Post by brigitte on May 22, 2010 5:43:13 GMT -5
The following is testimony I gave May 10 in Boston as the stage's Dept of Agriculture threatened to shut down buyers clubs- a means by which people living in urban areas can acquire raw milk without each of them having to travel great distances to get milk that in some cases is essential to their health.
The state backed off from its threat. buyers clubs are still legal, for now....
For those with interest in recent efforts in the Commonwealth to further restrict raw milk sales through a proposed ban on buyers clubs. Boston folks rallied, farmers came down from Vermont, and one of them delivered a nice Jersey cow to the Commons, and gave away her milk. Here is what went on inside a cramped government hearing room- while 60 people couldn't get in even though the hearing before the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Commissioner was supposed to be open to the public.
May 10 hearing before the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources -
the commissioner sat through three hours of this, unmoved and without reaction.
Of the 49 who testified, 48 opposed efforts to ban raw milk buyers clubs, and addressed the department's antagonistic posture with relation to struggling small farms. A few were farmers, most were parents who talked of children cured of autoimmune diseases by raw milk who said they can't get to farms where raw milk is sold and depend on buyers clubs to fetch it (non farm sales are illegal here). A couple of points stick in my mind- one speaker was a high school girl who told the commissioner he is keeping her from realizing her dream of becoming a dairy farmer- A particularly articulate woman said the rules in general violate her civil rights. "I own that bottle of milk when I buy it, I am responsible then for what it contains. I don't need or want you involved."
A very theatrical young man talked of being cured of an irritable bowel problem, and suggested that farmers know that every drop they collect must be safe to be spared lawsuits that would destroy them faster than a citation for breaking rules. He quoted from Thomas Jefferson, about the responsibility government has to encourage entrepreneurs. And we all remember Jefferson's thesis that government is best as it governs least.
Here is what I offered, in general- (p.s. the parking fee in a public garage was $35 for three hours- gas $25, tolls $10- help rendered to two critically injured crash victims on the Mass Turnpike on the way home- free.)
I own a small farm in Sandisfield, a small Berkshire County town which once had dozens of dairy farms. There are no others dairy cows here or in any neighboring town. People bring their children here to show them what a cow looks like.
I might be the only person in The Commonwealth to have launched a dairy enterprise in the current mine filled landscape. I brought back land that hadnt been farmed in years, and am negotiating for the use of adjoining pastureland which is for sale as house lots. It is beautiful, historic high ground the state has rejected for protection because the soil type isnt a priority.
My personal investment in this business is now over $60,000. I am nurturing a small herd of milking shorthorn cattle on pasture. In order for me to offer their milk for sale, under current regulations, I must sell part ownership of the cow to a buyer who then agrees to pay me for the upkeep. The payment is for milk, under the guise of rent.
All of the raw milk dairies in the state have restrofitted existing milkrooms. New construction built to meet confusing requirements are prohibitively expensive under your regulations and must include a septic system for even one cow, impermeable walls in certain designated areas, a drainage system, hot and cold running water, and refrigeration and bottling systems. Not all of these rules are necessary to provide a safe product.
I am confused by why this hearing was called in the first place. No one was sickened, nor has anyone ever been sickened by real milk. Although I am not dependant on buyers clubs, your proposed changes are troubling and serve to further erode the ability of small dairies to survive. If this pops up arbitrarily, what's next? A ban on cow share? A crackdown on manure piles?
Your deparment dispatched a press release Friday night, backtracking on plans to ban buyers clubs. Your press releases have been filled with what can and can't be discussed at this hearing, leading to confusion. Isn't "can't" what delivered passionate farmers to this very place about 235 years ago to wrestle free from strangulating taxes and regulations?
I must assume then that my remarks fit somewhere in your commitment, as of Friday only, to look at raw milk through a broader lense. To wit, I refer to your words "a broader inquiry into the milk market as it relates to raw milk pursuant to general laws."
Let me be clear. Farmers I know- the few left- welcome regulation and testing to confirm what we have already assured through good herdsmandship- that this product is safe. It's a strong statement in an age of liability.
You have the chance to work with a public increasingly impatient with "can't." and want to exercise their civil and constitutional rights to make their own decisions.
It is therefore troubling to us that mysterious exigencies are compelling you to create more- not fewer rules. With all due respect to Mr. Gumpert, who just said leave the system the way it is because it's fine- I offer that it is not fine.
If I walk a cow from my farm down the road to Connecticut, her milk taken on Connecticut land would fall under another set of rules- I could perhaps sell it through a retail business for instance, not so in Massachusetts. The rule book you sent me is two inches thick- filled with rules that are open to interpretation.
Please treat farmers as individual business owners deserving individual scrutiny. It might be okay to waive a required $20,000 septic system if you have a clean milking area, and low bacteria counts where effluent is efficiently removed.
In Vermont, where I once worked on a dairy that sold to Agrimark, no milk ever had to be thrown away even though it should have been occasionally when part time milkers left dirty trails. We knew it was okay to drop the milking claw- the suction apparatus that adheres to the udder to collect milk- into the gutter where it sucked up manure into the bulk tank. We often wondered if city people knew they were drinking sanitized manure.
There is Revolution in the air. If you fail to allow reasonable access, this market will be driven underground. You see the passion of buyers here today. Already, milk is flowing in these towns and being distributed like bootleg whiskey in Prohibition. It is not a situation anyone wants- and sets up risks for irresponsible behavior. Responsible farmers want to be held accountable.
