David Berglund, owner of Lake View Natural Dairy, will be back in Cook County court Oct. 13 for more legal debate about the continued operation of his dairy farm in Grand Marais. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has taken the dairy operators to court, alleging they are in civil contempt of an order to allow inspectors onto their property.
In June 2015, Sixth District Court Judge Michael Cuzzo ruled that David Berglund, owner of Lake View Natural Dairy (LVND) was not in contempt when he refused to allow the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) to inspect his dairy operation in Grand Marais. However, whether or not the Berglunds would ultimately have to submit to inspections by the MDA was still undecided. The Berglund family will be back in Cook County court on Tuesday, October 13 at 10 a.m. for more legal debate on the question.
The MDA took the matter to court after “repeated attempts” to inspect the family-owned dairy beginning in February 2013. In the complaint filed in Cook County court, MDA stated that “before Mr. Berglund refused an inspection, MDA inspectors observed a retail store on the premises that offered eggs, cookies, whole milk, chocolate milk, skim milk, colostrum, cream, yogurt and buttermilk for sale.”
The MDA asserts that LVND is a dairy plant because it manufactures, packages and sells such dairy products. In October 2014, the MDA sought court approval to inspect LVND via an “Administrative Inspection Order,” giving MDA authorization to “inspect the LVND food operation in its entirety, including all land, buildings, vehicles, inventory, equipment, and documents that may be kept in the buildings on site.”
David Berglund refused access to his property, leading to the MDA request to find him in civil contempt.
At the June 2015 hearing, Judge Cuzzo ruled in Berglund’s favor on the contempt charges, not because he found the inspection order to be invalid, but because Berglund has “demonstrated a valid reason for his failure to comply.”
A decision on whether or not MDA has the right to inspect the dairy was stayed, pending a final order on the “constitutionality of the regulations.”
Berglund’s attorney Zenas Baer argues that MDA does not have authority to inspect or regulate the dairy operation because its sales of food are limited to the product of the farm or garden, and as such, the dairy operation is protected under Section 7, Article XIII of the Minnesota Constitution, written in the early 1900s.
Baers acknowledged that the state has authority over establishments that manufacture, process, or pack for introduction into commerce. However, he wrote in a court brief, “Berglund does not introduce his food products into commerce. Private, informed customers make a personal choice to purchase natural food products.”
In a June 24, 2015 memorandum, the MDA acknowledged that Minnesota law has an exemption for “certain persons that sell or peddle the products of their farm without requiring a license, but that this exemption does not exempt the farmers from complying with pertinent regulations.”
Baers responded that the statutes that permit the MDA to “regulate, license, and control sales of food products raised by Berglund and Lake View Natural Dairy” impair Berglund’s right to “sell and peddle” his products of the farm.
Dairy supporters— about 200 people turned out for the June hearing—are concerned that licensure, inspection and regulation would mean LVND would have to purchase extremely expensive pasteurizing and bottling equipment to continue to sell milk. Supporters like Greg Gentz of Grand Marais are concerned that the expense and the bureaucratic regulations would ultimately mean the end of the dairy.
Gentz and other LVND supporters continue to rally around the Berglund family and a legal defense fund has been established. For more information on those efforts, visit Gentz’s blog at www.supportlakeviewnaturaldairy.org.
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