Do Organic Dairy Consumers Care about Pasture?
By Kathie Arnold
Do organic dairy consumers really care if organic dairy cows are on pasture? The answer is yes, according to the results of four recent surveys:
- A survey of 1,011 U.S. adults commissioned by the Center for Food Safety found that six out of 10 women who buy organic milk, and five out of 10 of all organic milk purchasers, would no longer do so if they knew that many organic cows were confined to fenced-in feedlots and did not graze on pasture for most of their lives.
- More than two-thirds of all consumers and 75% of women in a Consumers Union (CU) online survey of 1,485 U.S. adults said that the national organic standards should require that animals graze. When asked specifically in the CU survey if they would still pay a premium price for organic milk that came from cows that were confined indoors and did not graze (have access to pasture), only 14% agreed that they would (60% disagreed, while 25% remained neutral).
- A recent Whole Foods Market, Inc. “Flavors” e-mail newsletter survey of the firm’s customers asked, “When choosing organic milk, cheese and other dairy products, what is important to you about the conditions in which the organic dairy cattle are raised? Check all that apply.” The highest rated condition was “Most of their food is from pasture,” with the second being “Spend more time outdoors than indoors.” The results were based on 18,455 responses (see accompanying chart.)
- A Natural Marketing Insight Solutions (NMI) company online survey of 1,000 adults showed that 72% noted animals grazing in pasture as being a concern. When “super heavy” organic dairy users were broken out, 81% regarded pasture a concern, versus 79% of “heavy” users, and 55% of “light” users.
These results were reported at the Dairy Pasture Symposium, sponsored by USDA’s National Organic Program, held April 18-19 in State College, PA. At the symposium, organic industry executives who participated in a “Market Expectations and Perceptions” panel said dairy is important to sales of other organic foods.
“Dairy is a key crossover item for organic consumers,” and is often the gateway for consumers purchasing additional categories of organic food, said Margaret Wittenberg, vice president for communications and quality standards at Whole Foods. Maryellen Molyneux of NMI Solutions confirmed this, stating that users of organic dairy are two to four times more likely to use other organic categories, and that almost half of organic dairy buyers use products more than once a week.
Molyneux downplayed pasture as a prime concern of consumers, saying that statistically, pasture rated significantly lower than the top-ranked concerns of consumers (antibiotics and hormones). According to a statistical (regression) analysis of the NMI Solutions survey results that compared these concerns, no antibiotics rated 100; organic feed — 98.4; no hormones — 83.7; from animals that graze in a pasture —83.3; humane treatment — 43.4.
People who offered public comments at the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting that followed the pasture symposium pointed out that Molyneux did not consider that pasture is an organic feed (which scored 98.4 in the NMI analysis). Another person who spoke during the comment session said that organic milk cartons have long portrayed pasture as the basic image, if not the directly worded message. It was also asserted that 72% of respondents citing pasture as a concern was a significant majority of consumers. What marketers would discount the importance of what 72% of their consumers cite as a concern?
Whole Food’s Wittenberg emphasized that organic dairy consumers are “expecting pasture as the default.” For organic dairy farms, she said, “pasture-based year round, not simply access to pasture for animals raised organically, along with the pasture supply(ing) much of the animals’ nutrition is assumed by most Whole Foods Market (customers) and (the) general public as status quo. Few could fathom animals, from whom are derived certified organic products, would have anything less.”
A representative of Wild Oats, a major organic food chain, did not make a scheduled appearance on the “market expectations” panel with Wittenberg and Molyneux. Wild Oats’ “store brand” of organic milk is supplied by Aurora Organic Dairy, which operates two large confinement dairies.
Juan Velez, vice president of farm operations for Aurora, was on the symposium’s farmer panel. In response to direct questioning from an NOSB member, Velez said that the dry matter intake from pasture at Aurora’s Colorado operation amounts to 2% of total DMI for the milking herd, while pasture’s share is 3% at Aurora’s Texas operation.
In September 2005, Whole Foods Market sent a letter to all their supplying organic milk producers saying, “We believe that organic consumers expect that organic milk comes from cows which are given access to pasture….we fully expect our organic dairy vendors to meet or exceed the recommendations made by the NOSB with regard to the amount of pasture provided per animal, percentage of dry matter intake from pasture and the percentage of time per animal spent on pasture.”
The NOSB recommendation referenced in the letter was in a guidance document that set a minimum of 30% dry matter intake from pasture for the growing season, and grazing for no less than 120 days. (This recommendation has yet to be adopted by the National Organic Program.)
Whole Foods is in the process of completing “Animal Compassionate Species Specific Standards.” According to Whole Foods, these are being created to highlight producers who have their animal’s welfare and well being as the top priority within their production system. They are designed to encourage more producers to follow this path. All of these standards require a “pasture-based production system based on clear definition of what constitutes a pasture.” Some of the species guidelines are completed, with dairy standards to be finished in late 2006 or early 2007.
Wittenberg reported that organic milk demand is currently growing at a 25 to 30% annual pace. Meanwhile growth in supply is projected at 15-20%, leaving a projected shortfall of 10-15%. Even with the shortfall, Wittenberg says:
- Integrity of organic dairy standards, including pasture-based systems as a requirement, is more important than watering them down to increase supply or keep prices down.
- The National Organic Standards should ensure that farmers provide optimum conditions for their cows, including a clearly stated standard for pasture, in order to assure consumers that their expectations for organic dairy are being met.
- A level playing field benefits farmers and consumers. Anything less will diminish the value of organic.
Chart from Whole Foods Market, Inc. 4/12-13/06 online Survey (18,455 responses)
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