The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) amends the origin of livestock requirements for dairy animals under the USDA organic regulations with this final rule. AMS is taking this action to increase uniformity in origin of livestock production practice for organic dairy animals, and reduce variance between the approaches taken by certifying agents. The policy choices in this rule align with practices that many certifiers and most organic operations already follow, and align with the public comments on the rule. This rule specifies that organic milk and milk products must be from animals that have been under continuous organic management from the last third of gestation onward, with an exception for newly certified organic livestock operations.

A. Purpose of Final Rule

This final rule clarifies requirements related to organic dairy production under the USDA organic regulations, which dictate how and when nonorganic dairy animals may be transitioned, or converted, to organic production (7 CFR part 205). This action specifies that a nonorganic dairy may transition to organic production on a one-time basis, and once the transition is complete, the operation must not transition additional nonorganic animals to organic production or source transitioned animals. This action is intended to facilitate and improve compliance with and enforcement of the USDA organic regulations.

B. Summary of Provisions

This final rule updates the origin of livestock regulations, first published in December 2000 in the Federal Register (65 FR 80547), by explicitly requiring that milk or milk products labeled, sold, or represented as organic be from dairy animals organically managed from the last third of gestation onward, with a one-time exception for newly certified organic livestock operations to convert (or “transition”) nonorganic dairy animals to organic milk production. This exception allows an eligible operation to transition nonorganic dairy animals to organic milk production one time by managing animals organically for 12-months rather than from the last third of gestation. The transition must occur over a single 12-month period and all transitioning animals must end the transition at the same time.

C. Regulatory Analysis (Costs and Impacts)

AMS is taking this action to set origin of livestock production practice standards for organic dairy animals, and reduce variance between the approaches taken by certifying agents. AMS updated the analysis from the proposed rule (84 FR 52041) using the most recent information about the dairy market, including the number of certified organic operations and the number of organic dairy animals. Updating the information with NASS 2019 data revises the estimated costs of the final rule to $615,000-$1,845,000.

D. Compliance Date for These Regulations

AMS is establishing a compliance date for this final rule of April 5, 2023, or ten months after the effective date of this final rule. This means that a certified operation may only add transitioned animals to their operation up to the compliance date of April 5, 2023. Any certified operation may source or sell transitioned animals in the period prior to the compliance date, but certified operations may not start new transitions that would not be completed by April 5, 2023. Starting on the compliance date of April 5, 2023, all certified operations ( i.e., operations certified as of the compliance date) must fully comply with the provisions of this final rule.