When the FDA answered FTCLDF (Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund) in the interstate shipment of raw milk suit, they stated four fully repugnant things. That you have no right to, nor does your child have a right to any particular food, you have no right to bodily or physical health, that you have no right to contract, and that they are “rationally” fulfilling their public health mission. It appears that they forgot to include that you have no right to privacy or free association along with the right of contract.With the recent actions against Rawesome, sting operations against Amish farmers, and the absolute destruction of Morningland Dairy, one can only surmise that the FDA, who pulls the strings on state level equivalent agencies, forgot to specifically deny the right to freedom of association guaranteed us under the First Amendment along with many others.

As many people have been covering these continual affronts to our very right to consume food that we want to consume, I don’t feel as compelled to conduct a full review every time I find myself in the position of covering a new travesty of decency. Maybe that’s laziness in the eyes of some, but the truth is we are against the wall in this country with the most basic of human rights, and it’s too late to be nice about it any longer. If people are still unaware that food is a controlled substance, they are not likely to read this article anyway. Unfortunately, we have another assault that needs to be brought to the attention of those paying attention.

Morningland’s cheese plant has now been shut down for just over one year. They’ve been to court and have filed an appeal on the judge’s order to destroy their wealth, and were taken to court again on June 13^th and found guilty on one of three Contempt of Court charges brought against them for not rolling over and dying when the Milk Board suggested they should. They had to post bond again to keep their cheese from the hands of the destroyers until the legal wrangling is complete. Now the Attorney General says they must give up the names, addresses and phone numbers of individuals who are members in their private association. Denise Dixon says she will go to jail before that happens.

At the first trial, on January 13^th 2011, the principals of Morningland of the Ozarks LLC, Joseph and Denise Dixon, notified the Attorney General’s office, the Missouri Milk Board, and Judge David Dunlap (although he rec’d his notification via mail) that they had closed Morningland of the Ozarks LLC, and had formed a private membership association that they hoped to be able provide with their own cheese once this issue was resolved. In the interim, they purchased cheese from two licensed, inspected facilities and cut it and shipped it to their membership. The Dixons drove to these cheese plants (one in Wisconsin and one in Kansas) and picked the cheese up. This takes the private group completely out of the accepted realm of commerce.

In his original ruling against Morningland of the Ozarks LLC, Judge Dunlap stipulated that the LLC was the only entity involved in this action. The Attorney General’s office made no move to personally enjoin either one of the Dixons from either making or selling or cutting or wrapping or eating cheese themselves. The Dixons even applied for a tax id number as Morningland Dairy, not Morningland of the Ozarks LLC.

But that doesn’t matter. Trying to make an independent living is now illegal.

The state is the Judge. The Judge says there can be no jury. The state is the Executioner. After all, this is the land of the free the home of the brave, where agencies steal and destroy property with impunity and if we don’t like it, we can leave. That is, if we aren’t already involved in some legal imbroglio.

I digress. But only a little bit.

Judge David Dunlap ruled that Morningland of the Ozarks LLC is to turn over to the Attorney General’s office all sales records (none), all production records (none), all sanitation records (none), all bacteriological test records (none), and all sales records (again?).

Denise and Joseph Dixon produced the invoices from the companies they purchased cheese from, and also invoices with the names redacted of the people they had sent cheese to from Feb 23^rd through present. This wasn’t good enough. The Missouri Attorney General’s office claims that they must have the names, addresses and phone numbers of the private membership association or there will be a $100 per day fine ascribed to a defunct entity, and a defunct private membership association for failure to produce documents. That fine assessment began on August 22^nd as per a letter from the Attorney General’s office.

Joseph and Denise are ready to go to jail before they will turn the names and addresses of the association members over in this action. They mean it. They are asking the court to reconsider their ruling to divulge the members names…but there are things that have to be clarified before they go to jail.

