Sustainable Agriculture

A program of the National Center for Appropriate Technology • 1-800-346-9140 • www.attra.ncat.org

Tipsheet: Organic Cattle, 

Sheep, and Goats for Meat 

Production

Photo: Robyn Metzger, NCAT

Considerations

y Do your customers demand organic certification?

y Do you have access to certified organic 

stock or do you plan to raise your own?

y Do you have adequate pasture and a 

source of organic feed?

y Do you have an organic processor in 

your area?

y Can you raise your livestock in compliance with organic regulations regarding 

access to the outdoors and health care?

y Is the premium you will receive for 

organic meat enough to cover the 

higher input and processing costs?

Depending on your production and marketing methods and your customers, it may be to your advantage to raise and 

sell organic livestock. This tipsheet highlights what is involved in producing ruminant animals organically for meat, and 

it will help you decide whether transitioning to organic is worthwhile for your operation. See the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) website: www.ams.usda.gov/nop for the complete regulations for certified organic production.

Requirements

The following are some, although not all, of the basic requirements of organic certification: 

y Agricultural ingredients in feed, including pasture, must be 100% certified organic. 

y Animals must graze on pasture at least 120 days per year, and animals must have a minimum of 30% dry matter 

intake from grazing pasture during the grazing season. See the ATTRA publication Pasture for Organic Ruminant 

Livestock: Understanding and Implementing the NOP Pasture Rule for information. 

y Ruminant livestock that are finished for slaughter are exempt from the minimum requirement of 30% dry matter intake from grazing pasture during the grazing season for a feeding period of no more than 120 days or 

one-fifth of the animal’s life, whichever is shorter. The livestock still must have access to pasture during the 

grazing season, however. 

y Use of most synthetic medicines and/or hormones is prohibited. See the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for information about materials and the purposes for which they may be used. 

www.ams.usda.gov/NOPNationalList
Page 2 Tipsheet: Organic Cattle, Sheep, and Goats for Meat Production

y Organic stock must be maintained under organic management from at least the last trimester before birth (e.g., does 

and ewes must be managed organically for more than 50 

days before organic kids and lambs are born; cows must 

be managed organically for more than three months). 

y Meat must be processed in a certified organic facility and 

must not be irradiated. 

For more detailed information on organic livestock production 

see ATTRA’s Guide for Organic Livestock Producers https://attra.ncat.

org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=154. 

Some farms’ current production practices may be very close to 

meeting the USDA organic regulations. But for most, changes 

will be necessary in both production and recordkeeping to comply with the regulations. Will those changes be worth it? Consider the following questions: 

y What price do you currently receive for your product? 

y Is there local demand for organic products? If not, you will need to develop a local market or develop one at a 

distance and ship your product. Remember, market development costs time, energy, and money. 

y What price could you receive for organic beef, goat meat, lamb, or wool? USDA Agricultural Marketing Service 

(AMS) Market News provides free, near real-time agricultural market information. www.ams.usda.gov/marketnews

y What do you currently pay for hay or grain to supplement your animals? 

y What would you have to pay for organic hay or grain? How dependable is the local supply? Can you offset the 

increase in the price for organic feed with sales of certified organic animals or products? 

y How important is organic certification to your customers? Is it sufficient for them to know you as the producer 

and understand that you use humane and sustainable practices, or do they need to see verification of organic 

standards? 

If you are selling meat, answer the following questions: 

y Is there a certified organic processor in your area? 

This is necessary if you are selling organic meat. 

y If there is currently no organic processor in your 

area, can you persuade a local processor to do 

the paperwork and follow the regulations? Note 

that if you are selling a whole animal, a custom 

processor can do the work. But if you plan to sell 

cuts or sell to a restaurant or store, your processor 

must be USDA inspected or State inspected. 

y What extra processing costs will be charged for 

organic processing? 

In order to sell organic meat, it must be processed in a 

certified organic processing facility. There are different 

levels of processing, and access to them will affect how 

you can market your animals. 

y Federal- or USDA-Inspected Plants—Federal 

plants can process meat for nationwide sale. 

y State-Inspected Plants—Only about half of the 

states have a State Inspection Program. Stateinspected plants can process any meat, but it is 

stamped for sale only within that state.

y Custom Exempt Plants—A custom plant processes for individual use. The meat must be 

stamped “not for sale.”

y Mobile Processing Unit—A truck- or trailermounted facility that is transported to the 

processing site. Some are state or federally 

inspected. See http://is.gd/XBTjvH

y On-Farm Slaughter (exempt from inspection)—

Animals are processed by the owner for individual use (regulations vary by state).

