Cream of the Crop

The Economic Benefits of Organic Dairy Farms

Published Nov 7, 2012

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For many of us, the idea of a dairy farm may evoke bucolic images of cows grazing peacefully on acres of green, rolling pasture.

But the reality of U.S. dairy production is making these images increasingly obsolete. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of small pasture-based dairies have disappeared, their production replaced by CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations)—crowded industrial facilities that use methods linked to a variety of health and environmental problems, from antibiotic resistance to "dead zones" in coastal waterways.

Reversing this trend, and promoting healthier, less damaging ways to satisfy our demand for dairy products, should be a policy priority.

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