Regenerative Organic Certified Gold: Dairy
Regenerative Organic Certified Gold Is a Top Pick
This label is an add-on to the USDA Organic label with additional stipulations for environmental quality, animal welfare and worker welfare. Farms with the ROC Gold certification must manage 100 percent of all farmland in accordance with the ROC standards and earn 100 percent of their revenue from products that meet the standards. ROC Gold contains additional stipulations around environmental monitoring and worker welfare compared to the Bronze and Silver certifications.
Requires Verification/Inspection
FoodPrint Label Criteria
Animal Feed Quality
Produced without industrial pesticides
Synthetic fertilizers or sewage sludge prohibited
All grassfed
Prohibits animal waste and byproduct
Restricts use of feed supplements
Prohibits GMOs
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
Food Label Glossary
For explanations of some of these technical terms, like “rotational grazing” or “sewage sludge fertilizers,” please visit our glossary.