These things make no sense to me in the legal realm of this case. We are dealing with four entities. One is the subject of legal action, that being Morningland of the Ozarks LLC (d/b/a Morningland Dairy). One is Morningland Dairy, the private membership association. The other two are scripturally one, being Joseph and Denise Dixon. The Court, and the Attorney General’s office have stated repeatedly that Morningland of the Ozarks LLC is the only entity involved in this legal action. However, they are comfortable finding a defunct entity, with no income or production, to be in contempt. They are also comfortable with forcing a private association to disclose their membership list in conjunction with a legal proceeding against a separate entity and with requiring the procurement of production records from other entities over which they have no jurisdiction.

If the logic employed by the Missouri Attorney General’s office and Judge Dunlap of Howell County Circuit Court is to apply to all of us (as it will if all of this is upheld), should you purchase some male performance enhancement herbs from anyone, and one of their suppliers is involved in a dispute with say the FDA, then the FDA will have the right to know that you bought such a product, and maybe they will even call you to find out how it worked for you.

Pleasant thought, isn’t it?

The AG’s office makes no bones about their assertion that the Dixons formed their private membership association solely to engage in unlawful activity. They think the Dixons are such hard nosed criminals that they are flaunting the law by letting the Milk Board, the Court and the AG’s office know that they are running a private association under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. Obviously, the Dixons are criminal because they believe they have the right to provide people with food that the people want and to try to make some money to pay for the electricity to continue to hold their arrested cheese for the inevitable destruction. In the Missouri Attorney General’s eyes, there can be no chance that the Dixons simply want to do what they have been dedicated to doing all along…..Provide living food to living people who share their continued interest in, ummm, living.

I guess we need permission for that now.

Breaking news: Multi-agency armed raid hits Rawesome Foods, Healthy Family Farms for selling raw milk and cheese. Read it here at Natural News.

Thecompletepatient.com - Major New Escalation in War on Food Rights As Federal and Local Agencies Team to Arrest 3 in CA on Criminal Charges Associated with Rawesome Food Club

Estrella Family Creamery blog post, with a video

It is totally outrageous.

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• Breaking news: Multi-agency armed raid hits Rawesome Foods, Healthy Family Farms for Selling Raw Milk and Cheese (newsworldwide.wordpress.com)
• When The Thugs Come Marchin’ In (h3roich3alth.wordpress.com)
• Government Raid of Rawesome (Take 2) (liberationwellnessblog.com)

When the CDFA tested cheese seized in the raid 55 days later and “detected” pathogens in the cheese, a freight train of destruction began to run down Morningland Dairy. This family business had been in business for thirty years with no complaints or illnesses associated with consumption of their cheese.

The owners of the company, Joseph and Denise Dixon originally thought the agencies in charge of the investigation were actually interested in helping them address a problem if the investigation showed there actually was a problem. They thought that the Missouri Milk Board was interested in helping them get back into producing their highly desired cheese.

Unfortunately, nearly a year later, those naïve original thoughts are as absent as cheese making activity at their virtually abandoned cheese plant.

Apparently, the government paid enforcers of truth, justice and a controlled food supply will not rest until the object of their fear, $250,000 of cheese, is destroyed. With the destruction of that cheese will come the destruction of another family farm.
If actions are any indication of intent, the intent of the Missouri Milk Board with Morningland Dairy has been annihilation from the beginning of the investigation.

As one might imagine, when you are faced with the destruction of your livelihood, potential loss of your farm and home, complete loss of your business, accusations of wrong doing and ill will, along with separation of your family due to the inevitable continuing saga of bills that must be paid despite the circumstances, you might have some feelings about it. Especially when no one has been harmed by your product.

The following prose asks the ineffable question of “How Many Goons (Bureaucrats) Does it Take to Destroy A Business?”

FDA, Team 1: 3 Goons…..Impress Them

Arrive at the business dressed in full camouflage fatigues and serve inspection paper. Make ignorant statements like, “I don’t know how many times a week you milk your cows, but….” and despite the statements that show your ignorance, make them believe you have the authority to decide if their operation runs properly.

