[MR] Re: VA Dairy regs

[Sigrune at aol.com]

I just spent some time looking over the proposed changes and amendments to the current code.

These proposed changes affect people or entities who have permits to manufacture milk or dairy products in the state of VA. It further covers milk/dairy bottling operations, and dairy product manufacturing that uses unprocessed dairy(cheese/butter).

Neither of these proposals details fines or penalties except for the withdrawl of previously authorized permit. Also by the wording of the document, grocery and convenient stores are exempt from haveing to obtain licences, as well as resturants the SCA etc. Since they are selling/using already processed/pasturized dairy products.

In short the changes do not affect the SCA for feasts and or other, the laws that could affect us are already on the book. and since there are so many laws out there (in any state) If sommeone realy wanted to take an issue with us, they could find a miriad of ways to do that.

However on the downside, the rules and standards for becoming a "Dairy Farm" in the State of Virginia has gotten much stricter.  People complaining about small farms and individuals not being able to get licences is a ligitimate concern.  There is a grey area of the law that if you have a cow in the state (or other milk producing mammal, non-human) you should be licenced by the ordiance, regardless if it is for profit by dairy production or not. So there is a loophole for people that may be taken advantage of if someone realy wants to make VA aa cow/goat/bison/buffalo free state.

I belive part of this change is to prevent people who own a cow on a primarily vegetable/grain farm from being able to register as a "dairy producer" and thus be able to apply for state and federal subsidy.

Also FYI, period cheese production is banned in this state since there is a pasturization law (temperature/time standards change in the proposal to meet the new federal guidelines) as well as a standard for cheese, aka cheese produced in the state must fall into clearly defined categories. I do not know for certain since the list has just about every cheese I heard of, but I am sure certain historical cheeses would not fall into one of the 70+ categories.

Ah, things you do when you are bored.

Mike Lehman