UPDATE: My Investigation of Leading “Certified Humane” Dairy; the Case Moves Forward

Calves isolated in, and unable to step one foot outside of, plastic, barred hutches at Alexandre Family Farm.

In addition to serving as Executive Director of UUAM, Rev. John Millspaugh is also Director of Education for Farm Forward. In that completely separate role and organization, a year ago he investigated the USDA Organic, Certified Humane, “regenerative" Alexandre Family Farm, an industrial dairy. In June 2025, he wrote the following update on some of what has unfolded since his 2024 report “Dairy Deception” inspired The Atlantic’s article, “The Truth About Organic Dairy.” 

Government confirms Alexandre Family Farm abuses animals

A USDA investigation has now validated Farm Forward allegations against Alexandre Family Farm, substantiating dozens of violations of organic and animal welfare standards.

In 2024, after publishing “Dairy Deception,” Farm Forward filed a complaint with the USDA about Alexandre. In May 2025, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, I obtained the USDA’s final report on their investigation of our complaint. The FOIA response confirms abuses and regulatory violations that Alexandre Family Farm had long denied—until the USDA’s investigation of our complaint and inspection records left Alexandre no choice but to admit wrongdoing. The response also shows that the USDA’s certifier moved to suspend Alexandre’s organic certification and placed the company under heightened oversight.

Legal Case Moves Forward

In a separate development, one of the two lawsuits that “Dairy Deception” instigated against Alexandre cleared its first legal hurdle when a Humboldt County Superior Court judge ruled to allow a cruelty lawsuit to proceed against the dairy.

This case marks an important milestone: the first time that a California animal cruelty statute, historically used to protect companion animals, has successfully been used to litigate the treatment of farmed animals. “This common-sense ruling demonstrates that the days of sweeping abuses of farmed animals under the rug are over,” says Legal Impact for Chickens President Alene Anello. “The cows held by Alexandre Family Farm deserve to have their agonizing stories told in court, and they are one giant step closer to that becoming a reality.”

Alexandre’s Denials

Before I received the results of the USDA’s National Organic Program investigation, Alexandre had consistently denied any wrongdoing, offering public statements that ranged from deceptive to outright lies. On April 12, 2024, Lost Coast Outpost, a news site in Humboldt County, California, posted a response from Alexandre to Farm Forward’s investigative report and The Atlantic's article about our allegations of Alexandre’s systematic abuse and cruelty to cows. Alexandre claimed of Farm Forward’s report that “many of the allegations are either totally false or fabricated half-truths.” The company assured the public that it is “guided by a deep care for our animals as well as protocols established by experts in the treatment of farm animals. Our adherence to these animal welfare standards is backed up by hundreds of pages of inspection reports from independent organizations that have conducted regular as well as random inspections on our farm over the years.”

The Truth Comes Out

However, when Alexandre responded to our allegations—not to us, or to the public, but to USDA in direct communications between the company and the agency—Alexandre admitted the truth of many of Farm Forward’s allegations.   Those admissions included specific instances of animal cruelty, animals mistreated or left without care, and diseased animals sold into the human food supply chain.

In addition to the allegations Alexandre acknowledged, USDA substantiated many other instances of animal abuse, neglect, and mistreatment by Alexandre our investigation identified, including: animals with severe hoof rot, calves without adequate space in their “hutches,” algae found in animal water troughs, animals without feed dying from trampling “due to hunger,” the use of cruel, forbidden methods to move cattle who were unable to walk, and worse. 

Little Truth, Few Consequences from Certifiers

The USDA report concluded: “Due to systemic failures found at Alexandre, they received a Combined Notice of Noncompliance and Proposed Suspension from their certifier, CCOF [California Certified Organic Farmers].” However, rather than CCOF following through on suspending Alexandre’s Organic certification in response to its egregious violations, “Alexandre entered into a Settlement Agreement with CCOF and is receiving additional oversight and monitoring for two years.” This additional oversight consists primarily of “one unannounced inspection per year” and quarterly submission of paperwork. My opinion? Given the scale, severity, and duration of what USDA termed Alexandre’s “systemic abuses,” this is a toothless response.

This case is not just about Alexandre’s egregious practices, but also highlights the systematic failure of USDA Organic, “Certified Humane,” and other certification programs to ensure compliance with organic and animal welfare standards. For example, as part of the investigation, Alexandre supplied the USDA with the past results of the company’s certification inspections. During the period in question, Alexandre passed inspections by multiple certification programs, including the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Certified Humane, the National Dairy FARM Program, Organic Trust Plus, and Validus. None of these programs identified animal welfare concerns rising to the level of an inspection failure or finding of noncompliance, allowing Alexandre to continue its mistreatment of cows for years, unchecked.

Future Outlook

The USDA report states that Alexandre was reinspected following the investigation, and no evidence of continued violations was found. However, the fact that Alexandre’s infractions occurred over years, and Alexandre lied to conceal them once they were publicly reported, does not instill confidence that the company will refrain from abusive and neglectful treatment in the long term, especially after the period of light monitoring and oversight concludes. 

Furthermore, certifiers are unable to uphold their own standards or ensure good animal welfare—evidenced by the fact that Alexandre passed inspections by numerous certification programs during a period when many egregious practices were occurring.

The systemic failures of Alexandre and its certifiers illustrate the problems endemic to the dairy industry, where even USDA Organic, Certified Humane farms abuse animals and treat them cruelly, and get away with it due to a lack of adequate oversight and accountability.

Consumers who purchase milk from companies like Alexandre, thinking they are supporting good animal welfare, are being deceived, while animals continue to suffer.

- Rev. John Millspaugh, Director of Education, Farm Forward