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Which produces more pollution organic/traditional?

Murgen

Well-known member
Here's a story I came across pertaining to Organic milk production.

I guess my question would be, what produces more green house gas?

You can feed them "organic" feed produced with twice the fuel.

Pasture a higher % of animals to produce the same amount of milk on increased acreage, needed to support twice the acreage needed to produce organic food crops?

And here is a good quote: Aren't these same people that are buying organic, buying up "nature" to build their houses within that same "nature", to get out to the healthy lifestyle. (urban sprawl)

"We're trying to farm our land and our livestock in the way nature intended," Minar said.



Changes in organic dairy worry some
AGRICULTURE: Corporate-owned feedlot operations have provoked a backlash from owners of small farms and consumers.
BY STEVE KARNOWSKI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
JORDAN, Minn. - The cows on Pam and Jeff Riesgraf's farm chomped away on lush green grass on a warm, sunny afternoon. Their milk would soon find its way to grocery stores, where organic dairy products are a hot item.

The Riesgraf farm represents one vision for organic dairy -- small- andmedium-sized family farms where the cows have names and spend the growing season at pasture.

A different kind of organic dairy farm is emerging -- corporate-owned feedlot operations with thousands of cows that are fed organic grain but, according to critics, get little chance to graze.

Fears that big operations will muscle out family farms have produced a backlash, including a boycott by the Organic Consumers Association against the country's biggest organic milk brand, Horizon Organic.

Organic farmers and consumer groups are hoping the U.S. Department of Agriculture will level the field. The agency is considering whether to mandate that milk bearing the "USDA Organic" seal come from cows that have significant access to pasture, a move smaller producers say would give them the protection they need.

Chris Hoffman drank Horizon milk until she learned about the dispute and switched brands.

The Sherburne, N.Y., woman said she had thought she was buying milk from "family farms with happy cows." To her, feedlot milk does not follow the spirit of organic farming.

"I just think it's patently dishonest. And it just really ticked me off," she said.

Horizon, part of Fort Worth, Texas-based Dean Foods Co., sells about half of the organic milk in the U.S., through retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Its president and CEO, Joe Scalzo, said Horizon is a strong supporter of family farms, helping hundreds make the transition to organic. Horizon is just trying to meet the "exponential" growth in a market where demand outstrips supply by about 20 percent, he said.

Mark Kastel, senior farm policy analyst with the Wisconsin-based research group Cornucopia Institute, countered, "There's been a near consensus in the organic community that these factory farms are repugnant to the consumer and put organic farms at a disadvantage."

Kastel said consumers of organic milk are willing to pay more because they believe it's produced to higher ethical standards that benefit the environment, the animals and family farmers.

"They don't think they're supporting rich corporate investors who think organics is a great way to cash in," he said.

The Organic Trade Association says the U.S. organic dairy sector racked up $2.1 billion in sales last year, up 24 percent from 2004. Organics now make up3.5 percent of all dairy products sold in the U.S., according to the group.

While Scalzo said the boycott has had "very, very little" effect, he acknowledged Horizon has had to spend time explaining its position to stores.

While Broomfield, Colo.-based Horizon has taken the most heat, the critics also slam Aurora Organic Dairy of Boulder, Colo., which provides private-label organic milk to chains including Costco, Safeway, Giant and Wild Oats.

Executives with Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. recently toured Horizon's Idaho farm and were pleased with improvements made there, said Margaret Wittenberg, vice president of communications and quality standards.

"The cows looked in good health. They were certainly curious, which is always a good sign. They're being taken care of," Wittenberg said

But Whole Foods was not impressed by Aurora's Colorado farm.

"It remains unacceptable for us," she said, declining to elaborate.

The USDA is drafting a proposed rule that probably will come out this fall, and there will be another comment period, spokeswoman Joan Shaffer said.

The nation's largest farmer-owned organic dairy co-op, the Organic Valley Family of Farms, based in LaFarge, Wis., says its 572 family-owned dairy farms nationwide already exceed the proposed standards.

Organics have been a lifeline to many family farmers because organic milk fetches a higher price than conventional milk. The Riesgrafs, who milk about 55 cows near Jordan, southwest of Minneapolis, credit Organic Valley with keeping them in business.

"We have a stable price, and we've slowly been increasing our price," Jeff Riesgraf said.

A few miles away, near New Prague, Dave and Florence Minar have carved out their own niche, producing and bottling organic milk at Cedar Summit Farm, which milks about 160 cows.

Dave Minar and the Riesgrafs said they're confident they can compete if the USDA requires meaningful access to pasture. But they don't back the boycott, and they sympathize with the smaller organic farmers who supply Horizon.

"We're trying to farm our land and our livestock in the way nature intended," Minar said.
 

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Well I guess I'm an organic farmer-I'm just too damned cheap to spend money on spray and fertilizer-I blow my money on cross fences and genetics. One thing I have noticed this year-something the plow jockeys are using is killing birds all over the place-our neighbors dog died after eating one of them and one of ours just about cashed it in. Found a bunch of dead gulls along our fenceline where they'd sprayed a few days ago. It's nice not being a slave to the chemical pimps-we grow as much grass as the guys who are.
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
Murgen said:
I guess my question would be, what produces more green house gas?

First you have to believe that mankind can control the environment.
The most abundant green house gas...water vapor. Oh my God, we can't have too much of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 

Econ101

Well-known member
Northern Rancher said:
Well I guess I'm an organic farmer-I'm just too damned cheap to spend money on spray and fertilizer-I blow my money on cross fences and genetics. One thing I have noticed this year-something the plow jockeys are using is killing birds all over the place-our neighbors dog died after eating one of them and one of ours just about cashed it in. Found a bunch of dead gulls along our fenceline where they'd sprayed a few days ago. It's nice not being a slave to the chemical pimps-we grow as much grass as the guys who are.

Makes you wonder if you should eat products from that type of "farming" if it kills all the animals exposed. NR, maybe you should try to get certified as organic and get a premium. It works for others.

RobertMac, is there a difference in milk from cows that get most (or all) of their meal from grass compared to grain fed as there is in beef grass fed vs. grain fed?
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
Econ101 said:
RobertMac, is there a difference in milk from cows that get most (or all) of their meal from grass compared to grain fed as there is in beef grass fed vs. grain fed?

Research from Dr. Tilak Dhiman, Utah State...it took about 4 weeks on pasture only for milk to reach maximum CLA and omega-3 levels...it took 4 days of feeding grain to lose it. Grassfed milk and butter are better sources of the benefits of 100% grassfed. Real butter is one of the most health beneficial foods you can consume...margarine, the worst!!!!
 

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