Dairy Farmers Sue Wisconsin DATCP

Consumer Choice Threatened, Family Farm Defends Rights to Private Transactions

by Kimberly Hartke, Publicist, Weston A. Price Foundation

Wayne and Kay Craig’s troubles began last Spring, when their farm store’s retail license was up for renewal. At that point, they had been doing business for 5 years, and the license had been renewed before, with no problems.

They had never hidden the fact that they sold raw milk, direct from their bulk tank, which was permitted by a 2002 ruling from an administrative law judge interpreting the exemptions contained in Wisconsin statutes to the state’s general prohibition on the sale of raw milk. They had always had both an inspector and his supervisor make periodic visits to the farm.

Their farm store is a members only, private buying  club. You can’t walk in off the street and shop there. A local zoning ordinance prohibits the Craig’s from selling to the general public.

Kay readily admits, milk purchases drive their business. People come in to pick up milk and while they are there they make other purchases. Members bring their own, clean jars for taking their milk home.

The farm store is an LLC. Their members are members of an Association, which has a membership interest in the store. The store holds the state milk license. The shareholders thus have a secondary interest in the milk license. All of this legal work was done by the Craigs, to ensure that they and their members were protected and operating legally within state laws.

In the summer of 2009, their happy little business all of a sudden had a problem. A certified letter came in the mail telling them that their retail license would not be renewed. The excuse? The farm was selling raw milk. Enclosed in the letter was also a conditional retail license, which meant that, if they signed away their right to sell raw milk they could maintain their retail license.

All summer long, with the help of Pete Kennedy of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, and their local attorney, they corresponded with DATCP trying to resolve the issue.

After reviewing all of the missives coming from DATCP, the attorneys assessed that agency officials were crossing the line and redefining what was and wasn’t legal. At this point, their advice to Kay and Wayne was to file a lawsuit to prevent the state from taking action against them.

Operating without a license is a crime, and according to the state, it is a crime for even a private buying club to operate a store without a license. DATCP’s position is that a licensed store cannot sell raw milk.

The Craig’s lawsuit was filed on December 16, 2009, to prevent DATCP from interfering with the operation of their store. The family is still awaiting the state’s response. Meanwhile, they have been able to keep the business open as usual.

Wayne and Kay attended the public hearings on the raw milk bill, as more than dispassionate observers. Everything they hold near and dear is riding on this bill. Overnight, at the whim of their state bureaucracy, they have gone from law abiders to supposed law breakers.

Kay said of the hearing, “What gave us such power yesterday, unlike what has happened in efforts past, was the sheer volume of raw milk drinkers and those who believe in freedom of choice that turned out. It was a hardship, since most of them came from 4-6 hours away. Every district of the state was represented. I think we stunned them!”

Here is another account of the hearing, Great Day for Raw Milk, History was Made! from Kathryn Pirtle’s blog. And another, Take Back Our Farms: The “March” on Eau Claire.

The video of the proceedings is available on the Wisconsin Eye site.

Kimberly Hartke

Kimberly Hartke is a raw dairy activist and a cowshare owner in her state. She is a volunteer chapter leader and publicist for the Weston A. Price Foundation.

See today’s related post about the Craig’s son, Rudy:

Let Them Eat Grass, says Little Farm Boy Rudy