This appears a trade dispute, with the law protecting milk wholesalers from competition.
The farmers giving up of the license because it did not include butter is a weak point.
Used to buy raw milk from a neighbor in Pa. Tasted better.
Believe I am way past the statute of limitations.
WOOF - 04:05am on 05/06/2008
Sheesh! Bet it was “organic”, too!
Proof - 04:05am on 05/06/2008
I grew up on “raw” milk. I am lactose intolerent, and the modern fixes—adding lactose after pasturization, lactase pills, “pre-digested” milk, etc—don’t work for me. Raw milk contains the enzymes needed to breakdown all the different sugars in the milk. I suspect that some lactose-intolerent people are also sensitive to galactose, (unsure of the spelling here...), which is a secondary sugar in raw milk.
Before my father’s death we ran a farm, incl. small dairy, (which we sold, perforce, to the only game in town—a co-op :-{ ...). After his death, we purchased raw milk from a full-scale dairy farm one over.
Colman, (his 1st name...), had his herd & the milk inspected every time the fat content was tested and if there was any question abt a particular heiffer’s milk it went into the “little tank”.
Our families were very close, (actually the whole farming community was...), and for the entire time I kept contact—until the inheritance tax forced the sale of their farm—there was never a milk-born illness. I do remember when Colman dumped the entire little-tank because of contamination. The co-op would have bought it, mixed it with “regular” milk, pasturized it, and sold it. Colman felt that the tainted milk was “unacceptable”, and simply wouldn’t sell at any price.
I also remember the new State inspector—during the monthly inspection—angling for payola: dumping clorox into the tanks. Ruining tens of thousands of gallons of milk, because “...w/o ‘insurance’, accidents will happen...”, (ya, according to Colman that’s what the State guy said). He also threatened to shut Colman down for selling raw milk—unless Colman paid additional graft. He could do this by fiat, and if the inspector didn’t like you, he could fine you huge $ on a technicality, w/o needing proof. There wasn’t an effective way to challenge the inspector. If he really wanted to “teach you a lesson”, after levying a huge & baseless fine, he’d also proclaim the herd ill…
(PDA buffer full… cont next post)
martin.musculus - 05:05am on 05/06/2008
I assume that no sales tax was collected by the farmer.
electnixon - 05:05am on 05/06/2008
(cont from prev. post.. )
... and the State Kommissar’s Inspector’s judgement overroad the vet’s, so there was no recourse. I saw this scenerio playout at one of the farms. The family decided they wouldn’t play ball, and the State guy wrote them up, ordered the herd destroyed, (217 milkers), and the storage equipment confiscated. The family lost everything. This was the Inspector’s aim: to make an example out of a family to cause the rest fall into line.
If it had only been a fine, or the herd, or the equipment, we’d (the other farming families) have raised the money. We’d just did that in the previous quarter for a family he’d squeezed...
The price to sell, or give, (or even use yourself as owners of the herd) by this guy was 1 deer every month. This was per farm that sold/gave/used the raw milk.
That was quite a few deer. At least 15-20/month. What he did with all those deer, I have no idea.
The “deer fee” was beyond the inspection kickbacks. Colman said his were 10% of what the premium price was set at by the co-op. That’s the price a dairyman’s paid for milk that tests, (by butterfat content) in the prime range. He had to pay this regardless of where on the scale his milk tested. And this was only if everything was ok. If there was a problem w/the milk, or you were out of compliance, you were on your own… but you still had to pay your “service fee” of 10% of the premium to the Inspector.
The guy in the PA story obviously fell behind in his “service fees”.
- martin.musculus
martin.musculus - 05:05am on 05/06/2008
Give the government power and it spoil things, one way or the other.
The Whistler - 06:05am on 05/06/2008
Just another example of nanny government telling us what we can ingest. Totalitarianism - are we there already?
docdave - 06:05am on 05/06/2008
This is what I’m talking about when I write about big government. My blood pressure shoots up off the scale when I see things like this.
The simple act of selling milk to people who know damn well what they’re buying will cost this guy tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, replacing equipment (or fighting the state to get his own stuff back), etc.
