Appeal of milk quality penalties dismissed; high somatic cell counts attributed to mastitis and inadequate management.
The appellants, dairy farmers, appealed a decision of the Director of Regulatory Compliance upholding six somatic cell count (SCC) test results in the penalty range, which ultimately led to their farm being shut off from shipping milk.
The appellants argued that the official test results were inaccurate and inconsistent with independent tests.
The Tribunal dismissed the appeal, finding that the high SCC scores were caused by a high incidence of Staph. aureus mastitis in the herd, combined with less than adequate management by the producers.
The Tribunal found no evidence of anomalies in the standard procedures used for sampling and testing the milk.
Lafrance v. Director of Regulatory Compliance, Ontario Raw Milk Quality Program, 2002 ONAFRAAT 1