Impress them.

When they question your demands for information unrelated to to your inspection, make obvious note of their “failure to cooperate”.

Impress them.

When you fail to find any contamination, even though you dug deep to insure that you would, be sure to downplay that failure and continue to impress them with more investigation.

When they attempt to limit your ability to confiscate their product, threaten them with an invasion by your sister, the U.S. Marshall.

Impress them.

When you close your investigation, be sure to inform them that you will be back to open up another investigation.

They’ll be impressed.

FDA, Team 2-1 Goon: Strong Arm Them

Call the plant. When you find that the owners are not there, impress upon the Plant Manager the need to recall all of their product for the entire year.

Push! Push!

Email them with your outline of exactly how to do the recall. Never mind that the owners are not present. Never mind that there has never been an illness or complaint connected to their product. Never mind that the test from another state looks extremely suspicious and mishandled.

Push! Push!

Hound the Plant Manger. By phone, by fax, and email. Even on the weekend. Get that recall done before the owners arrive!

Push! Push!

When the owners arrive at the plant before the recall is complete and ask why such a recall is necessary before the ‘facts’ are substantiated, threaten them that you’ll have to issue the recall for them if they do not!

Push! Push!

After you’ve forced them to recall, when the owner informs people you forced them to do it, deny it! But don’t fret; your job is completed.

Missouri State Milk Board- 3 Goons: Deceive Them
 
Arrive at the plant and pretend to be concerned about the ‘situation’, and assure them that you’ll help them get back in business soon. Make them think you are concerned over the apparent obvious lack of proper procedure performed by the other state’s officials, though you will not make any effort to question the other state.

Deceive them.

When they try to conscientiously test some of their product, introduce them to the testing facility that you have used for years, and with whom you have such a relationship that you can call them up and change things to your specifications even if the test is not yours. Tell them that you don’t know this testing facility, that you just learned of them recently, that you will ‘loan’ them the business card you ‘happened’ to have in your wallet to make a copy but that you’ll need it back in case you might want to contact this facility yourself.

Deceive them.

Make them think that you regret that they must do a recall
When the owners insist that the other state’s procedures be investigated, tell them you will look into it, but first, they must do the recall. You really care.

Deceive them.

When they question the integrity of your testing facility, end especially when they find out that you and the facility are buddies, make them think you are saving them from poisoning sooooo many people! Make them believe that it’s not important to do a valid scientifically proper test of their product. Make them believe you are doing all that you can do. Make them believe that their healthful product is not even fit to feed to dogs. Make them believe that you do not want to destroy their business.

Deceive them.

When they dare to fight the planned destruction of their business, testify in court that you had been concerned by the inspections you had previously performed at their plant.

Deceive them.

Do not testify that you had repeatedly told them that you had noticed their efforts to improve the plant, or of the fact that you had recently approved the owner’s plans to expand the plant.

Deceive them.

When you have the opportunity to help the judge decide upon the improvements to require the owners  to implement  before resuming production of their product, be sure to list expensive changes that are not required in other facilities like theirs. Make the judge think that such changes are necessary.

Deceive them.

MISSOURI COURT/ATTORNEY GEN.’S OFFICE – 3 GOONS – AWE & BURY THEM

Twist the truth to achieve your goals and disregard any who insist upon proper procedure.

Play God.

Invent false, damning accusations and run with them so you can destroy the already injured business, even though you have absolutely no proof of such accusations. You don’t need it.

Play God.

Ignore the truth that you hear from testimonies that support the business; you needn’t bother heeding it because as “god” you make your own “truth”.

When you’ve destroyed the small business, don’t stop there. Grind them into the ground by inventing ways to find them in contempt of court. Pay no attention to the rules and regulations they might quote; you’re on a roll and you’re fully convinced of your deity not, right?

