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Is New York State Out to Get a Dairy Farmer?
BusinessWeek.com ^ | July 11, 2007 | David E. Gumpert

Posted on 07/11/2007 8:09:41 PM PDT by davidgumpert

Dawn Sharts has been a dairy farmer in upstate New York for 31 years, and has never had problems with agriculture inspectors. But things changed when Sharts decided to take advantage of a state law that allows farmers with special permits to sell unpasteurized milk directly to consumers from the farm... Sharts says last fall agriculture inspectors suddenly began "treating me like I was selling toxic waste." The situation has become so nasty that the inspectors shut part of Sharts' production down for several weeks and publicly accused her of selling a tainted product. She has fought back with vehement e-mail denials and weekly phone demands for a meeting with the head of New York's Agriculture & Markets Dept. She has even produced videos to help prove her points.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; US: New York
KEYWORDS: foodsupply; govwatch; health; milk; pasteurization; pathogens
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It's hard not to conclude that New York agriculture officials have it in for Dawn Sharts, a dairy farmer. They've labeled her a seller of tainted product, forced her to close down for a time, and refused to post an all-clear when her milk tested okay. Perhaps most telling, no one has become ill from her milk, or from any of the other raw-milk dairies the state has identified in the last few months as selling tainted product. Unlike most farmers, though, Sharts hasn't been intimidated, and is challenging the state to re-examine its approaches.
1 posted on 07/11/2007 8:09:44 PM PDT by davidgumpert
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To: davidgumpert
Dawn, most likely took the shortest distance between two points, and that was to use non-union drivers with her product and now she has hell to pay.

Just a wild, crazy guess.

2 posted on 07/11/2007 8:21:25 PM PDT by quantim (2008 => I'll take an imperfect winner over a perfect loser.)
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To: davidgumpert
It's hard not to conclude that New York agriculture officials have it in for Dawn Sharts, a dairy farmer. With a 20 cows.

Well I read the whole story and find that you are wrong.

It began when a routine test by state agriculture inspectors on Mar. 26 showed that her milk was contaminated with a dangerous bacterium, listeria monocytogenes, that occasionally infects dairy products and more commonly infects deli meats. First, the state ordered her to stop her raw milk sales They had to recall a bunch of milk for contamination.

Not good to kill your customers.

3 posted on 07/11/2007 8:26:58 PM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: davidgumpert
Welcome to Communism in the good old USA. We asked for it and got it. Government control of the production of goods and services. I guess we need to learn how they deal with these problems in Russia. It is not just the other guys problem any more is it.
4 posted on 07/11/2007 8:55:15 PM PDT by PJ3CUB
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To: org.whodat

Nobody even got sick. And of course in the article:

“Her concerns include careless inspection procedures, which Sharts says include inspectors unnecessarily opening her bulk tank (exposing the milk to contamination) and failing to properly clean their boots and hands. When the inspectors came Apr. 13 to re-inspect her dairy, she decided to secretly video them from a camera in the milk house installed for security purposes. In one segment on her Web site, an inspector can be seen opening the bulk tank and looking in, and in a second segment, an inspector is shown rolling up her pants after having been in the barnyard with chickens and other animals, thus possibly contaminating her hands, says Sharts.”

Not very smart “inspectors” unless they’re Nazi’s.


5 posted on 07/11/2007 9:33:14 PM PDT by jwh_Denver (In the Rise and Fall of United States I hope the Fall part is more than one chapter.)
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To: org.whodat

Although raw milk may contain nutrients lost in the pasteurization process, it can also serve as a home for bugs that cause tuberculosis, brucellosis, and other nasty ailments.


6 posted on 07/11/2007 10:12:04 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill
it can also serve as a home for bugs that cause tuberculosis, brucellosis, and other nasty ailments.

Gee, how about all those open markets selling there goods. I guess they are immune to nasty stuff. By the way, what is the estimate of how many people died because of unpasteurized milk in the days when it was the norm to drink it, as I also did and I'm still here without all those nasty things in my body.

7 posted on 07/11/2007 10:37:02 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: jwh_Denver
Not very smart “inspectors” unless they’re Nazi’s

A bit over the top there, these people have a job inspecting milk, I bet you have never been in a milking barn. The bulk tank is not a sealed unit, the lids juts lay on top to keep the dust out. And the place has cow shit everywhere.

