* * * * * News Release * * * * *

USDA: No Shortage of Organic Feed July 22, 2003 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some farmers worry that organic feed is in short supply and too expensive, but the Agriculture Department says there is an ample supply of affordable organic grain to raise chickens and other livestock.   The department said in a report Tuesday that 9.3 million bushels of organic corn were available for animal feed in 2001, much more than the 1 million bushels of corn needed for fattening 7.3 million organic chickens that year.  ``There would still have been over million bushels of corn to meet the nutritional energy needs for beef and dairy cattle,'' aid the report, which was based on surveys because the agency does not have official estimates for organic production.   Department analysts also said that in 2001, 4.2 million bushels of soybeans were available for livestock feed, of which 500,000 bushels would have fed 7.6 million birds.   The department predicts that there also will be an ample supply of organic feed this year: 10.5 million bushels of organic corn and 5.5 million bushels of soybeans.   The study said the price for organic feed was only 1.5 times higher than conventional feed. For example, organic grain in Wisconsin cost $333 per ton, compared to $225 per ton of conventional grain.   Congress ordered the study last year after a Georgia chicken grower, Fieldale Farms Corp., said the market lacked enough affordable organic grain to raise organic chickens.   National standards require livestock farmers to feed animals organic grain if they want to label meat organic.  Organic grain is grown without conventional chemicals.   In February, with the help of Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., Fieldale persuaded leading lawmakers in Congress to include in a spending bill a provision to let farmers use the organic label unless the department's study found a large supply of affordable organic grain. Congress repealed it weeks later amid an outcry from organic food advocates.   Fieldale Farms officials said Tuesday they have sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman questioning the report's accuracy.  Julie Quick, a department spokeswoman, said the agency stands by its report.   Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association, said, ``The study should put an end to the argument that (farms) can't get 100 percent organic feed for their livestock.''