Adjustments to USDA organic rules are good news if you like organic beef and milk.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—If you're looking for food-safety oversight, the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) certified-organic seal is already the gold standard. Farms that produce food under these standards are not allowed to use some of the grossest crop amendments on the market: human sewage sludge, genetically engineered seeds, or chemical pesticides or fertilizers that are linked to all sorts of ills, including some forms of cancer, hormone disruption, miscarriages, birth defects, and behavioral problems. Beyond polluting our food, these fossil fuel–derived substances also contaminate soil and sometimes come back to haunt us again in our drinking water.

But under the new administration, USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) is tightening its reigns even further, bulking up its inspection staff, cracking down on organic fraud in beauty products, and finally incorporating recommendations made by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). "The number one priority of the program is to uphold and enforce the organic standards," says Miles McEvoy, USDA's new deputy administrator of the organic program. "We have a number of initiatives that we are implementing to achieve this goal."

New improvements include:

• Implementing and enforcing the access to pasture final rule. Most consumers buying organic milk, cheese, or meat are probably concerned about hormones and antibiotics in their food, which is banned in certified-organic production. Many also expect that the animals are being fed healthy diets and spending time outside, though, in fact, some large-scale producers are able to skirt those practices while still maintaining organic certification. Thanks to the revision to the pasture rule, certified-organic cows, sheep, goats, and other ruminant animals on farms and ranches must be on green pastures during the grazing season and eat a substantial part of their diet from pasture, the natural diet for ruminant livestock. (For more info, read the Rodale.com Guide to Buying Grass-Fed Beef.)

Read on to find out about other organic improvements.