8 posted on 07/12/2007 5:10:17 AM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: org.whodat

You need to distinguish between the milking barn (sometimes referred to as the milk parlor) and the milk house. The milking barn is where the cows are milked, as you say. The milk house is where the bulk tank is kept—a separate structure APART from the milking barn, and for a very good reason—to make sure the milk stays clean. Dawn Sharts happens to keep both the milking barn and the milk house extremely clean. Even inspectors comment on the cleanliness. Most farmers don’t keep things so clean—they count on pasteurization to compensate for their carelessness.


9 posted on 07/12/2007 6:42:55 AM PDT by davidgumpert (More on problems with raw milk availability in Michigan)
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To: org.whodat
“It began when a routine test by state agriculture inspectors on Mar. 26 showed that her milk was contaminated with a dangerous bacterium, listeria monocytogenes, that occasionally infects dairy products and more commonly infects deli meats. First, the state ordered her to stop her raw milk sales They had to recall a bunch of milk for contamination.

Not good to kill your customers.”

Has anyone died or gotten sick? No. People ate unpasteurized cheese and drank unpasteurized milk for thousands of years before pasteurization was discovered. In other parts of the world they still do. This is just another case of bureaucrats behaving like Nazis because they have no common sense.

10 posted on 07/12/2007 6:48:08 AM PDT by monday
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To: davidgumpert
NYS Land In Farms Historical Data

Click on the Number Of Farms tab.

Is New York State Out to Get a Dairy Farmer?

Duh.

11 posted on 07/12/2007 6:53:15 AM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: org.whodat
The bulk tank is not a sealed unit, the lids juts lay on top to keep the dust out.

Maybe in the milking barns you've been in. I can tell you that in my Grandfather's milking barn the bulk tank's lid formed an air tight seal.

12 posted on 07/12/2007 6:53:48 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: Fiji Hill
“Although raw milk may contain nutrients lost in the pasteurization process, it can also serve as a home for bugs that cause tuberculosis, brucellosis, and other nasty ailments.”

Most people who buy her raw milk probably use it to make cheese. You cannot make many authentic cheeses with pasteurized milk. The bacterias that are required are killed in the pasteurization process. That is why American cheese manufacturers produce the blandest and most boring cheese on the planet.

13 posted on 07/12/2007 6:56:48 AM PDT by monday
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To: org.whodat

I did water sampling. I knew how to fail any test I wanted failed. It was very easy. If an inspector is out to screw you, it’s so simple, even an ironworker or caveman could do it.


14 posted on 07/12/2007 7:02:10 AM PDT by Clam Digger
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To: davidgumpert
The milk house is where the bulk tank is kept—a separate structure APART from the milking barn, and for a very good reason—to make sure the milk stays clean.

ROF

I live on a farm do you?, actually have a milking parlor, hasn't been used in many years, still has bulk tank and plumbing, and I known where there are many, many more with same set up, tank is about five feet from milking stalls.

Grew up drinking raw milk, but would not drink it today unless I knew the source very, very well, but there is really no reason to drink raw milk other than you want to.

15 posted on 07/12/2007 7:27:57 AM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: Just another Joe
Maybe in the milking barns you've been in. I can tell you that in my Grandfather's milking barn the bulk tank's lid formed an air tight seal.

Wrong, they need air for expansion and cooling , try pumping something into an air tight tank. After that fill the tank and try pumping an air tight tank empty.

16 posted on 07/12/2007 7:32:44 AM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: monday
This is just another case of bureaucrats behaving like Nazis because they have no common sense.

Take it up with the FDA, me I hope they keep the animal crap at a minimum in my food.

17 posted on 07/12/2007 7:34:52 AM PDT by org.whodat (What's the difference between a Democrat and a republican????)
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To: org.whodat
I didn't say it was an airtight tank, I said the bulk tank's lid formed an air tight seal.
When you closed the lid it had some type of rubber seal on it and a locking mechanism.
It wasn't just a lid that you set on the top.
18 posted on 07/12/2007 7:37:05 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
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To: taxesareforever

Well, others weren’t so lucky, such as Richard Nixon, who contracted brucellosis and lost two brothers to tuberculosis, most likely caused by drinking milk from an infected cow.


19 posted on 07/12/2007 8:16:51 AM PDT by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill
most likely caused by drinking milk from an infected cow.

Gotta love it. "Most likely". Facts man. Just the facts and not conjecture. Gee, one person. That's astounding. I know a person who got lung cancer and never smoked in his life. I also know people who got lung cancer and smoked and the conjecture is that smoking causes lung cancer. Does that mean that ALL people who get lung cancer get it from smoking. I've already shown that to be false.

20 posted on 07/12/2007 11:29:31 AM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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