Okay, let’s see. Well, it looks like Ten. Ten Government Goons, with government funding, have killed a family farm business, and in less than a year. This family business supplied a delicious raw milk cheese that is easily digestible and provides live beneficial nutrients. They supported their families and employed six people, and they shipped their cheese all over the continental U.S. grossing approximately $600,000 a year.

Guess that made them a threat to the government.

Next?

©Doreen Hannes

On June 13^th, Morningland Dairy will be in court again despite the fact that the final disposition of their $250,000 cheese inventory is, as yet, undecided. [Click to read  Verified Second Amended Application for Order to Show Cause 5-23-11. It is a pdf.]

Earlier this spring, Howell County Circuit Court Judge David Dunlap found for the State in the first trial and Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund is appealing his decision to a higher court.

At the trial in Howell County in January, Morningland Dairy of the Ozarks LLC noticed the judge, the Missouri Milk Board and the Missouri Attorney General’s Office that they had closed the LLC and would no longer operate in the public venue. Instead Morningland Dairy would operate entirely in the private sector through a private association operating under the 1^st and 14^th Amendments to the US Constitution.

After the trial, Morningland began the process of buying cheese from similar licensed suppliers and repackaging and selling this cheese to their private association buyers.  They purchased a separate refrigeration cooler for the new cheese  to  ensure segregation from the cheese held under embargo by the Missouri Milk Board since August 26^th, 2010.

The Inspectors Get to Inspect –Just not Everything

On April 13^th, Don Falls and Roger Neill of the Missouri Milk Board showed up at the Morningland Dairy plant intending to conduct an inspection of the facility.  Plant Manager Jedadiah York and the eldest Dixon son were there and called Joseph Dixon to inform him of the Milk Board’s presence. Joseph Dixon states that he spoke with Don Falls, and said  “You can inspect the cooler which still holds the Milk Board embargo tag and the cheese in that cooler, but you are not to inspect or go anywhere else in the plant as it is not under your jurisdiction.”

Joseph also says that he did give Don Falls a little piece of his mind, which, from a human standpoint, is completely understandable.  Joe says, “Don Falls stated in court that the amount of cheese in the embargo cooler was his count. He didn’t count the cheese. He just took the FDA count and said it was his. He also stated that the cheese samples sent to Microbe Inotech were his samples, but they were not. So I called him a liar and also told him he couldn’t count, as the FDA count he claimed as his own is way off from our count.” Since Joseph has effectively lost his business, had to leave his family and go to work out of state, lost all of his savings, lost nearly a full year of production and a year and a half of sales, one can understand having some animosity to the regulator in charge of the action.

Charges Levied

Three charges are being levied against Morningland on Monday June 13^th. They are Failure to Allow Inspection, Failure to Implement Required Practices and Unlawful Sale of Embargoed Cheese Product.  One dangerous thing about these charges is that this seems to draw the Dixon’s private association into the State suit against Morningland Dairy of the Ozarks LLC.  The only thing left of the thirty year old company Morningland Dairy of the Ozarks LLC is the cheese under embargo in the cooler.

Joseph says, “Apparently even though he was allowed to inspect the cooler with the embargoed cheese in it, and said that it looked like it was all there to our son and Plant Manager, Don Falls yet again changed his mind and his story after talking to his superiors. Or maybe he just got mad because I called him a liar.”

Styrofoam is Evidence of a Crime

At question in the allegations now being charged against Morningland is whether or not there are any clear jurisdictional boundaries that the State or Federal government cannot cross. If cutting and repackaging cheese is now manufacturing cheese then several families could not go together on a forty pound block of cheese and divide it up amongst themselves without being licensed and inspected.

The “evidence” that Morningland is selling the embargoed cheese is that a member of the private association who runs Clover’s in Columbia Missouri, sold cheese with a Morningland label to Don Falls and Roger Neill.  (Batman and Robin of the Missouri Milk Board?) Also cited in the court filing is that there were bits of styrofoam on the packing room floor which leads to the cooler that is under arrest by the Milk Board.

