LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has suspended Promiseland Livestock's organic certification for four years because it kept inadequate records and refused to let inspectors review the records it did have.
The livestock company has five ranches in Nebraska and Missouri. The U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a formal complaint against Promiseland in 2008, and a judge recently ruled on the complaint.
The Promiseland problems were uncovered as part of an investigation of milk producer Aurora Organic Dairy of Boulder, Colo., because Aurora had bought more than 12,000 cattle from Promiseland.
No one answered the phone at Promiseland's Bassett, Neb., headquarters Wednesday.
USDA officials did not immediately respond to a message left Wednesday.