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Organic Practices
The philosophy of organic production is to provide conditions that
meet the health needs and natural behavior of the animal. Thus,
organic livestock are given access to the outdoors, fresh air, water,
sunshine, grass and pasture, and are fed 100 percent organic feed. Any
shelter provided must be designed to allow the animal comfort and the
opportunity to exercise.
Organic practices prohibit feeding animal parts of any kind to
ruminants that, by nature, eat a vegetarian diet.
Thus, no animal byproducts of any sort are incorporated in organic
feed at any time.
National organic standards require oversight of
production and handling systems. For instance, production and handling
operations must undergo onsite inspections and have farm or operating
plans in place in order to be certified organic. The standards also
specify feed requirements, including what is and is not allowed.
For instance, in organic
production, livestock cannot be fed plastic pellets for roughage, or
formulas containing urea or manure. They cannot be given antibiotics
or growth hormones. All of these are allowable practices in
conventional agriculture. For an animal to be raised for organic beef,
its mother must have been fed organic feed for at least the last third
of gestation.
The Organic Beef
Marketplace
For the average consumer, there is probably much confusion about the
difference between an "organic" product and a "natural" product. An
organic product must comply with the stringent production, animal
husbandry and processing requirements of an organic standard. The
marketing term "natural" is not as clearly defined as "organic". In
general terms, a natural meat product is produced without the use of
antibiotics and artificial growth stimulants. Organic meat production
requires additional provisions that include an audit trail and
third-party verification.
Organic Standard
Requirements
Because there may be slight differences in requirements between the
various organic standards, producers should always review the standard
to which they are complying, and ensure acceptance of products and
practices by their particular certifying organization. It is not the
intent of this publication to outline detailed requirements of organic
livestock production, but general guidelines can be given.
Record Keeping
Detailed record keeping of all aspects of the operation is required by
the certification agency. The standards are defined by the certifying
agency; there is third party inspection of the producer's operation,
including animals, facility and records. Ultimately there is an audit
trail from the primary product to the finished product.
Stock Replenishment
Beef to be sold as organic must be maintained under continuous organic
management. Non-organic breeder stock may be brought into an organic
operation provided that the animals, if gestating, are brought into
the organic operation prior to the third trimester. There are no
restrictions on male breeding stock and the practice of artificial
insemination is discouraged.
Animal
Health Care Practices
Producers of organic livestock should establish, maintain and document
their preventive health care practices, particularly the practice they
employ if illness occurs, and the protocol for determining when a sick
animal must receive a prohibited drug. If prohibited drugs are used,
the animal must be identified and sold into non-organic markets. In
such a case, detailed records of the medication, animal identification
and receipt of the conventional sale must be retained. Ruthless
culling of chronic problem cattle is the best way to develop a healthy
herd that is adapted to a particular farm
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