While the packages of cheese might seem damning, one must remember that Morningland LLC closed down and agreed to not sell any of the embargoed cheese until the legal proceedings were complete. As stated earlier, they also informed the Court, Milk Board and Attorney General’s Office that they had formed a private association.  Considering these things, do styrofoam pieces plus packages of cheese really add up to selling embargoes cheese?  What about the inventory? Is anyone going to check that?

The really funny thing about the inventory is that in the court records there are three different inventory counts offered. Don Falls says 29,000 pounds, Denise Dixon says closer to 39,000 pounds and the judge cites 20,000 pounds. Does anyone really know?  If all the cheese is destroyed, will it matter how much there really is? If it were your livelihood, I would think it would matter to you.

Life Goes On….Kind of

Denise Dixon is going to be the only principal in court on Monday the 13^th. She will be flying back from Ohio where she and her younger children are currently staying taking care of her elderly parents. Joseph is working in Alabama and cannot take time off work to be present at the proceeding.

If the State ultimately fails to destroy the cheese that represents the wealth of this family, they have succeeded in destroying the family’s forward progress and robbing them of their peace. All over cheese that in thirty years never had a complaint of illness or upset associated with it. 

  ===  You can still donate to help the Dixon’s keep their farm and cheese plant so they can hopefully begin making cheese themselves once this court battle is complete.

Morningland  Moves on to Appeal

March 9^th 2011

In a surprisingly fast decision, the Judge in the Morningland of the Ozarks LLC’s case has ruled in favor of a “stay of execution” on destruction of the cheese in the farmstead cheese company’s refrigerated cave.

Yesterday at 1pm, there was a teleconference regarding  Morningland counsel’s request for a stay on the State’s desire to destroy all of the cheese that has been held under embargo since August 26^th. The Judge had issued his Order for Judgment for destruction and had also issued a Permanent Injunction on Morningland LLC to stop them from making or selling cheese until a very untenable set of criteria were met by the company. Counsel Gary Cox requested a stay on destruction and asked the judge to dismiss the counter claims brought by Morningland LLC in their case with the Missouri Milk Board.

Today, March 9^th, 2011, the day the Milk Board wanted to begin destroying the cheese, Judge Dunlap issued a five point ruling in favor of the Stay and now the case to destroy the cheese moves on to Appeal.

Morningland of the Ozarks LLC , has been in business for 30 years with no incidence of illness ever surfacing. Despite the history of companies like Morningland, the FDA issued a notice to consumers the same day the decision to grant a stay was being heard saying that raw dairy may “Pose a Health Threat”.

While Morningland of the Ozarks LLC has been put out of business by the seizure and complete halt of selling or producing cheese at the cheese plant, Morningland intends to move forward as a private health food association and hopes to make cheese again soon. Joseph and Denise Dixon, the prior principals of Morningland LLC said, “If we can just hold on until spring fully hits, when the grass comes in and the cows don’t need to be fed, we think we can weather this, and hopefully produce living, healthful food for our members again.”

What seems apparent from the documents – and you can read them below – is that the Missouri Attorney General’s office is scared that the cheese will get away. They even asked that the Dixon’s post a bond of $250,000.00, which was later reduced to $2,000.00. [At this point in this post, let me remind you to donate some money, some more money, via Pledgie because they really, really are in need. ]

This is the Memo in Oppostion Defendent’s Petition [opens as a PDF]. Can you count how many times the Plaintiff [state of Missouri] claims their rights? How one sided is that?

Here’s what the Memo says in regard to their fear that the cheese will sprout feet and abscond:

If a stay is granted and the cheese continues to remain undestroyed, Defendant [the Dixons] will retain control over it and the risk to the public remains great. Should the Defendant remain in control of the cheese, the cheese might be shipped out of state, stolen and consumed, or donated as food to a food pantry.

This is Exhibit A - Rescission of Activities and Practices Involving Production, Sale and Marketing of Raw Milk Products. This is where the Dixons tell the court that they are going private and will only sell to private members. This is the main reason that they need more donations. In order to stay alive and keep the farm running until the final judgment is rendered.