The government needs to stay out of our lives.
I wonder what local politician owns a dairy distributorship?
What the hell! This is madness.
Ya have to sell to the middleman!
This appears a trade dispute, with the law protecting milk wholesalers from competition.
The farmers giving up of the license because it did not include butter is a weak point.
Used to buy raw milk from a neighbor in Pa. Tasted better.
Believe I am way past the statute of limitations.
Sheesh! Bet it was “organic”, too!
I grew up on “raw” milk. I am lactose intolerent, and the modern fixes—adding lactose after pasturization, lactase pills, “pre-digested” milk, etc—don’t work for me. Raw milk contains the enzymes needed to breakdown all the different sugars in the milk. I suspect that some lactose-intolerent people are also sensitive to galactose, (unsure of the spelling here...), which is a secondary sugar in raw milk.
Before my father’s death we ran a farm, incl. small dairy, (which we sold, perforce, to the only game in town—a co-op :-{ ...). After his death, we purchased raw milk from a full-scale dairy farm one over.
Colman, (his 1st name...), had his herd & the milk inspected every time the fat content was tested and if there was any question abt a particular heiffer’s milk it went into the “little tank”.
Our families were very close, (actually the whole farming community was...), and for the entire time I kept contact—until the inheritance tax forced the sale of their farm—there was never a milk-born illness. I do remember when Colman dumped the entire little-tank because of contamination. The co-op would have bought it, mixed it with “regular” milk, pasturized it, and sold it. Colman felt that the tainted milk was “unacceptable”, and simply wouldn’t sell at any price.
I also remember the new State inspector—during the monthly inspection—angling for payola: dumping clorox into the tanks. Ruining tens of thousands of gallons of milk, because “...w/o ‘insurance’, accidents will happen...”, (ya, according to Colman that’s what the State guy said). He also threatened to shut Colman down for selling raw milk—unless Colman paid additional graft. He could do this by fiat, and if the inspector didn’t like you, he could fine you huge $ on a technicality, w/o needing proof. There wasn’t an effective way to challenge the inspector. If he really wanted to “teach you a lesson”, after levying a huge & baseless fine, he’d also proclaim the herd ill…
(PDA buffer full… cont next post)
I assume that no sales tax was collected by the farmer.
(cont from prev. post.. )
... and the State
Kommissar’sInspector’s judgement overroad the vet’s, so there was no recourse. I saw this scenerio playout at one of the farms. The family decided they wouldn’t play ball, and the State guy wrote them up, ordered the herd destroyed, (217 milkers), and the storage equipment confiscated. The family lost everything. This was the Inspector’s aim: to make an example out of a family to cause the rest fall into line.If it had only been a fine, or the herd, or the equipment, we’d (the other farming families) have raised the money. We’d just did that in the previous quarter for a family he’d squeezed...
The price to sell, or give, (or even use yourself as owners of the herd) by this guy was 1 deer every month. This was per farm that sold/gave/used the raw milk.
That was quite a few deer. At least 15-20/month. What he did with all those deer, I have no idea.
The “deer fee” was beyond the inspection kickbacks. Colman said his were 10% of what the premium price was set at by the co-op. That’s the price a dairyman’s paid for milk that tests, (by butterfat content) in the prime range. He had to pay this regardless of where on the scale his milk tested. And this was only if everything was ok. If there was a problem w/the milk, or you were out of compliance, you were on your own… but you still had to pay your “service fee” of 10% of the premium to the Inspector.
The guy in the PA story obviously fell behind in his “service fees”.
- martin.musculus
Give the government power and it spoil things, one way or the other.
Just another example of nanny government telling us what we can ingest. Totalitarianism - are we there already?
This is what I’m talking about when I write about big government. My blood pressure shoots up off the scale when I see things like this.
The simple act of selling milk to people who know damn well what they’re buying will cost this guy tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, replacing equipment (or fighting the state to get his own stuff back), etc.
The government needs to stay out of our lives.
I wonder what local politician owns a dairy distributorship?