Western New York dairy farms report tampering

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Western New York dairy farms report tampering

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press

Published 2:35 p.m. PDT Monday, April 8, 2002

JAVA CENTER, N.Y. (AP) - Someone has been sneaking onto dairy farms in

western New York, putting antibiotics into milk storage tanks and also

injecting cows with the drugs, police say.

The tampering has ruined about 44,000 gallons of milk worth about $49,000 to

farmers, state police Lt. Hibsch said.

Authorities have no suspects in the 14 cases under investigation since the

fall, Hibsch said. The most recent cases were reported late last month.

Authorities said none of the tainted milk made it to store shelves or into

milk products like cheese because milk is tested for contaminants before

being unloaded from the trucks that take it to processing plants.

Only someone allergic to antibiotics like penicillin would be at risk if

exposed to the tainted milk, Hibsch said.

Investigators said they are looking for suspects in any number of places,

from animal rights groups opposed to dairy farm practices to disgruntled

farmers or employees. Dairy farming is a $116 million industry in Wyoming

County, New York's largest dairy producer, where 11 of the cases were

reported.

With no obvious motive for the apparent sabotage and no claims of

responsibility, anxiety among farmers is high.

" Who it is we don't know. If we knew why, we'd at least know what direction

to look, " said farmer Mark McCormick, whose 200-head Mar-Dan Dairy Farm in

Wyoming County was among the latest targets. " That's one of the frustrating

parts. We don't have a clue. "

McCormick lost more than 4,000 gallons of milk and estimated his financial

loss at $6,200 to $6,500.

" It's going to be very hard to overcome, " said McCormick, who said that with

milk prices set by the government, raising his rates to make up the loss is

not an option. As it is, he said, he is paid only slightly more for his milk

than his father was 20 years ago.

New York Farm Bureau spokesman LaRoe said there have been isolated

cases of angry employees tampering with milk tanks in the past, but " we've

never seen it this widespread before. "

The introduction of bovine growth hormone in the early 1990s touched off

protests by health activists and others around the country, but the Farm

Bureau said New York has not seen such demonstrations for several years.

The artificial hormone is injected into cows to increase the amount of milk

they produce. Critics of such biotechnology products contend that too little

is known about their health and environmental effects.

The Farm Bureau is urging farmers to limit access to storage tanks, but that

is difficult. Dairy farms, in general, are easily accessible because of the

need to keep barns housing hundreds of animals open for ventilation. The

milking areas containing the tanks may have open walls to enable cows to be

moved in and out.

Investigators initially had to determine whether a mix-up by a farmer or an

employee had caused the contamination. Most dairy farms store antibiotics on

the premises to treat ill cows or those that are about to give birth.

It would take only a minute amount of antibiotics to contaminate a load of

milk, authorities said. A vial dumped into one storage tank would

contaminate not only that tank, but an entire truckload. That is because in

dairy farming, collection trucks make numerous stops on a single run and the

milk from each farm is mixed together along the way.