By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent LEVERING, Mich. — Farmer Bob Strong sees no other choice but to fight a Farm Service Agency (FSA) that he sees as unreasonable and heavy-handed. The fourth-generation beef and dairy farmer, situated east of Traverse City, lives about an hour’s drive southwest of the Mackinac Bridge in Emmet County. Everything was more or less fine for Strong – a farmer in his late 50s who’s been raising cattle and operating a dairy facility for about 40 years – but that changed late last summer when some of his cattle started to die. He originally had about $105,000 in loans he’d taken out from the Traverse City area FSA so he could buy more cattle. That was in 2005. In recent years he started a cow-share operation, as well. In Michigan, it’s legal to distribute raw, unpasteurized milk to people who are members of the cow-share, because it’s considered a sharing arrangement with owners rather than direct sales to consumers. Two of Strong’s cows died in August 2017, but not at the same time. He said he didn’t make much out of one cow dying, but when more began to die he started to worry. Two more died in September, so he called a veterinarian out to examine his animals, as he thought one or more poisonous plants might be the culprit. At one point some of his animals got out of a gate and wandered into a nearby field where they might have consumed some bracken fern or nightshade. The veterinarian, Dr. Sarah Michelin of Jensen’s Animal Hospital, examined his animals but could not find any definitive cause for the cows’ demise. Strong said she told him they could have been poisoned. Eventually, 17 of his cattle died. He called the FSA to inform the office of what was going on, because his cattle stood as collateral against his loan. Strong said he has paid back about half the loan. Because of the unusually large number of deaths on his farm, he was advised to take one of the dead animals to Michigan State University for a necropsy, in hopes of finding a common cause of death. Unfortunately for Strong, the necropsy, admitted by Michelin, revealed the affected animals were severely emaciated, had parasitic eggs and were likely malnourished. The report also said there was evidence of nightshade on the property that had been eaten, but no evidence of bracken fern. Strong said he was told the animals could have died from poisoning, initially causing their emaciated condition, but that the necropsy might not show it because plant material would be evacuated before the animal died. A copy of a Nov. 17 police report from the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department said FSA Loan Officer Caleb Boge went to the sheriff’s station and wanted the department to assist him in removing Strong’s cattle from the farm. He said he had the authority to remove them, but wanted the law involved. Emmet County Animal Control Officer Laura Gladu went to the farm and wrote in her report that Strong appeared to be taking proper care of his animals. She called Jensen’s Animal Hospital as well; Gladu was told the farmer had been working with the veterinarian and was doing everything he could to resolve the problem. “Gladu believes that Bob was taking appropriate steps to try and fix the situation,” Gladu said, writing in the third person. It added that Boge called her the next day and said he had removed the cattle from Strong’s property. Michigan state FSA Executive Director Joel Johnson said he couldn’t say much about the case due to the agency’s privacy policy; however, he said just reading Strong’s own account of the situation should “throw up some flags. Half of his cattle died in a short period of time. That just couldn’t go on. When they’re dying at that rate, there’s a problem.” The FSA held the cattle for a period of time, then in February sold them for about $11,400. The agency charged Strong for care of the animals. Now, he still doesn’t know for sure what killed his cattle, and said the FSA is threatening to take his farm equipment and maybe more. At this point he would just like to get his animals back. In December, local attorney Michelle Halley told Strong via email it would be difficult for him to compel the agency to return his animals, since under the terms of the loan the FSA has the right to seize his collateral if he doesn’t care for his animals properly. She advised Strong to get evidence from Gladu and Michelin that the animals were properly cared for, and provide another theory as to why the animals might have died. He consulted with another attorney in January, who drew up a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the FSA and sent it to a supervisor. So far, the FSA has not agreed to the MOU and has not returned the cattle. Strong said he spoke with someone at the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), who told him once it was discovered his animals were dying for an unknown reason, the farm should have been quarantined until the cause of the animals’ sickness and deaths were determined. But that never happened. Johnson said he wasn’t aware of any mandatory protocol requiring a quarantine in these kinds of situations. When contacted, an MDARD spokeswoman refused to comment on the case, except to say MDARD was deferring to FSA on the matter and that it only provided Strong with some general guidance. The department refused to have the state veterinarian or other official comment directly. Strong received a certified letter from the FSA two weeks ago demanding that he certify his ownership of several pieces of farm equipment so they can be used as collateral, as well as payment of about $29,000 in cash by May 29. He said he didn’t have the money and didn’t know what he was going to do. To read more of Strong’s account, go to http://cradleknollfarm.org and click on the tab “Bullied by FSA.” |
