05/12/2026
Amanda Ferris/Dancing Goat Creamery
4576 Kelsey hwy
Ionia, mi 48846
[email protected]
6167552482
1/29/26
Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDARD)
DAIRY DIVISION
Lansing, Michigan
Subject: Cease and Desist Notice
Dear MDARD,
I am writing to formally request that you cease and desist from not fully allowing licensees exercise their lawful rights as put forth in the Pateurized Milk Ordinance rule that is adopted as state law, which is infringing upon my and other licensees rights.
2023 Revision PMO GRADE A
1. The law states: The requirement of giving written notice shall be deemed to have been satisfied by electronically generating or the handing to the operator, or by the posting of an inspection report, as required by this Section. After receipt of a notice of violation, but before the allotted time has elapsed, the milk producer, bulk milk hauler/ sampler, responsible person for the milk tank truck, milk tank truck cleaning facility, milk plant, receiving station, transfer station or distributor shall have an opportunity to appeal the sanitarian's interpretation to the Regulatory Agency or request an extension of the time allowed for correction.
I have been notified that mdard does not have an appeal process for inspection violations in use creating a loss of rights permitted to licensee holders by law adopted by Michigan legislature. This creates a break in the process which reaches fines or revocation with no opportunity to question or show proof of the inspectors interpretation being wrong or correct, which these fines or worse punishments are given to licensees without due process to challenge them which should not be allowed. Mdard should cease handing out any fines and honestly return others fined without this due process in motion, until all procedures in the law are fulfilled per the law allowing licensees the opportunity to appeal to the regulatory agency like the law states.
2. In a previous cease and assist and this being the second request Licensing officials and their managers claimed that a barn employee can enter a plant facility, uncleaned, no changing clothes, or shoes, they proceeded on 10/22 to have a barn employee walk into my plant without changing, showering, or changing shoes even though said employee asked if he should shower, because I was not able to be present at their demand. . In another inspection attempt a voicemail and on the phone a licensing inspector said roger needed to come open the door immediately (coming from the barn again) or I would be written up as impeding their investigation, a third attempt the same inspector wanted to retrieve her coat from plant that was left and barn inspectionhappened and wanted to go back into the plant. . When asking managers about the safety of this they agreed with their inspectors choices and gave no reprimand to employees for severe contamination possibilities. In a email a manager said showers aren’t mandatory and then cited the employee cleanliness section. In research I found a different story reading the following:
Summary of Requirements for
Grade A PLANTS
Personnel Traffic Patterns
It is important to maintain a clean environment in and around a dairy plant. This can only be
accomplished by controlling the cleanliness of the people who walk through and work in
your facility. Clean clothes and footwear, as well as adequate hair and beard covering, is
required for anyone working in or visiting the plant.
Employees who work with or around livestock should not be allowed to enter the
processing plant without a shower, complete change of clothes and footwear. It is
extremely important to strictly maintain this policy in order to help prevent the spread of
pathogenic organisms commonly found in farm environments.
Post pasteurization contamination of dairy products is a leading cause of product recall.
Bacteria such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Coliform, and
many others are serious public health threats. Stringent efforts must be made minimize the
possible entrance of these pathogens into the dairy plant environment.
Always approach the dairy plant with concern for preventing disease transmission in mind. At
facilities where the dairy plant is on the same premise as the dairy farm, all traffic should visit the
dairy plant prior to visiting the dairy farm. Avoid driving or walking through barnyards, feed lots,
manure, and feed storage or holding areas
Per this summary of requirements laws or policies were broken and continue to try to be broken by state inspectors and their managers creating high possibility of severe contamination issues to the public. Please inform all of your inspectors of the rules above and managers so this does not happen again. Again due to this breach of the law, policies and my SOP, I lack trust in mdard, my inspectors, and their systems. I will need to be present at inspections to prevent future contamination for any inspectors to enter my plant. If this is not followed I will have to present legal avenues to keep the public safe and my products protected, just because you have an inspectors badge doesn’t mean you get to break the rules and contaminate other peoples property and products.
I hope to resolve this matter amicably. Please respond to this letter by February 14th,2026 to confirm your compliance and what changes have been made to correct these issues.