Here is Exhibit B – Request for Judicial Notice, where Joseph Dixon makes his claim, and rightly so…”follow the teachings and precepts of scripture as the absolute and final authority in heaven and upon the earth.”

As I understand it, the AG’s office is very uncomfortable with all of the transparency. They’d much rather have everything kept out of the public eye. No kidding. If I were them, I’d want that too.

The Dixons have been instructed to send any freedom of cheese suggestions to the proper authorities…obstruction of justice charges will likely result. That means someone would likely go to jail. Doreen, for a time, the Dixon’s for longer. Obstruction of justice is a felony…know what I mean?

If you want to help, really help, show up on D-Day (currently scheduled for the 9th) with your video cameras, your recorders, signs. Doreen put it best: “Personally, I think that a few hundred people there with signs megaphones, cameras and notice to tv stations would be good. Here we are in a world where there are food riots and tons of reports about food shortages coming soon, and they are going to throw away an awful lot of food.”

This isn’t kindergarten, folks. This is tyranny.

David Gumpert at The Complete Patient says it best in this post yesterday: “And now, smelling blood, the Missouri regulators are pushing for destruction of the Morningland inventory by next week, even though Missouri law and legal precedent allow for an automatic 30-day stay for imposition of sentence. [emphasis mine].

I particularly like the picture David used with that post. Says it all.

The battle over raw-milk cheese has come home to Missouri. On Tuesday the Howell County Circuit Court upheld a ruling by the Missouri State Milk Board that Morningland of the Ozarks, a dairy in Mountain View, would have to destroy all the raw-milk cheeses it produced between January and June 2010, when traces of two bacteria, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus, were found in samples taken from a store in California.

The decision effectively spells the end of the road for Morningland.

“Morningland had been in business for 30 years,” says Doreen Hannes, a spokeswoman for the dairy. “In that time, zero incidents of people getting sick from their raw-milk cheese have been reported, or even rumored.” [Read the rest of the article here, and please make some comments]

Related Articles

• The Truth of the Matter Doesn’t Matter – Doreen Hannes (uncheeseparty.wordpress.com)

© Doreen Hannes

On February 26th, I received word that the verdict had come in on Morningland of the Ozarks court case. Late on Sunday night I received the documents. [Order and Judgment here and Order on Permanent Injunction here]. It took a little digesting, but one thing was clear straight out of the gate; if we want justice, we aren’t going to get it without a jury of our peers. Morningland was denied a jury trial.

Interestingly, in the section requesting that there be “Burden of Proof” to destroy the cheese, the judge finds that it’s unnecessary. He says, “judicial review probes only the lawfulness of an agency’s order without consideration of its reasonableness”. Further, he states, “The court finds no authority suggesting the State must prove defendant’s cheese unfit for human consumption…”, and also that the because of the “unsanitary surroundings” the “court must disregard the absence of sickness among consumers of defendant’s cheeses.” Reason, logic and actual illness and, evidently, due process are irrelevant if an agency decides to act against you.

The Charges

Morningland was charged with violating statute RSMo 196.545 by selling “Unlawful Dairy Products”. Here is that statute with the AG’s assertions in italics and the cites from the judge in bold:

Unlawful sale of dairy products.

196.545. It shall be unlawful to sell, offer or expose for sale, or deliver manufacturing milk or any dairy products made from manufacturing milk which:

(1) Are produced by animals afflicted with a contagious or infectious disease deleterious to man or detrimental to milk quality;

(2) Are not colostrum free or which have been taken from a cow fed or in contact with any substance that is unhealthful or that may produce unhealthful, impure or unwholesome milk;

(3) Are adulterated by the addition of any unauthorized substance including water or other material foreign to milk;

(4) Have been handled by any person afflicted with an infectious or contagious disease; or

(5) Are produced in unhealthy or unsanitary surroundings or held in unclean or unsanitary containers.