Take the opportunity to go further than your withdrawal of the planned ban on buyers clubs. Make is easier for small farmers who believe in what they are doing to meet the demand for real milk. You will not place the public health at risk. Remember, this is Massachusetts.
The state backed off from its threat. buyers clubs are still legal, for now....
For those with interest in recent efforts in the Commonwealth to further restrict raw milk sales through a proposed ban on buyers clubs. Boston folks rallied, farmers came down from Vermont, and one of them delivered a nice Jersey cow to the Commons, and gave away her milk. Here is what went on inside a cramped government hearing room- while 60 people couldn't get in even though the hearing before the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Commissioner was supposed to be open to the public.
May 10 hearing before the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources -
the commissioner sat through three hours of this, unmoved and without reaction.
Of the 49 who testified, 48 opposed efforts to ban raw milk buyers clubs, and addressed the department's antagonistic posture with relation to struggling small farms. A few were farmers, most were parents who talked of children cured of autoimmune diseases by raw milk who said they can't get to farms where raw milk is sold and depend on buyers clubs to fetch it (non farm sales are illegal here). A couple of points stick in my mind- one speaker was a high school girl who told the commissioner he is keeping her from realizing her dream of becoming a dairy farmer- A particularly articulate woman said the rules in general violate her civil rights. "I own that bottle of milk when I buy it, I am responsible then for what it contains. I don't need or want you involved."
A very theatrical young man talked of being cured of an irritable bowel problem, and suggested that farmers know that every drop they collect must be safe to be spared lawsuits that would destroy them faster than a citation for breaking rules. He quoted from Thomas Jefferson, about the responsibility government has to encourage entrepreneurs. And we all remember Jefferson's thesis that government is best as it governs least.
Here is what I offered, in general- (p.s. the parking fee in a public garage was $35 for three hours- gas $25, tolls $10- help rendered to two critically injured crash victims on the Mass Turnpike on the way home- free.)
I own a small farm in Sandisfield, a small Berkshire County town which once had dozens of dairy farms. There are no others dairy cows here or in any neighboring town. People bring their children here to show them what a cow looks like.
I might be the only person in The Commonwealth to have launched a dairy enterprise in the current mine filled landscape. I brought back land that hadnt been farmed in years, and am negotiating for the use of adjoining pastureland which is for sale as house lots. It is beautiful, historic high ground the state has rejected for protection because the soil type isnt a priority.
My personal investment in this business is now over $60,000. I am nurturing a small herd of milking shorthorn cattle on pasture. In order for me to offer their milk for sale, under current regulations, I must sell part ownership of the cow to a buyer who then agrees to pay me for the upkeep. The payment is for milk, under the guise of rent.
All of the raw milk dairies in the state have restrofitted existing milkrooms. New construction built to meet confusing requirements are prohibitively expensive under your regulations and must include a septic system for even one cow, impermeable walls in certain designated areas, a drainage system, hot and cold running water, and refrigeration and bottling systems. Not all of these rules are necessary to provide a safe product.
I am confused by why this hearing was called in the first place. No one was sickened, nor has anyone ever been sickened by real milk. Although I am not dependant on buyers clubs, your proposed changes are troubling and serve to further erode the ability of small dairies to survive. If this pops up arbitrarily, what's next? A ban on cow share? A crackdown on manure piles?
Your deparment dispatched a press release Friday night, backtracking on plans to ban buyers clubs. Your press releases have been filled with what can and can't be discussed at this hearing, leading to confusion. Isn't "can't" what delivered passionate farmers to this very place about 235 years ago to wrestle free from strangulating taxes and regulations?
I must assume then that my remarks fit somewhere in your commitment, as of Friday only, to look at raw milk through a broader lense. To wit, I refer to your words "a broader inquiry into the milk market as it relates to raw milk pursuant to general laws."
Let me be clear. Farmers I know- the few left- welcome regulation and testing to confirm what we have already assured through good herdsmandship- that this product is safe. It's a strong statement in an age of liability.
You have the chance to work with a public increasingly impatient with "can't." and want to exercise their civil and constitutional rights to make their own decisions.
It is therefore troubling to us that mysterious exigencies are compelling you to create more- not fewer rules. With all due respect to Mr. Gumpert, who just said leave the system the way it is because it's fine- I offer that it is not fine.
If I walk a cow from my farm down the road to Connecticut, her milk taken on Connecticut land would fall under another set of rules- I could perhaps sell it through a retail business for instance, not so in Massachusetts. The rule book you sent me is two inches thick- filled with rules that are open to interpretation.
Please treat farmers as individual business owners deserving individual scrutiny. It might be okay to waive a required $20,000 septic system if you have a clean milking area, and low bacteria counts where effluent is efficiently removed.
In Vermont, where I once worked on a dairy that sold to Agrimark, no milk ever had to be thrown away even though it should have been occasionally when part time milkers left dirty trails. We knew it was okay to drop the milking claw- the suction apparatus that adheres to the udder to collect milk- into the gutter where it sucked up manure into the bulk tank. We often wondered if city people knew they were drinking sanitized manure.
There is Revolution in the air. If you fail to allow reasonable access, this market will be driven underground. You see the passion of buyers here today. Already, milk is flowing in these towns and being distributed like bootleg whiskey in Prohibition. It is not a situation anyone wants- and sets up risks for irresponsible behavior. Responsible farmers want to be held accountable.
Take the opportunity to go further than your withdrawal of the planned ban on buyers clubs. Make is easier for small farmers who believe in what they are doing to meet the demand for real milk. You will not place the public health at risk. Remember, this is Massachusetts.