Blake Alexandre violated federal organic law and lost his Regenerative Organic certification. Weeks later, he became the poster child for regenerative agriculture.
THE LOWDOWN
- Were HHS and USDA leadership hoodwinked by organic farming scofflaw?
- Despite the Alexandre dairy operations and brand having recently lost its Regenerative Organic certification and other endorsements, Blake Alexandre was featured as the national spokesperson for regenerative agriculture.
- Federally sanctioned investigations confirmed allegations that Alexandre Family Farm mistreated dairy cows, causing death and misery, illegally used antibiotics, and doused cattle with diesel fuel to control insects.
- The Alexandres held seats on the board of CCOF, their organic certifier, and state of California panels — entities that failed to identify problems despite being tasked with overseeing the dairies.
- Nonetheless, the USDA deferred to CCOF for the final investigation and penalties — which resulted in no fines, suspension, or revocation.
LA FARGE, WIS. — The country’s preeminent organic industry watchdog, OrganicEye, today released a media briefing spotlighting Alexandre Family Farm’s years-long public relations juggernaut creating the illusion that it is one of the most impressive organic dairies in the country — when, in actuality, the farm has been found culpable of gross violations of the federal law governing organics, with extreme cases of animal cruelty documented at their five large California dairies.
The embattled co-owners, Blake and Stephanie Alexandre, spent years honing their reputations and embedding themselves in the leadership of various governmental and nonprofit organizations that were overseeing their operations, including the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the dairy’s USDA-accredited certifier, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).
“Stephanie Alexandre served on the Board of Directors of CCOF, in essence choosing the management personnel overseeing the inspectors and auditors who were reviewing her family’s farming operation,” said Mark A. Kastel, Executive Director of the Wisconsin-based OrganicEye.
In addition to their farming operations, the Alexandres control a processing plant and popular brand of organic dairy products, distributed nationally.
Many of the allegations, confirmed in multiple investigations by nonprofit investigators at FarmForward and OrganicEye, were substantiated in the results of an investigation ordered by the USDA. Violations of the law included withholding feed from animals and prompting a stampede that killed scores of milk cows, inhumanely handling animals when they were sick, illegally using antibiotics, and spraying cows with diesel fuel to control flies.
As horrifying as these multiple incidents are to dedicated organic eaters/consumers, the Alexandres seem to have succeeded in hoodwinking top Trump administration officials.
Blake was the “poster child” of the initiative, testifying that his family was living proof that regenerative farming worked.
It was a triumphant moment — except for one inconvenient fact: Twenty-nine days earlier, the Alexandre Family Farm had embarrassingly surrendered its Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC) dairy certification — the very credential that had made Blake Alexandre a household name in sustainable food circles and earned them the title of “America’s First Certified Regenerative Organic Dairy.”
“The temerity of Mr. Alexandre to present himself as a spokesperson for regenerative agriculture when, less than a month before, the dairy had surrendered its Regenerative Organic certification is appalling,” stated OrganicEye’s Kastel. “A number of the credentials on which Alexandre Family Farms based its national gold standard reputation no longer existed. His farming operations had recently lost three other key certifications and endorsements, as well.”
What distinguishes Alexandre Family Farms is not just their story — it is the systematic way they ingratiated themselves into the very institutions responsible for overseeing them.
In addition to Ms. Alexandre serving on the CCOF Board of Directors, Mr. Alexandre served on the California Organic Products Advisory Committee for two separate stints, his second term running through October 2025 — concurrent with whistleblower allegations against his dairies, formal complaints, and federal investigations.
He also served on the 13-member California Regenerative Agriculture Work Group tasked with defining regenerative agriculture for California state policies and programs.
Before the whistleblowers, federal investigations, and lawsuits, there was a distinct incident that exemplifies the Alexandres’ focus on gaining notoriety rather than living up to their legal and ethical obligations as certified organic farmers.
As reported by FarmForward in their exposé, Dairy Deception, and substantiated by the USDA-mandated investigation:
“In the same year that Blake and Stephanie Alexandre received the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Farmer of the Year Award, a whistleblower arrived at Alexandre to find more than 40 cows lying dead on the ground. Standing among them was an Alexandre employee who “looked like he’d seen a ghost.” The Alexandre employee reported that the operation had been out of hay for several days and that when the feed truck finally showed up, 800 or so very hungry cows dogpiled in their effort to get food, trampling more than 40 to death and injuring about 20 others to the point that they had to be euthanized.”
According to Kastel, whistleblower allegations suggest that this incident occurred around the time the Alexandres traveled to Baltimore to accept the prestigious Organic Farmer of the Year Award from the OTA, the industry’s leading corporate agribusiness lobby group, in 2018.
“The Alexandres have clearly mastered the art of self-promotion — as evidenced by Mr. Alexandre’s recent appearance behind the podium in Washington, DC. I wish the powers-that-be would look beyond the surface before bestowing these accolades,” said Kastel.
Beginning in late 2022, a whistleblower contacted FarmForward with documentation of widespread conditions bearing no resemblance to the pastoral scenes on the farm’s website. The USDA’s subsequent investigation confirmed multiple violations, including:
- Sick cows dragged across concrete using hip clamps with a skid steer loader
- Animals dehorned without pain relief or anesthesia
- Diesel fuel sprayed on animals as an insect repellent
- A cow left sick and non-ambulatory for two weeks without adequate care
- A calf confined in a headlock for three days without access to water
Ten of the 14 allegations documented by FarmForward were confirmed by a USDA National Organic Program (NOP) investigation. In an interview with investigators, Blake Alexandre admitted to several violations directly, while obfuscating concerning others. The USDA-sanctioned investigation found systemic failures and resulted in a Combined Notice of Noncompliance and Proposed Suspension by CCOF. The Alexandres subsequently entered into a settlement agreement with the certifier.
The NOP applied no penalties to either Alexandre or CCOF for what were apparently willful violations of the law, leaving the final dispensation of the matter up to CCOF which, according to OrganicEye, should have discovered the years-long violations of law before being forced to further investigate by the USDA.
“All too often, the USDA reinforces the inherent conflicts of interest in the organic certification system by deferring investigations and discretion on final penalties to certifiers who are compensated by the accused, and who, in many cases, were likely either incompetent in carrying out their duties or acted as co-conspirators,” added Kastel.
Two active civil lawsuits are pending against the Alexandres, with the filing of additional legal actions possible.
“The Alexandre Family Farm story is not just about one bad actor. It is about how the organic and regenerative food system’s regulatory and oversight architecture can be systematically exploited — when certifiers lack independence, when regulators and advisory committees are captured by the industries they oversee, and when federal agencies hand out endorsements to operators without checking whether their credentials are still valid,” Kastel added.
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MORE:
Dairy Deception: Corruption and Consumer Fraud at Alexandre Family Farm was published by FarmForward on April 11, 2024, and The Truth About Organic Milk was published by The Atlantic the following day, triggering two lawsuits.
Legal Impact for Chickens v. Alexandre Family Farm (Humboldt County Superior Court, Case #CV2401841) marks the first time California’s animal cruelty statute has been successfully applied to farmed animals. Alexandre has lost two successive attempts at dismissal. The case is currently in discovery.
Taylor v. Humane Animal Farm Care & Alexandre Family Farm (U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, Case #25CV554) seeks damages exceeding $5 million for consumers who paid premium prices based on the Certified Humane label, alleging systematic “humanewashing.”
Closure Notice, secured through FOIA, from the USDA’s National Organic Program to Alexandre’s certifier, CCOF, Re: NOPI-LS-00240-2024, Alexandre Family Farm [emphasis added].