Image: A calf at Alexandre Family Farm, isolated in a plastic hutch, face caked with muck, standing on a floor covered by dirty slurry.

Government finds Alexandre abuses animals

A USDA investigation has validated Farm Forward allegations against Alexandre Family Farm, confirming violations of organic and animal welfare standards. USDA’s certifier moved to suspend Alexandre’s organic certification and placed the company under heightened oversight. Farm Forward obtained the USDA’s final report through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, and it confirms abuses and regulatory violations that Alexandre Family Farm had long denied—until the agency’s investigation and inspection records left them no choice but to admit wrongdoing.

Legal Case Moves Forward

In a separate development, one of the two current lawsuits against Alexandre cleared its first legal hurdle on Friday when a Humboldt County Superior Court judge ruled to allow a cruelty lawsuit to proceed against Alexandre.

This case marks an important milestone: the first time that an animal cruelty statute in California has successfully been used to litigate the treatment of farmed animals, which has historically been used to protect companion 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 we received the results of USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) 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 article in The Atlantic about our allegations of Alexandre’s systematic abuse and cruelty to cows. Alexandre claimed of our report that “many of the allegations are either totally false or fabricated half-truths.”1 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.2

The Truth Comes Out

However, when Alexandre responded to our allegations, not to us, or to the public, but to NOP in direct communications between the company and the agency, Alexandre admitted the truth of many of Farm Forward’s allegations. Alexandre confirmed the following:

• Employees improperly moved cows with hip clamps.3
• Animals were inappropriately horn-tipped [cutting off too much of the horn without pain management].4
• An individual cut the teat off an animal with mastitis.5
• Diesel fuel was used on animals for fly control.6
• Thirty cows died or were euthanized when there was an equipment breakdown, staff were unavailable, and animals were held in an area that typically did not hold animals.7
• A nonambulatory cow left without care for two weeks was “likely” on Alexandre’s property.8
• Cows with “cancer eye” were sold at auction, rather than being euthanized on the farm.9

In its final report, the NOP concluded that “Some of the allegations were substantiated by the investigation process and some were not substantiated.”10 It’s unsurprising that some of the allegations were unsubstantiated, as some had occurred years prior and likely left no evidence at this point—except for video footage, photographs, and whistleblower testimony in our possession, which NOP never asked us to access, despite our offer to speak with them, which went unanswered.

Nonetheless, in addition to the allegations Alexandre acknowledged, NOP substantiated many other instances of animal abuse, neglect, and mistreatment by Alexandre, including:

• Animals had severe hoof rot and inadequate hoof management.11
• Calves did not have adequate space in their “hutches,” and had both dried manure on their bodies and wet bedding.12
• Animals deemed unfit for transport were transported to auction or sale.13
• Calf treatment records were not documented,14 and inspectors found several calves with scours [diarrhea] and pink eye.15
• Hoof baths [a standard method to prevent hoof rot and other infections] were not in use.16
• An eye patch was not removed from a cow after treatment was complete.17
• Algae was found in water troughs.18
• Animals were without feed and some animals died from trampling “due to hunger.”19

Little Truth, Few Consequences from Certifiers

The NOP concluded: “Due to systemic failures found at Alexandre, they received a Combined Notice of Noncompliance and Proposed Suspension from their certifier, CCOF [emphasis added].”20 However, rather than follow through on suspending the company’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.”21 This additional oversight consists primarily of “one unannounced inspection per year” and quarterly submission of paperwork.22

This was not the first time that Alexandre was under scrutiny by NOP for animal welfare violations. During the most recent NOP investigation, the agency “found a related investigation … against the same operation for the same issues.” In that case, “The investigation was closed on September 21, 2023 with the statement ‘Allegations were not substantiated.’”23 It is unclear why NOP’s 2023 investigation failed to substantiate allegations that NOP now acknowledges as accurate, given that Alexandre’s abusive treatment of cows has been an ongoing issue dating back to at least 2018.

While Alexandre now appears to be the subject of increased monitoring, this case highlights the systematic failure of certification programs to ensure compliance with organic and animal welfare standards. Although Alexandre has been exposed for its egregious practices, this is not a case of one bad actor. For example, as part of the investigation, Alexandre supplied the NOP 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.24 None of these programs identified animal welfare concerns that rose to the level of an inspection failure or noncompliance finding, allowing Alexandre to continue its mistreatment of cows, unchecked.

Future Outlook

The NOP report states that Alexandre was reinspected following the investigation, and no evidence of continued violations was found.25 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 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 so-called 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.

More to Come

For more of what we’ve learned since our initial investigation—about Alexandre, the failures of law enforcement, retailers, regulators, and certifiers to uphold animal welfare standards, and the implications for consumers—stay tuned for our upcoming issue brief on all of this and more.

Special thanks to Katie Gillespie, VP of Research and Strategy at Farm Forward, for her substantial contributions to this post.