States Target Raw-Milk Farmers

Michigan is the latest to bust a provider of unprocessed milk—and its heavy-handed tactics may put three small farms out of business

by David E. Gumpert

For several months over this past summer and fall, Michigan authorities tracked Richard Hebron, 41, and his weekly truck hauls the 140 miles or so from Vandalia to Ann Arbor. To gather evidence, an undercover agent infiltrated an organization that was making private purchases from Hebron.

On the morning of Oct. 13, the authorities closed the loop on their complex sting operation. Just outside of Ann Arbor, a state police officer pulled over Hebron's truck during its weekly run, served Hebron with a search warrant, and with several other agents began removing goods from the truck.

Back home in Vandalia, a state trooper accompanied by four plain-clothes agents knocked on the door of Hebron's home, presented Hebron's wife, Annette, with a search warrant, and fanned through their small three-room house, removing their computer, business records, and product samples. Later that afternoon, in Ann Arbor, four additional agents, also armed with a search warrant, rummaged through a warehouse that was Hebron's destination when he was pulled over, seizing more business records.

Expanding Investigation

The trigger in this huge investigation? No, it wasn't drugs, stolen goods, or terrorism. It was, of all things, raw milk and its various byproducts, including cream, buttermilk, yogurt, butter, and kefir. The Michigan Agriculture Dept., which oversaw the investigation together with the Michigan State Police, sees the situation as a simple matter of enforcing the law. Unfortunately, when it comes to raw milk, the law is no simple matter.

"We've had an investigation for several months now," says Katherine Fedder, director of the Michigan Agriculture Dept.'s food & dairy division. The investigation, she says, began with a report from a local public-health department last spring about children who had become sick who " had consumed unpasteurized milk." She noted, though, that the children's illness was never traced back to raw milk or any other specific food. In any event, a department inspector joined the co-op to purchase milk and expand the investigation.

"Our concern is that there's a violation of the Michigan law to distribute misbranded products and unpasteurized dairy products out of an MDA-licensed food establishment," Fedder says, adding that the investigation of the computers, records, and milk products confiscated will likely take "a few more weeks before we have a clarification." Then, Hebron and/or the co-op could be charged with "a whole variety of things" under a Michigan food law and a dairy law.

Crippled Co-op

Hebron is a farmer with about 110 acres, where he raises beef, cattle, and chickens. He also manages the four-year-old Family Farms Co-op with two other farm families, through which all three farmers sell their products at the Ann Arbor outlet, as well as two outlets in Detroit and seven in Chicago.

One of those farm families, an Amish couple with eight children, owns the 70 milking cows that produce the cooperative's raw milk (milk that isn't pasteurized or homogenized). The Amish farmer doesn't have a phone or other modern conveniences and couldn't be reached. Hebron says the farmer has requested Hebron to speak both on the co-op's and the farmer's behalf and not to publicize his identity. This farmer is essentially out of business for the time being, and has had to throw out all his milk produced since Oct. 13.

The entire co-op is crippled, since the farmers are without their computer, fax, or business records. And already three Chicago retail outlets, unsettled by news of the Michigan officials' actions, have told Hebron not to bother returning with additional products. "This is what we do for a living," says Hebron. "We don't get unemployment checks."

The experience has left the Hebrons shaken. "They treated us pretty much like we were drug dealers," he says. Moreover, it's not clear if any of the co-op members will be charged with a crime and when the co-op may be able to resume its normal business.