La Belle Farm Achieves Certified Organic From USDA

We’re thrilled to announce that our partner, La Belle Farm has completed certification for the raising of their chickens as organic from the United States Department of Agriculture.

The certification was completed on July 7th of this year and was administered by Pennsylvania Certified Organic and covers all requirements covered by the USDA organic regulations.

Organic certification verifies that our chickens are raised according to the USDA organic regulations throughout their lives. That means that our chickens are produced without genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge. We manage our operations in a manner that conserves our natural resources and supports biodiversity.

Why does organic certification matter? It provides a layer of trust between our farm and you, the end consumer. We know that it’s important that your food is sourced in an ethical and sustainable manner and that’s why certification matters. It also shows our commitment to accommodate the health and natural behavior of our chickens year-round. What does this mean?

• Our chickens are managed organically starting no later than the 2nd day of life. They have year-round access to the outdoors when it is safe for our chickens to be out.
• Our chickens are raised on certified organic land that meets all organic crop production standards.
• Our chickens are raised per animal health and welfare standards and fed 100 percent certified organic feed, except for trace minerals and vitamins used to meet the animal’s nutritional requirements.
• We manage our chickens without antibiotics, added growth hormones, mammalian or avian byproducts, or other prohibited feed ingredients\

We’re committed to working towards more sustainable and organic ways of bringing food to your table. Through these efforts we know we can do our part to help create a more sustainable environment for all of us to enjoy. These efforts include adopting practices that minimize the impacts to the off-farm environment. Implementing plans that avoid manure runoff, reusing animal waste as a natural fertilizer and composting waste to conserve nutrients. Committing to sustainable practices such as crop rotation and cover crops to maintain soil fertility and protect soil and water quality.

La Belle Farm is also working to certify additional portions of their operations to solidify our overall commitment to sustainable and organic farming practices.