Agency closes investigation into Aurora Organic Dairy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has closed an investigation into Aurora Organic Dairy, a Boulderbased mega-dairy, finding no violations of organic standards this year.

The agency did not say whether it looked into the potential violations The Washington Post had uncovered last year, however, saying only that the company is currently operating in compliance with organic rules.

“We determined that Aurora’s livestock and pasture management practices comply with existing USDA organic regulations and NOP policies,” Betsy Rakola, the director of enforcement for the National Organic Program at USDA wrote in a letter to Aurora. “Therefore, the case is hereby closed.”

The closure of the case was blasted by the watchdog group that filed the official complaint who have long criticized the USDA for lax enforcement of organic standards. The extent of the USDA investigation is not known other than that it included a visit to the farm and a review of some records.

“Federal regulators believe Aurora, and other large members of the industry lobby group Organic Trade Association, are ‘too big to fail,’ ” said Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute, which filed the official complaint that set off the investigation after the Post report.

The Post reported in May that on repeated visits to the dairy last year, most of the cows were not grazing as required by organic rules. In addition, chemical analysis of the milk showed that it was more like conventional than other organic brands.

The Post also reported that inspectors who certify Aurora’s dairy as “USDA Organic” conducted their annual audit last year in November, well after grazing season — a breach of USDA inspection policy. That means those inspectors would not have seen whether the cows were grazing as required.

Officials from Aurora Organic Dairy, which has supplied organic milk for brands sold at Walmart, Costco and Target, touted the closure of the investigation as vindication of its practices.

“The NOP confirmed what we have known all along: that Aurora Organic Dairy is a 100 percent organic company,” said Marc Peperzak, founder and CEO of the company. “We’ve confronted false criticism with facts by fully and transparently cooperating with this enforcement process, and this outcome clearly validates our organic certifications.”

Beginning this spring, following the Post story, Aurora started to graze much more of its 15,000-cow herd, according to a person who lives near the company’s High Plains complex near Greeley who declined to be identified for fear of angering the company.

The USDA typically does not inspect a farm to see whether it meets USDA organic standards and is worthy of the “USDA Organic” seal. Instead, a farm hires its own inspection agency, or certifier, to judge whether it meets USDA organic standards. Most inspections are announced days or weeks in advance.