Organic dairy is working with genetics and infrastructure optimized for the conventional production model; targeted investment could unlock its potential
Every once in a while, I run across a fascinating and consequential scientific paper. The latest example was in late August. It addresses the degree to which dairy cow genetics are optimally suited to organic dairy production systems and how the way milk cows are fed and managed impacts the performance of different breeds and economic returns to the farmer.
The new paper is by a team of dairy scientists and vets at Washington State University, and it is published in the journal Genes. It is clearly written and includes solid summaries of what is known about the ways that combinations of cow genetics, rations composed of varying mixes of grain and forage-based feeds, and conventional versus organic management impact cow health and longevity, milk quality and production, and net income.
The study provides a rigorous review of what is known about the degree to which dairy cow genetics and production systems meet the needs of organic farmers. And it makes a really important point: the genetics and tools available today to organic dairy farmers are far from optimal since, for the most part, cow genetics, animal feeding, and management infrastructure have been developed to meet the needs of high-production, Holstein-based CAFO dairies.
For decades, the emphasis of R&D and infrastructure investments has been producing more milk per cow per day, notwithstanding impacts on milk nutritional quality (down as milk yield/cow goes up), cow health and longevity (down as yield goes up), and dependence on different crops and feed (more grain, less forage as yield goes up).
Accordingly, when USDA or other analysts compare the performance and profitability of organic versus conventional dairy management, the results typically do not reflect the productivity and profitability of organic systems that have access to cow genetics, feeds, and other management tools optimized for organic production. In fact, over the years, many well-researched papers have concluded that the inadequate scale of organic production, coupled with sparse investments in infrastructure dedicated to the products and needs of organic farmers, explains a significant share of the difference in the cost of producing a hundredweight of milk on an organic vs. conventional operation, or 200 bushels of corn on a conventional vs. organic farm.
Misplaced Priorities Drive Bad Outcomes
Many of the seemingly intractable problems with US farming systems and food value chains arise from the impacts of years of steady investment in chemical-dependent, high-yield production systems on farms producing just a few saleable commodities at scale. We have the kind of food and farming systems that agribusiness has chosen to invest in to maximize their control over markets and profits. The public’s interest in the future of ag systems and technology, and food nutritional quality and safety, has become little more than an afterthought.
This paper on dairy cow genetics in the context of organic versus conventional farming highlights the long-term consequences of choices societies make with food dollars, day in and day out. Choices made by the government are also consequential and shape the future of food. Government does this by imposing nutritional quality, food safety, labor, conservation, and other standards and benchmarks that all farming operations, food companies, and food sold to consumers must meet or exceed. Accordingly, we have the kind of food system we have been willing to invest in and support with our food dollars and which government, acting on our behalf, has deemed acceptable in terms of quality and safety, and impacts on people, communities, and the environment.
Along the way to ever-higher yields, we lost sight of food quality and safety, and we dismissed adverse impacts on soil and animal health as not meaningful as long as they could be overcome with the right mix of fertilizers, pesticides, and animal drugs.
But now, in 2026, the long and growing list of food-safety and nutritional-quality-driven, public-health problems can no longer be swept under the rug in deference to the unquestioned necessity of ever-higher yields. The US food and ag system is about to undergo a reboot.
The WSU team of dairy scientists has spelled out many of the key steps that will accelerate progress in the dairy industry. Consumers need to seek out and buy mostly grassfed organic milk and dairy products, and the government needs to invest more resources in documenting and explaining all the reasons why.
As more data and solid science shift consumer demand, the markets and farmers will follow. Investment capital will flow in to discover and commercialize changes in cow genetics, advanced technologies to optimize mostly forage-based feeds, and methods to promote cow health and longevity on organic farms. This is the roadmap that leads to healthier food, farms, people, and landscapes. It has also been pioneered — and proven — in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), in what has become one of American agriculture’s best-kept secrets.
Reaching Critical Mass in Organic Treefruit Production
The quality and supply of organic treefruit from the PNW has grown steadily over the last 20 years. It reached and surpassed 10 percent of total sales several years ago. Today, the organic treefruit industry has reached sufficient scale to support packing houses and supply chains dedicated to year-round organic production, processing, and marketing.
Most, but not all, economies of scale are now embedded in PNW organic treefruit supply chains. The same is true of organic dairy production, but only in a few places across the country.
Fifteen years ago, a significant share of organic treefruit packed in the PNW picked up one to three fungicide residues from passage through processing plants and storage facilities that served both conventional and organic growers. This is because it is impossible to thoroughly rid a processing plant of the fungicides that were applied inside the plant on the conventional fruit that was run through the plant Monday-Thursday, despite a USDA-approved cleanout process overnight, prior to running organic fruit on Friday.
The need to run organic fruit through packing and storage facilities mostly run conventional fruit increases the costs of processing organic fruit and exposes it to contamination from pesticides that can be, and are, legally applied on conventional fruit. But as the scale of the organic industry grew, so too did the availability of 100 percent organic facilities. Bingo — no added costs for only partially effective cleanouts, and no more low levels of fungicides on organic treefruit grown in the PNW.
This paper from Washington State University deserves attention because it drives home the point that the same sort of scale and infrastructure-driven improvements achieved in PNW treefruit production are waiting to be tapped in the organic dairy business.
We have the kind of food and farming systems in 2026 that we, as a country, have chosen to invest in and support. If we want to change food and farming, then consumers, private companies, and the government will need to consciously and systematically shift their dollars and investments in ways that make producing healthier, higher-quality food the most profitable option at every node along food value chains.
If and as that is done, new economies of scale will come into reach for both conventional and organic farmers, and we will all benefit as a result.
