“Almost Organic”

I haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to the organic dairy industry. I buy my milk from an area source. It is organic (and actually raw). It’s good milk and I am happy to have it. I’ve read research on organic versus non-organic milk, pasteurized versus raw, but it is yet another thing to familiarize yourself with the functioning of the industry.
Since I live in the west coast headquarters of the dairy industry and we have shenanigans around here like the tagging of the Milk is Milk billboard, the workings of the industry has become more interesting to me.

I mentioned in the Raw Milk is Milk story about the billboard tagging that Pixley, California (home of the billboard) is a pretty small town:
Pixley’s claim to fame is that it is the headquarters of the Cal-Bean co-op, provides a gas station or two for those traveling Central California’s Highway 99, had an honors-system gas station until about thirty years ago, and just narrowly escaped educating my father who lived in Teviston, a community just south of Pixley.
What I failed to mention is that Pixley is also the headquarters of the largest organic dairy in the state. Its milk is distributed through Horizon Organic. If you drink Horizon Organic milk in California, you are likely drinking the milk from the Vander Eyk Dairy in Pixley, California.
Perhaps that’s why the “Milk is Milk” billboard found its way to Pixley – making the challenge that the Horizon milk produced there is no different than regular milk. Perhaps the location of the billboard was a coincidence. Last time I tried to email Alex Avery of the Milk is Milk Campaign, my email bounced back.
In fact, Avery isn’t the only one who claims that organic milk is no different from regular milk. The Cornucopia Institute ranks Horizon Organic Milk a paltry one cow out of five primarily because of the large size of the Vander Eyk Dairy. They question the feasibility of giving multiple thousands of cows access to pasture while milking two to three times a day. And actually, the Cornucopia Institute relied on public records to rank them because Horizon did not fill out the survey.
When I realized that for organic certification the dairy is required to have about five cows per acre, I thought “that cost is prohibitive in California.” With 10,000 cow dairies and the cost of land her in California, the milk produced from those 2,000 acres would have to be very expensive, even in Pixley.
I did an internet search wondering how the Vander Eyk Dairy managed the land requirement and found an article on the dairy in the Valley Voice. It reports:
The Vander Eyks have 10,000 acres of pastureland near Ducor that they truck their herds to.
I thought “Whoa, I live near Ducor too.”
And that’s when I realized I live near some controversial cows. Who knew how much entertainment one could get in the middle of nowhere.
I started to inquire about local cows. We live in cattle country here in the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range. The terrain is too rugged to farm, the land is generally undeveloped, and land cost is still reasonable. Lots of cattle roam these hills. We even have a patch of black-and-white Holsteins about ten minutes from our house. I took a picture of them.

I called Sheriff Deputy Scott to ask about their ownership.
“Scott, who owns the heifers near McFarland Grade?”
“That’s Baxley land. They have a dairy in the valley. Those cows near Fountain Springs are also theirs.”
Fountain Springs is a stone’s throw from Ducor.
“The Vander Eyk Dairy has cows near Ducor too. Isn’t Ducor your beat? Where are the Vander Eyk cows?”
“Amanda, do you have any idea how many cows live down there?”
“I know, Scott, but you know everything.”
I asked he and Postmaster Dean to investigate for me. I don’t think they have worn holes in their shoes doing so.
With the Baxley Dairy owning so much grazing land it occurred to me that they are “almost organic.” With some organic feed and a system to cull cows once they need antibiotics, they could join the organic market too. Much of their herd has access to pasture. I’ve seen young heifers and pregnant heifers grazing in those hills. The only other cows in their herd would be those actually milking and perhaps those about to have a baby.
And if this report of the Vander Eyk Dairy is correct, the Baxley Dairy could just keep their milking herd as they do now, minus any growth hormones (if they actually use them now). A cow requiring antibiotics would also need to be moved to a conventional herd.
With the Baxley heifers living an “almost organic” lifestyle, it does beg the question how different are these two milks. Alex Avery at the Milk is Milk Campaign says they are no different. The Cornucopia Institute even questions their difference. This is where consumer choice becomes complicated. A friend has a Jersey cow just about ready to leave her heifer days. That makes my choice fairly simple.