"NY Dairy Farmer Turns the Tables When the Ag Inspectors
Arrive for a Mystery Visit"
Over the last two weeks, Andrea Elliott has been writing email=
s to
farm associations, her Congressman, and members of the U.S. House and Senate
agriculture committees-- -all urging that the upcoming farm bill not include
funding for the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). She and her
husband, Jim, own a dairy farm in the Catskill
Mountains of New York, and she made it plain in her notes that she is adam=
antly
opposed to registering the farm's 80 cows under the federal program.=
Recently she received a call from an inspector with the N=
ew
York Department of Food and Markets in Albany that he planned to come by the farm for a special
inspection, based on "a complaint" made to the department's Divis=
ion
of Milk Control and Dairy Services.
Andrea couldn't imagine who might have complained, and what the complaint m=
ight
have been about. Her farm, Crystal Brook Farms, sells nearly all its milk t=
o a local
creamery for pasteurization. She sells a few gallons of raw milk occasional=
ly
to individuals who stop in with their own containers, under New York rules that allow sale of 25gallons a month without a
permit.
Today (Tuesday), the
inspector, Bradley Lyle Houck, arrived from Albany, two hours away, together with her regular local dai=
ry
inspector, and Andrea was prepared. As soon as they arrived, "I turned=
on
my video camera. I think that made them a little uncomfortable. "
Then, she says, "I asked the state inspector to fill out my form."
Her form is a three-page "public service questionnaire" that asks=
for
the inspector's identity, his principal reason for doing the inspection, how
the information he gathers will be used, and other such data. "He shoo=
k his
head and refused," says Andrea. "He said, 'I have to be authorize=
d by
Albany.'" He tried to make a call on his cell phone, b=
ut
couldn't complete the call because the farm area has no cell reception.
Andrea persisted. "I said, This is our property and I can require you =
to
fill it out.'" He offered his state ID and badge.
Andrea moved on. "I asked him why he was here and he said a complaint =
was
received in Albany<=
/span>."
What was the complaint? "He said he couldn't tell me."
Who filed the complaint? "He wouldn't tell me. He just wouldn't go any
further. He said all complaints that come into =
Albany are treated as confidential. "
"I asked him what statute allows a complaint to be treated as
confidential. He said he couldn't quote a statute."
At that point, the inspector asked if they could talk off-camera. Andrea
declined.
"He said, 'I guess the best thing would be for us to come back another
time." The two got back into their car and took off.
Andrea adds, "At no time did I deny him the inspection. I didn't ask h=
im
to leave. All I did was ask him for specific reasons for the inspection.. .I
have a right to know who my accuser is."
Andrea seems to have added an entirely new dimension to the agricultural
inspection. Especially one with such an intriguing coincidence connecting i=
t to
NAIS.