Meat processing regulations are explained in more detail 

at: www.extension.org/pages/17170/meat-processingrules-regulations

Minnesota Department of Agriculture has a helpful publication explaining organic meat and poultry processing, 

including case studies. Find it at www.mda.state.mn.us/

food/organic/production.aspx. 

A concise article about organic meat processing is found 

at www.extension.org/pages/19710/.

Processing

Photo: Robyn Metzger, NCAT
www.attra.ncat.org Page 3

Answer the following questions if you are selling a live animal: 

y Who is your buyer? It’s best to have more than one option. 

y What is the demand? How many animals can you sell per year, and is it a steady market? 

If production costs will be feasible and the market is not a problem, consider whether you can you raise your animals 

under organic health-management practices. 

Health

Organic health care is based on preventing illness through good management. However, when illnesses do arise, you 

must remember that conventional treatments such as antibiotics are not approved for organic production. You will have 

to find alternative treatments. If they are not effective, you must use the conventional treatment for humane reasons 

and remove the treated animal from organic status. Other tipsheets in this series address organic health care guidance: 

Organic Approach to Animal Health

Treatment of Sick or Injured Organic Livestock

The ATTRA publication Guide for Organic Livestock Producers also explains more about the health care requirements of 

organic production. 

In humid climates, goats and sheep may have 

serious trouble with internal parasites. Internal 

parasites can be devastating to the health of the 

animal, causing loss of productivity and sometimes death. Under the USDA organic regulations, use of approved synthetic dewormers is 

restricted for breeding and milking stock—they 

may not be used on lactating beef cows, does, or 

ewes; beef cows, does and ewes in the last trimester of pregnancy; or any animals routinely. Their 

use is also prohibited for organic slaughter stock. 

If infection is severe, you should use the most 

effective treatment, including synthetic dewormers if necessary. Animals treated with synthetic 

dewormers that are on the National List are no 

longer eligible for organic meat or fiber production. Such treated animals are eligible for organic 

milk production after a withdrawal period. Animals treated with synthetic dewormers not on the National List may no longer produce organic milk, meat, or fiber. 

However, they do not have to be removed from the herd as they may be used as breeder stock. Organic production 

may not be a viable option for producers who raise goats or sheep in climates that are extremely conducive to internal 

parasite infections. See Organic Management of Internal and External Parasites.

For more information, read the ATTRA publication Managing Internal Parasites in Sheep and Goats. It is available online 

at https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/summaries/summary.php?pub=215.

Conclusion

If you’ve answered all the questions above, you now have an idea of the suitability of organic production for your business. 

Visit organic producers and consult the resources listed below to move forward in producing organic livestock for meat. 

Resources

ATTRA Publications

www.attra.ncat.org

Guide for Organic Livestock Producers

Organic and Grass-fed Beef Cattle Production

Meat Goats: Sustainable Production

Photo: Robyn Metzger, NCAT
Page 4 Tipsheet: Organic Cattle, Sheep, and Goats for Meat Production

Produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology

www.ncat.org • 1-800-275-6228 (1-800-ASK-NCAT)

(Parent organization to the ATTRA Project, www.attra.ncat.org)

Tipsheet: Organic Cattle, Sheep, and Goats for Meat 

Production

By Margo Hale, NCAT Agriculture Specialist

Published July 2015

Sustainable Sheep Production

Pastures: Going Organic

Langston University article “Organic Meat Goat Production.” 

www.luresext.edu/goats/training/organic.html

The principles in the article apply easily to sheep and to cattle. 

Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) 

www.mosesorganic.org 

MOSES provides a guidebook, an upper-Midwest organic resource directory, and fact sheets, including Transitioning to 

Organic Beef Production, Transitioning to Organic Sheep and Goat Meat Production, and Pasture and Living Conditions for Organic Ruminant Animals free on its website. 

eOrganic 

www.extension.org 

eOrganic offers many organic production resources such as articles and videos. A broad list of webinars and articles is 

available at www.extension.org/pages/25242/webinars-by-eorganic.

USDA Organic Regulations 7 CFR 205

www.ams.usda.gov/nop

USDA National Organic Program Handbook

www.ams.usda.gov/NOPProgramHandbook

Click on the Table of Contents to browse many relevant titles of documents that educate and support organic producers. 

For example, the following are some of the many documents found in the Handbook: 

y Dry Matter Intake Information for Access to Pasture (Series) 

y Evaluating Allowed Ingredients and Sources of Vitamins and Minerals for Organic Livestock Feed 

y Guide for Organic Livestock Producers

y Livestock Documentation Forms 

USDA National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances

www.ams.usda.gov/NOPNationalList

This product was developed with support from

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, National Organic Program