Milk sharing A cow-share membership program does not allow Michael Schmidt to skirt mandatory pasteurization laws and distribute milk straight from the cow, prosecutors told a Newmarket court yesterday.
“It isn’t a defence of these charges,” said Allan Ryan, a lawyer for the Ministry of Natural Resources, which laid 17 charges against the maverick dairy farmer from Durham, Ont.
The cow-share program is simply “a preferred customer list” for people who want — and who pay for — raw milk, Ryan said in his closing arguments.
Schmidt, who is defending himself against 20 charges for selling and distributing unpasteurized milk, maintains his cow-share program does not break the law.
The trial is expected to last three more days.
