New problems dawn for Aurora Organic

In the latest skirmish between the Wisconsin-based farm policy group Cornucopia Institute and Boulder-based Aurora Organic, the large-scale dairy supplier narrowly escaped losing its organic certification.

According to a news release sent out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Aug. 30, 2007, the company’s Platteville, Colo.- based plant may still see its organic certification revoked if the farm does not comply with various demands by the end of a one-year probationary period.

Aurora is one of the largest organic milk suppliers in the country, with 12,000 dairy cows on five farms. The company produces organic milk for private label programs at Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), Trader Joe’s and others. The company also sells milk under its own brand name, High Meadows.

The northern Wisconsin-based Cornucopia Institute has raised concerns about Aurora Organic’s practices — as well as those of other farms that supply Dean Foodsowned Horizon Organic (NYSE: DF) — for the past five years. In May 2007, the 10,000-cow Vander Eyk dairy, another farm the Cornucopia Institute has long criticized, had its certification suspended [see, “Organic certification pulled from California farm” SI, June 2007]. Aurora released a statement announcing the USDA had dismissed all complaints against the dairy.

However, the agency’s own release listed a number of requirements placed on Aurora, including providing daily access to pasture during the growing season and reducing the number of cows on its farm, among others. Aurora’s dairies in Colorado and Texas are expected to be closely monitored over the next year, and certification of any Aurora farm not complying with the agreement will be revoked, according to USDA. Aurora also agreed not to renew certification for its Woodward, Colo., farm.

If Aurora loses additional certifications, organic milk supplies could dip, eliminating the current glut and raising organic milk prices, according to market analysts. Aurora Organic and Dean Foods are estimated to control as much as 70 percent of the organic dairy market.