora to continue operating for years with knowledge of the issue. Administrative law judge Peter Davenport in Washington, DC suspended certification on November 25. Promiseland was not actually accused of selling fraudulent organic products, but rather of not allowing the USDA to inspect financial and organic records, according to Cornucopia’s press release.

The USDA recently started to investigate companies who have dubious organic certifications, says a Bnet report:

The director of the USDA’s National Organic Program recently announced that the agency was now entering the “age of enforcement.”

Cornucopia Institute gives more insight into the issue:

“From formal legal complaints that we filed, Bush Administration officials at the USDA were alerted, starting in January 2005, to the alleged improprieties by massive factory farms masquerading as organic,” said Will Fantle, Research Director for The Cornucopia Institute.

Documents secured under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by The Cornucopia Institute indicate that the initial investigation was squashed for political reasons by Dr. Barbara Robinson, who until recently directed the USDA’s organic program.

“It is inexcusable that these improprieties took place for so long and that justice was delayed,” said Gary Cox, an attorney who represents Cornucopia. “Ethical organic dairy farmers have been placed at a distinct competitive disadvantage and consumers were obviously taken advantage of.”