Since he used one cite that was actually brought up by the AG’s office, we’ll deal with that one first.

Don Falls was the inspector for Morningland Dairy and came to the farmstead cheese plant once or twice a year to inspect the operation. Whenever an inspector inspects, they find something to put in their report. There is no perfect place and even the cleanest dairies I have ever seen get a mark up for “something” in any inspection. While Falls admitted that Morningland had made a lot of improvements on the property since the Dixons took over as General Managers, he cited their cheese harp (the thing that cuts the curds) as needing to be replaced. He also cited that there were areas of the concrete floor at doorways that needed to be painted. Even though a very thorough swabbing by the FDA, including the cheese harp and under the molding around the floors, revealed no listeria in the plant, the Judge found that Morningland’s Cheese was produced in “unsanitary surroundings”. So if you have older equipment, it is likely to be deemed unsanitary in Missouri.

Now the second finding is really the most interesting. First of all, it wasn’t brought up by the AG’s office and secondly, the logic applied is astonishing. It follows the deductive reasoning of, “God is love and love is blind; Ray Charles is blind therefore Ray Charles is God.”

In that vein, here’s the break down of the judge’s evident logic. Morningland had one spike in SCC (somatic cell count) in one month out of twelve. The “dairy expert” testified that a spike indicates a herd health problem. Morningland sold cows. Therefore, the cows that were sold were diseased cows.

So, one spike plus one idiotic comment plus sold cows equals diseased cows.

Makes perfect sense, right?

Don’t Sell Cows if You Need Money

The testimony of Tim Wightman, the “dairy expert” brought in by Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund, was highly significant in the judge’s decision. Wightman has written a book and is working with many others to set National Raw Milk Standards that incorporate many of the ideals in his book. His testimony sometimes left the dairy farmers in the court audience with their heads shaking “no” and jaws hanging open in disbelief.

Prior to Wightman’s testimony, the AG cross-examined Denise Dixon and showed their intent to malign the Dixons for selling cows in late September. Remember Morningland had been shut down on August 26th and had to dump their milk for five and a half weeks awaiting the Missouri Milk Board’s okay to ship into the commercial milk chain. The AG asked Denise, “Why did you sell cows?” Denise replied, “We were financially stricken.”

They certainly were financially stricken. When you have dairy animals, they need to be tended. The Dixons had no income and all the continued expenses of running a dairy farm and a cheese plant (minus the employees) so they were forced to sell some dry cows to keep feeding their other cows. It happens every day. It’s a logical thing to do when faced with financial difficulties. It’s called cutting down on overhead.

Watch Out for Experts

Tim Wightman, the expert witness, testified that if there is an elevated SCC it is indicative of a potentially serious herd health problem. One spike in 12 months does not indicate a herd health problem. Two spikes in a row might very well be indicative of a problem, but one is a fluke and should be given all the intensive scrutiny reserved for an unlucky roll of the dice. Morningland’s SCC counts averaged in the 5-600k range, well below the State level of 750k, and the months following this spike were in line with their average.

Wightman’s standards are that SCC’s should always be under 300k, and no spikes are allowed. The problem with this is that we are talking about living animals with their own immune system, and both environmental and biological stresses can elevate SCC’s. 300k is a good ideal and should probably be pursued, but despite Mr. Wightman’s belief, it is not a requirement for good raw dairy. Testifying in court that your book’s statement of “no milk with an SCC higher than 300k should be used for raw dairy” is accurate is simply dishonest, and has proven to be fatal to Morningland Dairy.

The most stunning thing about Wightman’s testimony was when the Attorney General’s Counsel asked if selling cows would reduce the somatic cell count and he replied, “Yes.”

This was when the dairy farmers jaws were dropping. Mine included.

Really, Tim? Selling cows reduces the SCC? No qualifications in the equation? Selling cows reduces the SCC? Dry cows? Really?

