A dairy in north-central Iowa is being shut down due to safety concerns. Meinders Farm Fresh Dairy in Buffalo Center has lost its operating license. Steve Moline, consumer protection director at the Iowa Department of Agriculture, says the dairy’s license was suspended, then an administrative law judge affirmed the permanent revocation of the dairy permit.
Moline says, “Mr. Meinders had encountered some problems both in the milk his dairy was producing, not meeting some of the regulatory requirements, and also some of the products themselves that he was making in his on-farm processing facility that were not meeting the quality requirements that are established in our regulatory system.”
Moline says there are many on-farm dairy processing facilities in Iowa and each of them are thoroughly regulated in order to protect consumers. “It’s probably the most heavily-regulated farm production practice that we have,” Moline says. “It is directly consumed by consumers in a very short timeframe from when it leaves the farm gate. By necessity, the quality and safety of that product needs to be safeguarded at all costs.”
Ag officials say tests of milk and milk products from the dairy contained bacteria and coliform counts exceeding acceptable standards. Moline says Meinders Dairy had many ongoing problems that occurred sporadically over a long period of time before the suspension and revocation steps were taken.
By Jerry Oster, WNAX, Yankton