Regenerative Organic Certified Bronze: Dairy
This label is an add-on to the USDA Organic label with additional stipulations for environmental quality, animal welfare and worker welfare. To earn the certification, farms with the ROC Bronze certification must initially manage at least 10 percent of all farmland in accordance with the ROC standards and earn 10 percent of their revenue from products that meet the standards. Within 5 years of earning ROC Bronze certification, 50 percent of the farm must be managed in accordance with ROC Bronze Standards.
Requires Verification/Inspection
FoodPrint Label Criteria
Animal Feed Quality
Produced without industrial pesticides
Synthetic fertilizers or sewage sludge prohibited
All grass fed*
Prohibits animal waste and byproduct
Restricts use of feed supplements
Prohibits GMOs
*Animals must be 50% grass fed
Drug Use
Antibiotics only for sick animals or prohibited
Prohibit hormones and other drugs to healthy animals
Environmental and Pasture Quality
Pasture management / rotational grazing plan required
Synthetic fertilizers or sewage sludge prohibited
Grown without industrial pesticides
Biodiversity required in pasture
Soil health monitored/measured for improvement over time
Requires accounting or modeling of carbon emissions and sequestration
Animal Welfare and Living Conditions
Prohibits feedlots*
Prohibits long term confinement
Prohibits electric prods
Hygiene and manure management addressed
Pain relief for castration
Prohibits dehorning**
Taildocking prohibited
Standards for animal wellbeing in transport including maximum duration times
Welfare standards for slaughtering addressed
Pasture required throughout grazing/growing season
*With case-by-case exceptions for facilities with more than 1,000 animals that can demonstrate animals have full pasture access
**Dehorning must be medically necessary and be performed with anesthesia
Worker Welfare
Standards and protections for workers on farm
Standards and protections for workers in processing plants
Fair/living wages ensured*
Health care insurance ensured
*Operations that cannot pay a living wage must communicate why they cannot and have a plan in place to progress to paying a living wage
Food Label Glossary
For explanations of some of these technical terms, like “rotational grazing” or “sewage sludge fertilizers,” please visit our glossary.