Based on this statement of the “dairy expert”, the judge has ruled that Morningland had diseased cows in their herd and sold them to avoid detection. Those dry cows were obviously the source of contamination that led to Morningland’s problems. Never mind that they exhibited no symptoms, testing or proof, and no one became ill. Evidence is unnecessary.

Nice.

Do we really want these “National Raw Milk Standards”? Who will benefit?

Now Judges Regulate from the Bench

In the Final Order of Permanent Injunction, the judge prescribes what Morningland Dairy is to do if they desire to enter into commerce in cheese ever again. Oddly enough, the judge’s prescriptions are taken directly from a conversation with a noted cheese consultant that occurred in the presence of Don Falls of the Missouri Milk Board and myself. Almost verbatim.

Despite the judge’s admission in the Judgment that it would be unreasonable to ask the Milk Board to test each batch of cheese before destroying it, he requires that Morningland Dairy test each batch of cheese prior to offering it for sale. So the one’s with no investment don’t have to verify anything to destroy it, but those who have borne the cost and time to bring it to the point of sale must incur additional expense. Oh, and they must test the cheese prior to the 60th day of aging, as well.

Despite citing the fact that the FDA found no listeria in their swabbing, Morningland must foam ceilings, floors, equipment and all utensils with a listeria killing foam and install listeria killing foggers in their plant.

The judge also prescribes temperatures at which to age the cheese, and that cheeses in the process of aging must be in a separate cooler from those that have already aged. A commingling prohibition on cheeses in various stages of maturation is now ordered by a court.

Additionally, and most unreasonably, Morningland must “verify that no animal for use in the production of Defendant’s cheese is infected with mastitis”. How could this even be done? Prior to milking, a veterinarian with a microscope and all proper accoutrements must be present and each cow must be tested and wait to be milked until the vet has ascertained whether or not there is “mastitis” present.

Put simply, there is no way that anyone can make farmstead cheese under the conditions set forth by the judge in this ruling. But that’s been the desire of the Missouri Milk Board as agents of the FDA all along. They are doing just what the FDA wants them to do and the State of Missouri is acting in full agreement with the Federal agency which states “Raw dairy is inherently dangerous and should never be consumed by anyone, at any time, for any reason.”

Next Steps in this Case

The future of raw dairy in Missouri hangs on this case. While the judge acknowledged that he received the notice that Morningland has gone private and will not be engaging in commerce any longer thereby removing themselves from the jurisdiction of the Missouri Milk Board, he cites a statute that he claims disallows them from doing so.

The judge says that “to the extent that defendant purports an exemption of a new entity from regulatory requirements, the court notices RSMo 196.595 to the contrary…” So what does RSM0 196.595 say?

“196.595. Beginning September 28, 1981, no person shall produce, sell, offer for sale or process milk or cream for the manufacture of human food except in accordance with the provisions of sections 196.520 to 196.610 and the regulations promulgated hereunder.”

If we don’t get this ruling overturned, or an amendment to this statute removing “person” from the control of the Milk Board, we can look forward to the Missouri Milk Board promulgating regulations regarding what you can do with your own milk in your own kitchen. Want to make some home-made mozzarella? You’ll have to follow all the regulations the Missouri Milk Board wants you to follow.

Despite FDA assertions, desires, requirements and fears, I will make cheese if I want to, and I will not ask for permission from any agency. I’m just kind of stubborn that way. If you look around this state I bet you’ll find a lot more very stubborn people.

There are supposed to be 30 days to make a Motion for Reconsideration that will likely be followed by an Appeal in this case. According to Pete Kennedy of the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund it could take up to a year in the appeal process. By that time Morningland’s cheddar cheese ought to be sharp enough to cut through the bones of the Missouri Milk Board and the FDA. But the Milk Board has just informed the Dixons that they want to come in and destroy the cheese in their cooler on March 9th and 10th.

Who needs laws and procedures? Now we not only have no due process, we have no appeal, we have no system left in real food but tyranny.