Breakfast on the Farm leaves sour taste for Taxpayers

After chowing down at Hartland Farm’s “Breakfast on the Farm” in Lenawee County, Michigan on Saturday, 8/27/16, did you digest all the ways Hartland is using taxpayers’ money & simultaneously polluting local water, land & air?
Hartland Farms has been under a Consent Decree since 2003, yet repeatedly received substantial EQIP funds with total government funding between 1995 – 2014 of over $1.5 million, despite violating regulations.

The FACTS about Hartland Farms:

● Animal count, original permit, 2005: 671.3
● Animal count, 2014 annual report: 980 dairy/dry cows, 290 heifers/calves
● Total Government Funding, 1995-2014: $1,520,674
    o Subsidies, including dairy & feed crops, 1995-2012 (per EWG) – $1,418,392
       ▪ Conservation: $265,296
       ▪ EQIP – $228,488 (2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011)
       ▪ Disaster: $0
       ▪ Commodity: $1,153,096
     o USDA Payments, 2013-2014 (usaspending.gov) – $102,372

And the VIOLATIONS:

Hartland Farm Violation History
Since 2000 Hartland Farms has had the following violations, Order and Consent Decree:
MDEQ/EPA/agency violations and actions:
March, 2000 – MDEQ violation for discharging manure into drain/tributary to lake and river.
September, 2000 – EPA Administrative Order for violations for multiple discharges, including milk house waste, into drains/tributary to Lake Hudson.
November, 2001 – MDEQ violation for discharging manure into drains/tributary to river. After multiple discharges, DEQ District Office sends Notice of Non-Compliance Letter stating violations “are being reviewed for possible escalated enforcement.”
February, 2002 – MDEQ violation for manure discharge through field tiles to tributary to river
November, 2003 – MDEQ violation/animal mortality not being managed according to law, “carcasses of dead farm animals half buried” in a pile of old silage. “Leachate was pooling around the pile and there were bones strewn about as if dogs or other animals had pulled them out. The pile was not on an impervious surface and it did not appear as if it was a prepared site for composting.”
(MDA Special Report on August 21 inspection)
2003 – State of Michigan penalty issued = $12,200 ($5,000 civil fine + $7,200 costs)

2003 CONSENT DECREE
Required by MDEQ to obtain NPDES CAFO permit, due to violations (not facility size or livestock numbers).
December, 2004 – MDEQ violation for manure discharge through field tiles to drain/river tributary after application over tile and dragline failure
September, 2006 – MDEQ violation for failure to turn in current Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plan (CNMP)
October, 2006 – MDEQ violation for manure application on fields prohibited in last known CNMP
November, 2006 – MDEQ violation for manure discharge through field tiles to drain/river tributary
March, 2008 – MDEQ violation for multiple violations of Consent Decree. Illegal discharges to river tributary after manure application on frozen, snow-covered ground to field that did not meet specifications for winter application
April, 2008 – MDEQ violation for manure discharge through field tile to drain/river tributary
July, 2008 – crop-duster hired by farm cited by MDA after violations of federal and MI pesticide application laws.
July, 2010 – citation by MDA for non-conformance with GAAMPs for spraying manure over July 4 holiday weekend.
September, 2014 – MDEQ violation for stockpiling CAFO waste for 4 days in field not in CNMP and not approved for manure application prior to use
October, 2015 – DEQ cited Hartland Farms CAFO after “multiple fields…received manure application without incorporation,” a violation of its CAFO Permit. The DEQ Violation Letter proposes “scheduling a meeting with you to discuss possible changes to farm management practices to ensure that all permit requirements are met.”