Where are the family farms?

While driving around Cook County or any other county for that matter, I’ve noticed that something is missing. Where are the family farms?

According to Farm Aid, 88 percent of our dairy farms have disappeared just since 1970. Fortunately we have the Lake View Natural Dairy nearby. It’s a small family farm that sells raw milk, yogurt, eggs, meat, etc. Anyone can drive up there and purchase their products, although no one is forced to. Many of us do.

But the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has ordered them to shut down and continues to harass and intimidate the owners, David and Heidi Berglund, even though Article 13, Section 7 of the Minnesota State Constitution clearly states that farmers can sell their products directly to consumers without obtaining a license. At issue is the right of farmers to sell raw milk dairy products versus the power of a government agency to deny that. We call it raw milk but that simply refers to the milk our grandparents drank.

My dad was raised on a family farm near Willmar and they sold their milk to the local creamery but set aside enough natural milk for themselves. They separated the cream and made butter too.

It would be sad if we passively stood by watching as the dairy industry and their teams of wellpaid lobbyists and lawyers used an agency such as the MDA to stamp out another family farm. How can we stop this?

Mark Quello
Grand Marais